Yeah I know the irony of saying this as a city fan, but seriously, the treatment they are getting is no better than dele alli or maguire. I know they constantly make shit calls and protect each others’ shit calls and so on, but it’s not like they purposely tried to be bad. For their own sake I hope they don’t go anywhere online, coz if it were me I would jump right off a bridge seeing all those comments. I get that it’s super frustrated when they make a bad call aganist your team, but that doesn’t justified making shit comments. Mental health matters for everyone, not just people you like.
But perhaps more importantly, who the fuck would want to be a ref? Even if someone tried, they most likely will quit within a few years. The abuse don’t just happen in the prem, but also in lower leagues and even youth levels. If no new refs are coming in, the refs that we all love to complain about will still be here 10 years later, and the refs performance would still remain the same. Championship refs are just the same if not worse and promoting them is not a solution.
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Probably right message, wrong messenger. Can’t imagine a worse fanbase to be advocating for the referees right now. They’re literally getting gigs in the UAE.
I don’t think so. Decent referees are usually very well respected. Even Howard Webb who made a lot of mistakes was well respected because he was not corrupt and was there to make the game better and not for the power thrill
You’re surely not talking about the bald head Howard Webb?
Refeering is like a decades of near minimum wage work at lower leagues before you get what barely classifies as a middle class income at top level. Even without the abuse, who would want to be a ref? No wonder there is a shortage of refs.
Middle class don’t get paid 120k+ a year and get flied to UAE for games with a big bonus all the while doing 5-6 hours of work in a week
least biased City fan
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I was about to make this post, but has it always been like this? Ive been watching the PL intensely this season as im following spurs now (aussie) and just every manager has a problem with it every single game.
I know refs cop it all the time, what sticks out to me was opening game of the 2016 WC brazil v croatia where neymar dives and brazil gets a pen and croatia lose (thats my recollection of it, i was 17 and barely watching football except the WC, i could be completely wrong)
But it seems every game every team there is am issue
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does that make my point less valid?
Yes
If there was legitimate accountability then that’s a path that teams could pursue and fans would be somewhat mollified. But as there is no genuine accountability then people will feel justified in venting through invectives.
(Trying to paraphrase this JFK quote: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." to a much more small stakes situation. And not condoning violence in any way.)
If they were better they wouldn’t be disrespected.
As someone who officiated for 17 years, every ref knew what they signed up for.
There is very little I haven’t seen, heard, or experienced in those 17 years of experience. I’ve had my share of great games, nightmare games, good moments, and scary moments.
If there’s one thing I know for sure is that anyone who has actually officiated for real won’t see the game the same was they did before.
The other thing I know for sure is that those who have always complained the loudest about referees are usually the ones who get absolutely humbled in the entry level course. Those people are always the ones that say “I thought referees were terrible and that I knew a thing or two about refereeing. Turns out I know fuck all about refereeing.” Happens every time.
I have doubt of your experience
What’s an important skill referees need which you think us laypersons take for granted?
Game/player management and foul selection were the major issues being addressed when I stopped officiating. Those areas are what referees learn once they’ve demonstrated that they have good foul recognition.
Just this weekend, Wolves won the game because the referee DIDN’T call the foul in an area of the pitch where you’d usually see a foul call given. No fan would have picked up let alone give credit where credit is due on something like that.
In fact, fans almost never give credit to referees for goals being scored from giving advantage or not giving those free kicks. An inexperienced or “fan ref” would always give those calls and cost a team a potential goal.
The other thing is, if someone is a good/fair ref then they just arent going to cop it anywhere near as much. Sure you will still cop a bit from ppl in the heat of the moment, but then majority of ppl will accept that you have done a good job. Todays refs in the PL are rarely good or fair, so tbh they deserve a fair amount of the crap that they get thrown at them imo. I know thats harsh, but like you said, you know what you are signing up for.
The other thing I know for sure is that those who have always complained the loudest about referees are usually the ones who get absolutely humbled in the entry level course. Those people are always the ones that say “I thought referees were terrible and that I knew a thing or two about refereeing. Turns out I know fuck all about refereeing.” Happens every time.
They also expect that a referee that makes a couple of bad decisions should be demoted to the lower division.
Imagine if players we held to that standard? Surely they would start playing better right?
Demoting someone to the lower league isn’t that simple. It is a numbers game and an issue of performance for all officials being assigned.
Referees are private contractors, although at EPL level, the officials are given a base salary plus game fees. I am not sure if the referees in the Championship are given a base salary at all. In any case, there are only so many referees and so many games. Sending officials down to the Championship would also mean those referees are losing money.
The worst case scenario is for a referee to not be assigned a game at all. This means that whatever you did was so bad that the assigner doesn’t trust you to be on the pitch at all.
Players are held to a much lower standard than officials when it comes to tolerating mistakes. As an Arsenal fan, there have been plenty of players through the years at Arsenal that somehow play regularly. It is also a fact that given the ludicrous sums of money spent on player transfers and wages, as well as politics behind the scenes, there are a lot of questionable decisions when it comes to players. Willian at Arsenal being a fantastic example.
Not disgusting enough
Worth adding also that the ridiculous amount of abuse levelled at lower level roots means that those who do make it to the top are the ones who have the thickest skin, which is why they’re so adverse to admitting that they’re wrong
Yea some stories I heard about abuses in the youth levels are truly horrific