Referees Bend Over Backwards

[balli hi]

This post comes on the back of yet another dodgy referee display , the Howard Webb ( poor mans Graham Poll )show at Old Trafford yesterday.

Week in week out regardless of who the opposition is we see referees turning a blind eye to reckless Utd tackles showing favoritism towards Utd , handing them penalties when replays clearly show the Utd player dived then clearly denying the opposition a stonewall penalty and failing to send the Utd player off , so it begs the question just why do Utd get so many decisions go in their favour , one reason and probably the main reason is Fergie , Referees are scared of him , why ? , just a few weeks ago Gary Neville makes a stupid challenge in the penalty area brings the West Brom player down , clear penalty and red card for Neville as he was the last defender , but what does the Ref do , he waves play on , i'm sure Chris Foy had one eye on Fergie and was cacking himself at the thought of sending off neville and awarding a penalty , although he later failed to award Utd a clear penalty later on in the same game , it was merely a case of evening things up , but as far as west brom were concerned the damage had already been done , the contentious Neville tackle happened in a pivotal time in the game and Utd should have been down to 10 men and one nil down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXYxctZWE2s

we are seeing these decisions week in week out and its getting beyond a joke now , who remembers Johnny Evans Kung Fu kick on Didier Drogba at Stamford Bridge a couple of seasons ago and the yellow card that followed for Drogba to go with the broken Ribs that Evans gave him , the correct decision should have been a red card for Evans so no surprises there then

, incidentally i'm sure the Ref in that game was Martin Atkinson who recently could'nt get his red card out quick enough to show Micheal Essien a straight red card in Chelsea's game against Fulham in the 90th minute yet kept his cards in his pocket throughout when Fulham committed foul after foul after foul there was a blatant incident in the game when Hangerland committed a professional foul taking a chelsea player clean out when racing through , the referees decision ? , play on

I'm sure i'll now be accused of sour grapes for posting this and people will mention Drogba for falling over all the time, but the truth is Utd do get the lions share of decisions go in their favour not to mention Fergie time when utd are chasing a game, yet mysteriously in a game of few stopages 6 minutes are added on .

Utd are a great team and would probably win the league this season anyway without all the cheating be it from their diving players or the referees bending over backwards to help them to victory .

So just why are Referees helping Utd cheat their way to winning ?

[Parts-King]

The Premier league Referee's are the best in the world, and thats official!

They run further, are fitter, are in better positions and issue more cards!

We are now exposed to more and more football, two or three matches screened live at a weekend and matches played midweek, we are just seeing far more football than ever, so any "mistakes" are picked on, reviewed, replayed, slowed down, speeded up and given the Andy Gray traetment by all and sundry

As a Referee and Referee assessor, let me just say that those guys know the pressures on them, and 99% of the time they are spot on, Utopia and 100% accuracy is not possible, they are human and are subject to making instant decisions without the benefit of a replay and a 30 minute look from every angle on 27 cameras in the ground

I don't think any Referee bends over backwards to help UTD, Mr Webb made his own mind up on yesterdays penalty, he did not need the advice of his assistant, it was given by him alone, AND if you play the clip at normal speed and view it once, it does look like Berbatov got a clip on the ankle and the decision was made, end of

I spoke to my friend Mike Jones last year about the infamous beach ball incident at Liverpool, he didnt see it hit the beach ball, neither did his assitant or fourth official, the goal stood and that was it, nobody died, and that was that!

You are well aware of my thoughts on the game B_H, money is all that matters in football these days, managers moan and whine about Referees not because of a particular decisions merits but because of what it means for a club, lost points = possible lost revenue. How can it be that 22 professional players paid millions of £££'s between them can only manage one goal from a penalty in 90 minutes? or do we hear the manager scream and whinge about his multi million pound player who spoons the ball over the bar from 6 yards? No of course we dont because it is not as newsworthy as Referee bashing

Now lets all rub the overpaid noses of these so called professional goal scorers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC8v1qnZORo

Kingo

[Raistlin]

Utd are a great team and would probably win the league this season anyway without all the cheating be it from their diving players or the referees bending over backwards to help them to victory .

So just why are Referees helping Utd cheat their way to winning ?

Just to see Chelsea loose.... Simples

[bothwell_buyer]

Why is it that football players fall over and writhe around the ground, whilst rugby players batter each other and only get taken off if the blood injury is a risk to others?

Why can't football players not play more than 60 minutes without being exhausted whilst tennis players (Nadal etc) can run about for 5 hours no problem?

Why is the best football club run by a Scotsman??

[Parts-King]

Why is it that football players fall over and writhe around the ground, whilst rugby players batter each other and only get taken off if the blood injury is a risk to others?

Why can't football players not play more than 60 minutes without being exhausted whilst tennis players (Nadal etc) can run about for 5 hours no problem?

Why is the best football club run by a Scotsman??

1: Because they are coached to get every free kick possible, Respect? They have little for themselves or their colleagues

2: Players fitness is a fickle thing. They are professional sportsmen yet they get cramp and cant move if a game goes into extra time

3: Lord John Reid?

[balli hi]

The Premier league Referee's are the best in the world, and thats official!

They run further, are fitter, are in better positions and issue more cards!

You are well aware of my thoughts on the game B_H, money is all that matters in football these days, managers moan and whine about Referees not because of a particular decisions merits but because of what it means for a club, lost points = possible lost revenue. How can it be that 22 professional players paid millions of £££'s between them can only manage one goal from a penalty in 90 minutes? or do we hear the manager scream and whinge about his multi million pound player who spoons the ball over the bar from 6 yards? No of course we dont because it is not as newsworthy as Referee bashing

Kingo

Respect , Kingo

However we can quote statistics till we are blue in the face but all that tells me is that our crap Referees are better than the rest of the worlds Dros and nothing will change my oppinion that referees are intimidated by Fergie and will er on the side of giving decisions in Man-u's favour rather than risk the infamous Fergie blow dryer , Fergie is very clever at what he does and he gets in peoples heads with his mind games and intimidates them , he's been doing it for years and been getting away with it , but to my mind its a cheating win at all costs mentality and it filters through to the players .

Anyone remember this unforgivable mistake by Roy Carrol , but more importantly from the REf and his assistants , no prizes for guessing who the beneficiaries were .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-8dOjeVC80

Ps

I would like your oppinion Kingo on the Evans Kung Fu kick on Drogba , have a look at the positioning of the Ref , he was no where near up with play and i'm sure his view may have been obscured , so how then does he arrive at a laughable decision like the one that he did , did he consult his assistants or maybe a word in his ear piece from the 4th official , nope you can bet your life that he guessed that Drogba probably ran into Evans and therefor issued a yellow card to Drogba , its cheating no other way to describe it , if he did'nt see it then he should have consulted , but he did'nt , there can be no excuse for such a disgraceful decision from the Ref, Cheat, and the Refs as guilty as the perpetrator . Drogba was out for weeks after that challenge with broken ribs .

Like i said that Ref was the same one who refereed our recent home game against Fulham i wish i could send you a copy of the entire game so you can judge him for yourself , he was nothing short of a disgrace he let Fulham foul go after Fulham foul after foul and we all knew which colour shirt the first booking would go to ... so in go's Essien to win the ball nothing overly bad , firm but fair challenge and out comes the yellow card , when you saw what he was letting go from the fulham players that decision was unbelievable , so in the 90th minute just after a heavy and nasty challenge from a fulham player on Essien that went unpunished Essien go's in on Dempsey and was shown a straight red , Dempsey incidentally was guilty of a blatant elbow into the face of Jose Bosingwa which left him needing lengthy treatment on the pitch , and yet the referee issued nothing to the Fulham player not even a talking to, he'd have to be Stevie wonder to have missed it , I don't like that Ref and he'll always be a cheat in my book .

Comments please :)

[Parts-King]

Intimidation by managers and staff is nothing new, you talk about respect in the game and most of it is done for the cameras. The highest levels of football fall foul of any respect for anything, especially fair play and good old decency. Did you hear Allardyce and Southgate discussing last Sundays penalty? Telling the world their players are coached to go down if they feel the slightest of bumps, otherwise a penalty wont be given? Only in the highest levels of the game would you ever hear that! I could reel off a dozen stories of bad mannered, bad mouthed managers who can hardly string a civil sentance together off camera, only to find them sweetness and light when the cameras are on them. To say that Referees cheat to please these people is fantasy, they have spent many many years getting to the position they are in, they are coached, mentored, trained, analaysed far more then was ever done in the past, can you imagine the pressures they are under when they walk out of the tunnel? No, neither yourself or I could ever imagine. Taking all things into consideration, they get it pretty much spot on, there are exceptions, but the point I make is they are human. Mikes honesty in the beach ball incident is one point in question, he didnt see it and neither did his assistants, they are not allowed to take a look at action replays on the screen, they make their own mind up, right or wrong!

As for action replays and goal line technology, they cant get it right in cricket so why would they get it right in football? In the Ashes last week somebody was not out, then the 3rd Umpire reviewed it only to be given out, then some other technology after the game said the 3rd Umpire was wrong Every law change in recent years speeds up the game, replays would go against all that has gone before. Why should the Premier league (or any other) benefit from this technology? The laws of association football are written for all players of all levels, not some poncey overpaid foreigners who's bonuses will depend on whether a goal has been scored or not, its about real people playing a fantastic game

Mistakes are made, players make mistakes as I mentioned above, so do Referees, managers, Chairman et al.

If you look at the Carrol clip, at 32 seconds you can see the assistant is in the EXACT CORRECT position for the play, he is a good 30 yards from the goal line, so is the Referee, the fact the goalkeeper was chipped from so far out is a freak, the assistant could not possibly have known from his CORRECT position if the ball crossed the line, the commentator knew from his lofty position in the stands, those that were in line new, more importantly so did Carrol, did he say "Sorry guys that went over the line-its a goal" NO of course he didnt, he cheated, the Referee and assistants made the best judgement they could in that position, an honest one

Kingo

[balli hi]

I would'nt disagree with the Carrol explanation , but i would like an oppinion on the Evans V Drogba challenge , how could the Ref possibly arrive at a yellow card for Drogba if he saw the incident , my oppinion is that he guessed and wrongly issued a yellow for Drogba , if he did guess then he's cheated .

[Parts-King]

Well I wasnt the Referee so cannot explain why he did what he did

I hadnt seen the incident for a long time but having looked at it, I think that the Referee was looking at it directly in line, in other words, he had no side view of it and could not have seen through Drogba. It was on the opposite side from his assistant, and he might not have had a good view of it either. They cannot look at replays, they have to make their own decision, they cannnot get Andy Grays view of the incident, I would imagine the conversation to his assistant went something along the lines of "Did you see what happened-was there anything to make Drogba go down? Answer, I didnt see anything" and he then gives Drogba a yellow card for assimulation, lets face it, it wouldnt be the first time a player blames another for hitting/kicking only for the TV to show contact was never made! I accept they got it wrong big time, but thats what happened, it cant be changed now

Players cheat/;play the system in every game, Referee's will never get it right all the time, they are not machines, but on the balance, they get it right most times.

What should happen more often is for the FA to deduct points for cheating, then we would see fairer games and sportsmanship return, fines mean nothing, two weeks pay is the most a player can be fined by the FA, what detterant is that? None at all, but deduct 5 points for deliberate cheating..........now your talking............

[balli hi]

Well I wasnt the Referee so cannot explain why he did what he did

I hadnt seen the incident for a long time but having looked at it, I think that the Referee was looking at it directly in line, in other words, he had no side view of it and could not have seen through Drogba. It was on the opposite side from his assistant, and he might not have had a good view of it either. They cannot look at replays, they have to make their own decision, they cannnot get Andy Grays view of the incident, I would imagine the conversation to his assistant went something along the lines of "Did you see what happened-was there anything to make Drogba go down? Answer, I didnt see anything" and he then gives Drogba a yellow card for assimulation, lets face it, it wouldnt be the first time a player blames another for hitting/kicking only for the TV to show contact was never made! I accept they got it wrong big time, but thats what happened, it cant be changed now

Players cheat/;play the system in every game, Referee's will never get it right all the time, they are not machines, but on the balance, they get it right most times.

What should happen more often is for the FA to deduct points for cheating, then we would see fairer games and sportsmanship return, fines mean nothing, two weeks pay is the most a player can be fined by the FA, what detterant is that? None at all, but deduct 5 points for deliberate cheating..........now your talking............

Now we're cooking i like it , i'd vote for that , just imagine , Utd would get relegated every season

[Parts-King]

Oh I dunno, Mr Drogba might lose you a few points

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAATMG91KUU

Kingo

[balli hi]

I'm not gonna try and defend him Kingo cos the truth is i can't , but he has cleaned up his act a lot in the last couple of seasons and doesn't fall over half as much

Maybe he does it out of frustration cos he gets little or no protection from referees who judge him on reputation rather than what they actually see , i know cos week in week out he gets lumps kicked out of him we've also been denied quite a few legitamate penalties when drogba's been fouled in the box all because of his reputation ..... i did say i wasn't going to defend him

I much prefer this side of him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLa3iS74QII

[Raistlin]

Those were the days....

[bothwell_buyer]

Players who fall over should be shot, like they do in Liberia.

[balli hi]

THEO WALCOTT SHOULDN’T BE THE FALL GUY

Story Image

Theo Walcott took a tumble against Leeds in the FA Cup

Tuesday January 11,2011

By Mick Dennis

SOME folk want Theo Walcott punished after admitting that he dived to try to earn ubiknal a penalty. And that is the sentence that has convinced me, finally, that the game I love is damaged beyond repair.

Walcott took a tumble against Leeds in the FA Cup. Referee Phil Dowd signalled initially for the spot-kick but then changed his mind.

Walcott said: “I apologise to the managers. I actually dived.” Has he brought the game into disrepute, as some deeply misguided punters and pundits are saying? Of course not.

By faking a fall for the first time in his life, Walcott merely succumbed to temptation and peer pressure. For once, he behaved like almost every other footballer in the land, from parks pitches to the Premier League.

By owning up, he struck a rare note of honesty that should jolt his fellow pros into a debate about how dishonesty has become so endemic that a fine young man cheated. Think about it, with the same honesty that Walcott demonstrated after his fall from grace. Think how, every time a ball goes out of play, both teams appeal for the throw or kick. That means one team is lying.

Every time a foul is awarded, the penalised team will protest innocence. Again, they are usually lying. Penalty areas have become like dance halls as everyone grabs a partner. The holding pattern is utterly illegal, but is now so routine that referees have given up trying to police it.

And if you still need convincing that chicanery has become commonplace, consider Dimitar Berbatov’s enthusiastic plunge to the turf in Liverpool’s penalty area on Sunday. I am not accusing Berbatov of cheating, because if he felt the merest, glancing touch on his shin-pad, then he was entitled to hit the deck. That is what referees are told and what they tell others.

But doesn’t that fly in the face of common sense and common decency? Doesn’t that corrupt the basic tenet of sport? Doesn’t that illustrate how debased football has become?

I can tell you how refs arrived at the conclusion that it is perfectly permissible, in certain circumstances, to copy a corpse. It was because they know that, if they cautioned someone for diving and TV replays showed he had been touched, however faintly, then it would be the refs themselves who were castigated.

So officials agreed not to yellow-card anyone they felt had been brushed by an opponent. That led to the belief that it is OK to “draw attention to a foul” by exaggerating its effect. So, as things stand, players don’t have to stand. If the tip of a defender’s toe makes the most minimal contact with the fibres of a sock, then you can imitate the victim of a sniper’s bullet.

That is how I have to referee on Sunday mornings, but I hate doing so. To my mind, a player who “goes down easily” is a fraud. So, although I don’t blame Berbatov for accepting the invitation extended to him by Daniel Agger’s outstretched leg, I ache with shame that football has become so debauched.

I have spent three decades writing and broadcasting in defence of football and refusing to take lectures from posh pastimes, such as rugby and cricket. And Australians fraudulently claiming catches in the Ashes is only the most recent proof that other sports have their conmen.

But rugby union, in which players still refer to referees as “sir”, reacted with horror to Bloodgate. Cricket has marked its abhorrence of the Aussie swindlers. Football shakes its head at Walcott – for owning up.

[balli hi]

Talk of the devil and he will appear , enter Martin Atkinson :ffs: He refereed our game against Blackburn on saturday and it did'nt take him long to get the crowd on his back , this man seems to have a stiffy for chelsea when ever he's in charge of their games , no one can ever be that poor in making consistantly bad decisions in favour of the visiting team , on one occasion a Chelsea player was hacked down and the ball broke loose, a blackburn player toe'd the ball away and a chelsea player ran after it but the ball was always going out . When the foul happened and the ball broke loose Martin Atkinson indicated that he was playing advantage as a chelsea player was in persuit of the ball but the ball ran out of play so no advantage had been gained , so you would have thought that he would bring the play back and award a free kick to Chelsea ..... but true to form he awards a throw in to Blackburn , once a cheat always a cheat by far the worst referee in our game today , by far the best at the moment is Lee Mason , thats not because he referee's games in Chelsea's favour but because he referee's games intelligently and fairly , the best referee i've seen at the bridge this season and every time i've seen him ref games on the box , thats not to say that he doesn't make the odd honest mistake , cos he does , but they are just that... honest .

So the Totscum V Man-u game is underway as i type , be interesting to see how many decisions go in favour of the Manx who knows maybe a miracle will occur and Totscum will get a few go their way .

Martin Atkinson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martin Atkinson

Personal information

Full name Martin Atkinson

Date of birth 31 March 1971 (1971-03-31) (age 39)

Place of birth Yorkshire, England

Domestic

Years League Role

1998–2000 Football League Assistant referee

2000–2003 Premier League Assistant referee

2002–2003 Football Conference Referee

2003–2005 Football League Referee

2005– Premier League Referee

International

Years League Role

2006– FIFA listed Referee

Martin Atkinson (born 31 March 1971) is an English football referee who officiates in the Premier League and for FIFA. He was born in Bradford but is now based in Leeds, Yorkshire.[1]

Contents

[hide]

* 1 Career

o 1.1 FA Trophy Final 2008

o 1.2 Internationals

o 1.3 Europe

o 1.4 Controversies

* 2 Career statistics

o 2.1 Premier League red cards by season

+ 2.1.1 2005–06

+ 2.1.2 2006–07

+ 2.1.3 2007–08

+ 2.1.4 2008–09

+ 2.1.5 2009–10

+ 2.1.6 2010–11

Career

He started his career at the relatively early age of 16 years old. By 1998, he had been promoted to the Football League's list of assistant referees.

This was followed in the year 2000 by elevation to the 'select group' of assistant referees. By December 2002 he was refereeing Football Conference matches,[2] and also refereed the 2003 FA County Youth Cup Final.[3]

At the start of the 2003–04 season, Atkinson joined the national list of referees. He had the distinction of not having to dismiss any player from the field of play between August 2004 and October 2005.

Only two years after his Conference debut, he was appointed to referee his first Premier League game, taking charge of the Manchester City versus Birmingham City on 20 April 2005, cautioning only one player and awarding the home side a penalty kick in a 3–0 result.[4][5]

On 13 August 2006 Atkinson took charge of the FA Community Shield match at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, where Liverpool beat Chelsea 2–1.[6] In the same year he was appointed to the list of FIFA referees.[7]

On 21 August 2007 The Sun newspaper alleged that Atkinson had been withdrawn from the list of referees after failing the prescribed fitness tests. These tests are re-taken after one month.[8]

However, despite this, he did officiate in the 1–0 Premier League win by Manchester United over Sunderland on 1 September 2007.[9]

[edit] FA Trophy Final 2008

Martin Atkinson was appointed to referee the FA Trophy Final 2008, which was played at Wembley on 10 May 2008, and was contested between Ebbsfleet United and Torquay United.[10]

[edit] Internationals

Martin Atkinson officiated the FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Germany and Finland in October 2009 which ended 1-1.[11]

[edit] Europe

Atkinson was the 4th official for the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final, refereed by fellow Englishman Howard Webb.

[edit] Controversies

Atkinson has been involved in various controversies since his career began.

On 6 November 2010, Atkinson refereed Sunderland vs Stoke in which Sunderland were victorious by two goals to nil. Atkinson ruled a Kenwyne Jones header had not crossed the line, failing to notice Lee Cattermole had clearly handled the ball. TV replays were inconclusive on whether the ball was definitely over, but they clearly showed Cattermole using his hand with intent. He went on to dubiously dismiss Ryan Shawcross for a tackle on Frazier Campbell in which Shawcross doesn't appear to touch the player. Tony Pulis was quoted as saying "I thought he was booking Campbell for a dive".

[Parts-King]

So the Totscum V Man-u game is underway as i type , be interesting to see how many decisions go in favour of the Manx who knows maybe a miracle will occur and Totscum will get a few go their way

Referee sends off a UTD player? Whatever next.............

[balli hi]

Hallelujah its a miracle He must have been influenced by this thread shame he didn't send him off when he should have , instead he only gave him a yellow for launching himself studs up at his opponent , if the tottenham player hadn't jumped high to get out of the way of raphaels studs up challenge he might have been nursing a broken leg now , instead Mike Dean issue's a second yellow for an innocuous possibly accidental trip late on , leaving himself open to massive criticism in the media today

[balli hi]

:lol2:

[Parts-King]

Hallelujah its a miracle He must have been influenced by this thread shame he didn't send him off when he should have , instead he only gave him a yellow for launching himself studs up at his opponent , if the tottenham player hadn't jumped high to get out of the way of raphaels studs up challenge he might have been nursing a broken leg now , instead Mike Dean issue's a second yellow for an innocuous possibly accidental trip late on , leaving himself open to massive criticism in the media today

I thought Mike had an excellent game, good sense shown, the Raphael challenge was a yellow card offence all day long. As for the second yellow, people think it was harsh, could'nt get out of the way bla bla, Well I think he knew exactly what he was doing and did the old, "who me-I never do anything wrong look" to get out of, what was a trip

What is a yellow card?

The yellow card is shown to a player to communicate that he is receiving an official caution by the Referee, an official caution means that if you continue to commit a further offence, you COULD be shown a further yellow card and sent from the field of play (Which is the reason a lot of players are subbed after a yellow card) IMHO Raphael showed little respect for anybody on the day and was lucky to stay on as long as he did after that tackle

A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the

following seven offences:

• unsporting behaviour

• dissent by word or action

• persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game

• delaying the restart of play

• failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner

kick, free kick or throw-in

• entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee’s permission

• deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission

Rapahel committed several tough challenges and think he could have got another card at any stage in the game, it could even have been for persistant misconduct, but the heavy challenge with one foot up with studs showing is a yellow card

Kingo

[balli hi]

In my book the first studs up flying challenge was a red card , i understand the rules but sometimes Refs need to apply a bit of common sense , just last week a newcastle player saw red for what the Ref adjudged to be a two footed tackle , the Newcastle player won the ball cleanly wrapping one foot around it and did not foul his opponent , however because the rules state that you cannot go into a challenge with both feet off the ground the REf sent him off, where's the consistency , replays clearly showed that no contact had been made with the opponent , which brings me back to the Rafael tackle , did both feet leave the ground ? i don't care if he only led with one foot , his studs were clearly up he was not in control , flying wrecklessly into the challenge and was lucky that the Spurs player managed to avoid the full force of the tackle , i don't care what the rules state its a red card for me , what the rules are saying is its Ok to leave the floor so long as you only lead with one foot , what i mean by common sense refereeing is each tackle should be judged on merit on intent etc , also i wonder just how many Football League Refs have actually ever played the game at any level.

[Parts-King]

You answered most of your question yourself B_H

It matters not that you DO or DONT take a player out, if you jump in with both feet off the ground you will be sent off, jumping in with one foot with studs up is not the same and does not carry the same sanction

Sadly B_H your book is not the laws of Assosiation Football ;) The offence was jumping at an opponant and punishable with a yellow card, to jump in with BOTH feet, REGARDLESS of contact being made is a red card

As for Refs being EX players, well, most have played, just like myself, at a parks and gardens level. it has been tried and done to death in the past, EX players neither have the aptitude or willingness to Referee, ask any player pro or amateur to take the whistle and have a go...........Not a chance, they would avoid it like the plague! The FA ran a fast track programme for ex players to turn into Referees a few years back, it was a complete failure, they are just not up to it and would rather go into physio or management, and lets face it, most of them make a hash at that too!

TV punditry is the future, you sit in a warm office for a few hours, have a meal before, drinks after, transport home or a hotel for the night, and all you have to do is mumble a few words about how the man in the middle made one wrong decision out of the 50 or so he would make in a game.......and oh.....get paid a fortune for doing it too!

As for mistakes, did you see last Sundays MOTD 2? Once again it was littered with players paid 50K a week plus to score goals, blasting balls over or wide of the post from 6-8 yards, incredible incompetance, but did they get a metion anywhere? No of course not, it's not newsworthy

Kingo

[balli hi]

You answered most of your question yourself B_H

It matters not that you DO or DONT take a player out, if you jump in with both feet off the ground you will be sent off, jumping in with one foot with studs up is not the same and does not carry the same sanction

Sadly B_H your book is not the laws of Assosiation Football ;) The offence was jumping at an opponant and punishable with a yellow card, to jump in with BOTH feet, REGARDLESS of contact being made is a red card

As for Refs being EX players, well, most have played, just like myself, at a parks and gardens level. it has been tried and done to death in the past, EX players neither have the aptitude or willingness to Referee, ask any player pro or amateur to take the whistle and have a go...........Not a chance, they would avoid it like the plague! The FA ran a fast track programme for ex players to turn into Referees a few years back, it was a complete failure, they are just not up to it and would rather go into physio or management, and lets face it, most of them make a hash at that too!

TV punditry is the future, you sit in a warm office for a few hours, have a meal before, drinks after, transport home or a hotel for the night, and all you have to do is mumble a few words about how the man in the middle made one wrong decision out of the 50 or so he would make in a game.......and oh.....get paid a fortune for doing it too!

As for mistakes, did you see last Sundays MOTD 2? Once again it was littered with players paid 50K a week plus to score goals, blasting balls over or wide of the post from 6-8 yards, incredible incompetance, but did they get a metion anywhere? No of course not, it's not newsworthy

Kingo

Does the Ref have the power to apply common sense or is he merely a robot , the rules of the game are made by the International Football Association Board the IFAB, which is made up of representatives from FIFA and the Football Associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, basically thats Fifa saying these are the rules and everyone else saying yes sir no sir three bags full sir , remind me again who is the president of Fifa ? Sepp Blatter, exactly some nutter who is more interested in the size of his bank balance ( yes i agree that applys to players as well ) rather than actually studying the game properly and getting the rules right , anyways , Refs do have the power to apply the rules as they see fit don't they , and thats my point , why else was Wayne Rooney only shown a yellow card for a foul mouthed torrent at the Ref , what do the rules state ?

Answer :

* Yellow Card - A ‘caution’ given to a player. If two of these cards are shown to the same player, it means a…

* Red Card - Showing a red card to a player means he/she is expelled from the match. A straight red card (no previous ‘caution’) can be shown for extreme offences such as serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting, deliberate hand-ball to prevent a goal, a professional foul (denying a goalscoring opportunity) and insulting language and/or gestures.

So Refs can apply common sense as they see it when they want to and ignore the rules when their bottle go's , cos thats exactly why he didn't red card Rooney and why he didn't red card Rafael when he should have , and don't get me started on Vidic , you say the Ref had an excellent game Kingo yet you also said that Rafael was lucky to have stayed on the pitch for as long as he did or words to that effect, i couldn't agree more with that bit , but what that tells me is the Ref let a lot go and didn't apply the rules to the letter of the law , you can't have it both ways

Plank Blatter Fifa President

Joseph S. Blatter

Country of Birth

Switzerland

Date of Birth

10 March 1936

Mother tongue

German

Other Languages

French, English, Spanish, Italian

Place of Residence

Zurich, Switzerland

FIFA Executive Member Since

1998

Occupation

FIFA President

General Secretary 1981-1998, Technical Director 1975-1981

Biography

Joseph S. (Sepp) Blatter was born on 10 March 1936 in the Swiss town of Visp, near the famous Matterhorn. He graduated from the Sion and St. Maurice colleges in Switzerland with a school-leaving certificate and then gained a degree as Bachelor of Business Administration and Economics from the Faculty of Law at Lausanne University. Joseph Blatter has one daughter.

Sports activities

* Active footballer from 1948 to 1971 (played for the Swiss amateur league in the top division)

* Member of the Board of Xamax Neuchâtel FC from 1970 to 1975

* Member of the Panathlon Club (society of sports managers)

* Since 1956 member of the Swiss Association of Sportswriters

* Since 1999 member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

[Parts-King]

There are no rules in association football, they are laws ;)

Just like a Police officer has the power to arrest you, he could also educate you and tell you to get on your way

Foul, abusive and insulting language has always been, and will always be, a bone of contention with a lot of grass roots Referee's. They see players week in and week out fire torrents of abuse at not only Referees but their colleagues, assistants, managers and spectators, Police or whoever. Most Referees at the higher end of the game will tell you they cant hear it over the roar of the crowd, which to me is a poor excuse when a Rooney, Cole or whoever wags a finger in your face and bellows abuse at you, they should be dealt with in the correct manner, which leads on to another point, the managers!

The managers hold a lot of power, and their representatives dont want poor little Rooney or whoever sent off week in and week out, its not good for the paying fans to see their flagship players sent off for what is considered in the game as indudstrial language used in the heat of the moment. Very rarely do you see a player sent off for using bad language, not often enough in my book, but some of the things they get away with in higher levels would not be tolerated at parks and gardens level, young players who emulate the Rooney and Coles of this world soon find that out when they blast a torrent of abuse and think its OK to do so

It's not a perfect world or a perfect game, thats what makes it so fantastic

Kingo

[balli hi]

Nicely put Kingo

I wonder whatever came of this trial in the Arngrove Northern league Second Division ( who ? )

FA to ban swearing? – #### off!

By Graham Fisher on February 20th, 2008.

FA to ban swearing? – #### off!

You may not have heard of the Arngrove Northern League second division but it is to become a very important League for the future of football in England.

The league, which is based in the North-East of England and features such teams as Esh Winning and Norton and Stockton Ancients, is being used from next season as a guinea pig for an FA backed scheme that could change the face of the game.

Referees in that league will be showing an automatic red card to any player, manager or official, who uses foul language. Referees will rigidly enforce the existing rules, and the FA say that the scheme will be extended to other leagues if it is a success.

Arngrove Northern League chairman Mike Amos told the BBC: “I hope it will be a first step towards reclaiming the game from the foul mouthed yobs that increasingly are driving good people – spectators, volunteers and match officials – away from football.

“I’m delighted that the FA has agreed to back us – it could be a momentous day in the history of non-league football.

“There’s still a long way to go and a lot to be done, but the tide of verbal sewage with which paying spectators are greeted could at last be about to turn.”

FA referees’ committee chairman Ray Lewis, himself a former top referee, said that the experiment fitted well with the FA’s Respect scheme, which is being trailed in junior football, and was covered in detail at Soccerlens here: Can the FA Teach Young Footballers Respect For Referees?

He told the BBC: “The Northern League is right to be concerned at the unacceptable level of offensive language. We will watch very closely how this works out.”

Foul and abusive language has long been a problem in the English game from grassroots level up to the Premier League. You do not need to be a trained lip reader to work out some of things said by Wayne Rooney and others to the referees and assistant referees during every game. I have often wondered what other players actually say in order to get sent off for using foul and abusive language. Rooney has used my full repertoire and not been dismissed, so maybe there are some words that I don't know about!

Law 12 of the rule book says that: “A player is sent off and shown the red card if he… uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures.”

This is one of the problems facing referees. The rule is very clear. A player using foul language must be sent off. He cannot be cautioned, which on occasions, may be more appropriate. A referee cannot caution a player for foul and abusive language, because in these days of referee’s assessor’s he would be strongly criticised.

I approached local referees for a view on this trial scheme but was informed that under FIFA rules referees are not allowed to speak to the press unless it is to promote kids at grass roots getting involved with refereeing. What a shame this is, as the fact that referees rarely give their opinion about matters is seen as a failing of the officials. Instead of informed comment and explanation we have to rely on the self publicising rants of ex-referees like Jeff Winter and Graham Poll. So, anyway, I am unable to tell you whether referees think this is a good idea.

I have spoken to players from Dog and Duck pub team level all the way up to Professional players in the Conference league. The trial idea has met universally with a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head. Nobody disagrees that personal abuse directed at an official should be dealt with by way of a red card. However, players feel that it is a ‘mans game’ and poor passes, shanked shots and sliced clearances are always likely to be followed by an expletive. This is human nature and not an ‘evil’ in the game.

Wayne Rooney’s club manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the Mail on Sunday that he supported the initiative. “I think at junior level and for Sunday morning it’s a great idea,” he said. “The right practices have to be in place at an early age.”

Unsurprisingly, Sir Alex was less keen on the idea being implemented in the Premier League. “It is harder at the higher levels. Trying to cut out bad language there is like trying to get rid of it from a factory or a shop floor.”

Fergie went on to say, “But there does have to be a line drawn by the referee in terms of what he views as being abusive language in terms of how it is used. That is the dividing line and that is important. I don’t think the referee likes to be called bad and insulting things so it’s a matter of drawing a line. But yes we need to try to eliminate the swearing from boys’ football and Sunday football.”

It is a little difficult to see where Sir Alex is coming from here in relation to Sunday football. I’m not sure why it is important to stamp out swearing in park game between two hungover pub sides in front of one man and his dog, but not so important in a Premier League game in front of 70,000 people and millions worldwide looking at close up shots of the players reactions.

Clearly it is important to eliminate swearing from children’s football, but I would hope that is done anyway. Certainly at the kids football I’ve been to watch, swearing results in the player at least being substituted.

It is the grassroots football that follows the example set by the players at the top of the game. If Rooney was routinely sent off for his rants (sorry to keep picking on Wayne, but he is an obvious example) then Sir Alex would very quickly make sure it didn’t happen again. If he stopped doing it, it would become less likely that kids and Sunday players would continue to do it.

Swearing at a match official should undoubtedly be outlawed. I don’t think many people would disagree with that. Swearing generally cannot be outlawed and is a ridiculous idea to try to do so. I certainly understand what the FA are trying to do with this scheme, and I support the sentiment. I just think that they are tackling the problem the wrong way. It is not swearing that is the issue, it is the respect for referees in general that needs addressing. I know the comparison with Rugby referees is boring, but it does show that every decision doesn’t have to be argued or contested.

The football world will be waiting with much interest to see the results of this trial in the little known Arngrove League.

Read more: http://soccerlens.com/fa-to-ban-swearing/5930/#ixzz1BU4oO8Kh