Ask the blogger #1: State of modern refereeing by Les Rosbifs

Welcome to our brand new feature “Ask The Blogger”, where we ask some of the blogosphere’s leading bloggers questions relating to refereeing in the game we all know and love. First up is Gav, the founder and editor of the legendary Les Rosbifs, a blog that follows English footballers and managers plying their trade abroad. You can follow Gav on Twitter, @LesRosbifs and visit the site http://lesrosbifs.net/

Hi Gav. First up, what is your general opinion of refereeing in the league/country you watch most often?

I don’t really have a specific league I watch all the time, due to my teams being all over the place. I will watch any game I can though and the same thing crops up, particularly in English football: the referee lacks the respect his position warrants. Standards in England are, generally, a lot better since my days as a ref (1994 Norfolk Youth Cup Final being the highlight of my career) – officials are fitter, work better in teams, do a lot of video analysis, liaise so know what idiosyncrasies with teams and players. It is a hell of a job and even though it is often repeated, until you have had a go, you have no idea.

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There tend to be two lines of thought and they usually depend on whether the decision has gone for or against your team, either the referees aren’t up to standard and need better training/wages or they have an incredibly difficult job and we should feel sorry for them. Which do you think is the main cause of poor refereeing decisions?

I don’t think we should feel sorry for them, especially those who treat the job as a competition (amongst their peers) and/or come across as lording it on the football pitch. But it is a terribly difficult thing. It is human nature to make mistakes, yet if the referee makes one, who does he have to fall back on? if a player makes one, he has ten men around him who can rectify that error. The referee has nobody, hence they need the support of technology. It’s ridiculous that, in the 21st century and the way technology is these days, a role as vital and as individual as running a football match uses none.

Standards are better than 15-20 years ago, I am certain of that. But the pressure on the man on the middle has grown disproportionately to what he has available to him to make his decisions.

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We’ve all read about the various features that might help improve the game e.g. goal-line technology, sin bins, hawk-eye etc, but if you had the option to introduce just one system that you felt would help what would it be and why?

Video replays. You have a catch-all for goalline technology as well then. You already have a fourth official at the match, so the only expense needed (certainly for top league matches) is access to the video replays. There is so much at stake in games these days (down to money, according to my mum) that games, seasons, careers can turn on one error by one man: the referee. Let’s help that man: give him the tools he needs to make a better judgement. We’re not talking of stopping the game every 30-odd seconds though, with 2-3 minutes each time to assess what happened. If the referee is genuinely uncertain (or one of his officials), call a technical time-out (or somesuch Americanised name) and chat to the fourth official via mic or whatever. He will have access to the replay(s) and between them, they can sort out the errors. It need not take long – certainly no longer than most feigned injuries take to clear – so why not?

And I don’t buy the ‘It will never work’ argument. As far as I can see from the copious rugby league, American football, etc games I have seen it used, video technology works rather well.

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The “Respect” campaign hasn’t been a success, what do you think should be done to change the culture of referee intimidation and lack of respect for officials in football?

Everyone is entitled to their opinion on a decision but I think it is about time the ball was given back to the referees. Respect should not just be afforded to them (and the opponents) but also to the rules. Therefore, fight fire with fire and punish teams who constantly intimidate or rally against decisions. I intimated earlier about straight red cards and/or an extra ten yards or so at a set-piece. I think both can be implemented into football without changing the nature of the game drastically. It may take some getting used to, it may see some farcical matches at first. But, like a new tactic or player introduced to a team, it should be given a chance to settle down.

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If you could change one rule, that you feel currently adversely affects the game, which would it be and why?

I would look to stamp out dissent and intimidation of the referee, either by ensuring such incidents resulted in a straight red card or a set-piece being pushed forward ten yards. Why? On a day when an FA Cup qualifying round game had to be abandoned after a player assaulted a referee, it highlights how far dissent has become the norm. Players are prepared to push the boundaries a little bit further; of course a referee can attempt to stamp this out early on in a match (or not, as in the case of Howard Webb in the 2010 World Cup Final), but to have one or two clear, set-in-stone strategies he could penalise teams with, it would make his job easier and stamp such things out.

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Would you ever consider training to be a referee at a lower level?

When I realised I would never make it as a player (thanks, Ade Akinbiyi), I trained to be a referee back in 1991, when I was 14 and refereed across the Anglian Combination and other leagues of Norwich and Norfolk. Most of the time I would be in charge with two ‘club linesmen’, who invariably would be incompetent, biased or both. I gave it up when I got into coaching but still referee the odd game at school. tellingly, children do try to bend the rules and show more dissent towards decisions than they did back then. As clichéd as it sounds, they see this sort of behaviour as excusable because players get away with it at the top levels.

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Finally, a quick quiz question. A defender is taking a free kick outside his own area, he plays the ball back towards his keeper not realising that the keeper is standing to one side of the area and isn’t guarding the net. The ball rolls towards goal and the same defender races back to stop it crossing the line, he slices his clearance and the ball crosses the line, much to the delight of the opposition. What should the referee do and why?

Depends if it is an indirect free-kick or not. If it is indirect, the attacking team will be awarded a corner. Odd.

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I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Gav for taking part, it was great to get some insight into his view on officials, the job they do and the obstacles they face. If you’re a blogger and want to take part in Ask The Blogger you can contact us by email [email protected] or via Twitter @Deb_Decisions.

As for the quiz question, we’re going to hold off on the answer for now and see what one or two other bloggers might make of that scenario, if you think you know the answer feel free to leave a comment, you could show the bloggers up!