Lets Start by Clearing Some Stuff Up
People who come away from any football game blaming the referees are idiots. At any level, whether it is a grass roots game, Premier League or a World Cup Final. Your team lost the game. The officials could have made a mistake yet your team probably didn't take their chances or were weak defensively. There's more chance your team's players were making mistakes and you need a scapegoat. "Target the refs, its the easiest way out." To be honest, if you're going to a grass roots game and complaining about the ref, go home and take a look in the mirror. Maybe give your head a shake. You are the problem. The refs at those games are most likely volunteering, giving up their weekends, officiating for free to work their way up the ladder or possibly just to be involved in a sport that they love.
This is not a post about bashing the officials that we have in English football. This is to talk and discuss about the problems that we have in the game right now and what could be done to improve it. Suggestions coming out saying the officials should be doing interviews after the game aren't a good idea for me. The only time you're going to want to hear from a ref is when they've done something wrong or made a bad decision. If the officials were hardly involved in the game, went unnoticed and the game ran smoothly, do you still want to hear from the ref?
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I'm Sick of Talking About it, But Here We Go...
"You go on about VAR this, VAR that, help the officials out. Clearly they need help. We play in the Premier League, the best league in the world, the most watched league in the world. So give them all the help they need cos they've clearly cost us two points today. It's a joke!"
Charlie Austin, 10 November 2018.
For me, most of the time, the biggest problem isn't the officials on the pitch. There's 4 of them. They're human and they're going to make mistakes. That's part of the game. Whenever you watch a game now that's not a Premier League game; in the Championship for example; there's no VAR. Actually, it's quite refreshing and to be honest; 99% of the time; I'm not complaining about the officials at the end of the game. Sometimes there are howlers of decisions. Every now and again there's a close offside missed or a hand ball missed but when you go back to it and watch it again you can show sympathy and see why a certain decision has been missed or why a decision has been given that way. Sometimes in a game there's a foul, hand ball or offside in the build up to a goal and you don't even notice it, until you see the replay in super slow-mo.
I find games without VAR more refreshing to watch. If you have VAR in a game, how can you still be getting so many decisions wrong. Maybe the decisions aren't wrong by the letter of the law and I think that is the biggest annoyance in the game these days. The way these laws and rules are written are bollocks. Utter bollocks. There's either too much interpretation and opinion or not enough. The game is all about opinions and debate. It could have gone this way, or that way. However, my problem is when you see a decision and 99 people out of 100; because there's always a village idiot; can clearly see the referee has got it wrong. My problem isn't that the ref or lino has got it horribly wrong, it's that a person sat at a TV screen, who has the ability to re-watch and re-watch, from practically any angle they want and still not see the mistake.
VAR was brought in to correct the howler and the misidentification. Like that one for Arsenal in 2014 against Chelsea, where Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain denied a goal using his hand and Kieran Gibbs was shown a red card. It was clear misidentification, even with 'Ox' explaining to the official it was him. Howlers of decisions pop up all over the place. These things happen. There's only 4 officials at the game and they only have 2 eyes each. Things can be missed and things can be seen wrongly. It happens. Yet the way VAR has been used recently is not for the reason and ways we were told they would be. A big problem for lots of people is the time it take to get to the decision; whether they agree with the decision made or not; and the actual wording of the rules and laws now.
Why are the rules and laws written in such a way. This for me is why there is so much confusion and inconsistency around the game now. Also, the reason why there are so many strange red cards and disallowed goals. It is taking the game away from the fans. When a decision has been passed over to VAR, there have been instances where it has taken over 3 or 4 minutes. What are the fans doing in this time? There's not real explanation to fans in the stadium and they're the ones who pay their hard earned money to buy the tickets. These days ticket prices are astronomical and the fans are sitting there looking at a screen saying, "possible handball" or "possible offside." How is that fair?
They have to make edits to the game, from how it is today and make is more spectator friendly. One easy way of doing this is letting the fans watch replays on the big screen. Let them see what you would be able to see if you was at home or down the pub watching on TV. Or a big one for me; and I've been saying it for years; mic the refs up and let the stadium hear them. This way it can be explained in a tenth of the time and everyone knowns what's going on. I'm not saying do what happened in the Women's Euros, where the whole game stops just so we can listen. Mic the official up, so we can hear them the whole game. Let us listen to the conversations throughout the game and we, as fans, can see the process into the making of the decision.
Another positive of this will be the respect for referees. Do this and watch how much the players swear and mistreat the referees. There's so much cancel culture in society now. Rightly or wrongly, that's for another debate. What I'm saying is, players now-a-days are making themselves into a brand and want to be role models in society more than ever. Do you think it makes them look good if they're heard swearing and insulting referees every week.
Maybe certain changes could be trialled in lower leagues. Could teams being given a number of 'challenges' per game be the way to go? Or would this bring in more tactics to either waste time or kill the momentum of a trailing team towards the end of a game? A team is 1-0 up with 5 minutes to go and under the cosh, all of a sudden they challenge a decision and the game is stopped for a minute or three. Pressure over and a breather. To me this also sounds very American Football. Our game doesn't have the natural breaks in game play like NFL, tennis or rugby. Therefore, I don't see a practical way of bringing in challenges.
Realistically, I would bring in a 30 second rule. The Video Assistant Referee has 30 seconds to look at a scenario to decide to overturn a decision. Any longer than 30 seconds and it's deemed not a howler, as a result, it is not a howler. Carry on. Even if the VAR are not overturning a decision and have made spotted something on on field officials haven't, they are still only allowed to look at a clip for 30 seconds max. And none of this super slow-mo crap. The scenario must be played in full speed for the decision to be made this speed must be taken into strong consideration. I agree slow it down to see; for example; if the ball hits the arm or shoulder, or if it has taken a deflection, and even if the arm is in a natural position, yet even when you're talking about it there is so much interpretation to what is or isn't.
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Big Ref, Little Ref.
I would like to think that these officials in our game in England don't have a corrupt bone in their body. I would also like to think they are very professional and when it comes to officiating certain games with certain teams they are not swayed. I believe the current crop of officials in the Premier League are as professional as ever. Yet I can't help think that there is a hierarchy within the official's team.
They have a mix of experience and newer referees. Some have a vast amount of Premier League games officiated in and go off to be chosen for European competition or even World Stage competition. If one of these experienced referees gets a decision wrong, how likely are one of the newer, lower down the pecking order, referees going to correct them. I sometimes see it and think, "If he overturns his decision, when they get back to Stockley Park on Monday, he's going to be given the "hair drier treatment, and he knows it."
I bet some of these refs have bigger egos than some of the players and don't like being shown up. Then I bet if they are, the one who corrected them and showed them up are punished by not officiating in the Premier League the next weekend. This almost creates a pact. A bit like the magicians circle. Referees Only Club.
Even on the highlight shows and Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, they'll have an experienced ex-referee talking us through that side of the game. It's usually someone like Dermott Gallagher or Mike Dean. Fantastic referees back in the day. They both officiated some huge games in English football and probably around the world. How many mistakes do you reckon they made across their careers? Tonnes. Fucking tonnes, and they are still up their with the best the Premier League has produced and seen.
Now. How many times on these shows do they see a decision that everyone else is saying is wrong; clearly wrong; and they stick up for the ref? Happens all the time. Most times I see it the ex-ref on the show is explaining how it is actually not that bad of a decision and how they can see why they've made that decision. It's a piss take. This goes back to my point on how I think the officials these days have a pact. They look after each other. There's nothing wrong with sticking by your mates but in their instance, for me, they come out looking like cowards. Have some accountability. Hold your hand up, have some dignity and admit that they made a mistake. If they did this they would come out with so much more respect and actually more humanity. Managers, coaches, players, people in everyday life make mistakes, and so do referees. Just admit it and stop trying to hide behind one another.
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