Sunday 20 March 2011

Howard Webb keping up with the Joneses!

It's beginning to look as if a new law has been introduced to the game without anybody telling us. Mr Jones spent the whole of the second half last week, apparently trying to redress his perceived error when not disallowing Piquionne's handball when scoring; and yesterday, after doubt over a late flag which ruled out a Blackpool goal, Webb seemed to seize the first opportunity to award the Tangerine Dreamers a penalty, even though nobody in the stadium was calling for a spot kick, not even Ollie!

You have to wonder if Holloway will now be on an FA charge for saying that Webb got it wrong when awarding his own team a penalty...and then going on to explain how the man who ruined a World Cup Final then made a whole series of mistakes in the run up to the Blackburn equaliser. Once again, we saw a referee, like Jones at Stoke, apparently refereeing on the basis of balancing out cock ups.

And yes, here it is! I've found the wording in the latest rule book for Association Football in England: "And lo, if He who wears black maketh himself look a total cnut, he shall, at every opportunity thereafter, do what evereth He can to confirm that impression. For in a game the rule must apply, "If once a cnut, always a cnut"!"

6 comments:

Sav said...

Maybe we should bring in referees from Spain. They do mistakes but not anywhere near as many or as horrendous as the ones we see English referees do week in and week out in the Premier League. Even Cypriot referees would be an improvement!

Stani Army said...

They should make it an optional unit for young upcoming managers to serve as a ref for one year during their badges. Then you will get people that have played the game refereeing. Some may even stay on. Just an idea, but the more explayers as refs, the better.

jim wicks said...

Is it not time for the FA, UEFA and that other shower FIFA to sort out the use of technology.
Rugby uses it to good effect, evan cricket has enbraced the use of it.
It is not that the referees are bad, but they could do with the support!

John said...

I think it would help if linesmen had a more prominent role especially if there were linesmen at each end as well.
I noticed on match of the day two opposing players hurtling forward and leaping towards a high cross, just as the forward was about to head towards goal the defenders arm came forward and the heel of his hand hit the back of the forwards head hard knocking it downwards, the forward still made contact with the ball but didn't score. The ref didn't stand any chance of seeing this, but the linesman would have. It should have been a penalty

Hammersfan said...

Then the assistant ref should have flagged. They are in radio contact with the ref anyway! So much for keeping it like park football!

Chunky said...

Sav, i almost agree with you there. PL refs are backed by the FA regardless of their performances. Why would you bother to do a good job if you were never going to be repremanded? It has created a culture of laziness and unimportance.

Referees should be made to explain their decisions publicly in dubious instances rather than the current system of 'the refs are always right, even after the final whistle, and anyone who disagrees can expect a touchline ban'