Thursday, November 08, 2007
The referee's a bar stud
One knock on effect of wall to wall TV coverage is the proliferation of ex stars now being employed to offer professional insight to what actually happens on the pitch. So pervasive are these people now that every man and his dog can converse at great length on the relative merits of 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 but everyone overlooks the importance of the players. Another effect is how often these ex players get sly digs in on the refs.
Alan Smith the other day is a case in point. There was an incident on the touch line which the ref, at ground level. Smith, with all the benefit of being in the gantry and surrounded by TV screens picked up on it straight away and in his eyes the replays should the ref got it wrong. The ref of course lacking all these luxuries had a millisecond to make a decision and, yes, get it wrong. A player gets it wrong and he was unfortunate, unsighted, having his period!
I’m sure many refs, when they were younger, kicked a ball around. You couldn’t say many players tried being a ref. it’s worth bearing that in mind next time you hear an ex pro pontificating on an officials’ performance. It’s almost like the leaving school, once the player hangs up his boots and picks up the microphone he remembers with bitterness the man in the middle and how much untold grief he dished out during his playing career.
These ex players are quick to say a ref had a stinker. Refs are mute, they have no comeback. But the mic jockeys rarely criticize one of their own do they? To do that would be to lose access to the players, perhaps his major selling point, to perhaps lose a golfing partner or even to lose a source of free tickets.
What we end up with is managers, ex players, pundits, present players all singing from the same song sheet. A team lost the game because of some dreadful reffing decisions. Forget the fact that the expensively put together forward line missed half a dozen sitters and your international keeper couldn’t catch an STD going bare back in a cheap Pattaya knocking shop. Nope, what lost you the game was an incident when the ref missed a hand ball, foul, tug because he was unsighted.
Every once in a while a pundit might say there needs to be more players becoming refs when they retire. By this they mean someone else, not them because they have punditry and golf to keep themselves busy. No, better a seasoned pro, been around a bit, knows the game. Preferably from the lower leagues. That way they are more expendable in the chase for cheap headlines.
Alan Smith the other day is a case in point. There was an incident on the touch line which the ref, at ground level. Smith, with all the benefit of being in the gantry and surrounded by TV screens picked up on it straight away and in his eyes the replays should the ref got it wrong. The ref of course lacking all these luxuries had a millisecond to make a decision and, yes, get it wrong. A player gets it wrong and he was unfortunate, unsighted, having his period!
I’m sure many refs, when they were younger, kicked a ball around. You couldn’t say many players tried being a ref. it’s worth bearing that in mind next time you hear an ex pro pontificating on an officials’ performance. It’s almost like the leaving school, once the player hangs up his boots and picks up the microphone he remembers with bitterness the man in the middle and how much untold grief he dished out during his playing career.
These ex players are quick to say a ref had a stinker. Refs are mute, they have no comeback. But the mic jockeys rarely criticize one of their own do they? To do that would be to lose access to the players, perhaps his major selling point, to perhaps lose a golfing partner or even to lose a source of free tickets.
What we end up with is managers, ex players, pundits, present players all singing from the same song sheet. A team lost the game because of some dreadful reffing decisions. Forget the fact that the expensively put together forward line missed half a dozen sitters and your international keeper couldn’t catch an STD going bare back in a cheap Pattaya knocking shop. Nope, what lost you the game was an incident when the ref missed a hand ball, foul, tug because he was unsighted.
Every once in a while a pundit might say there needs to be more players becoming refs when they retire. By this they mean someone else, not them because they have punditry and golf to keep themselves busy. No, better a seasoned pro, been around a bit, knows the game. Preferably from the lower leagues. That way they are more expendable in the chase for cheap headlines.
# posted by Me @ 10:07 AM 
