Referee of the Day

In a parallel universe, a tv studio whirs into life……

***

“Hi, Im George Courtney… Good Evening and welcome to tonights Match of the Day, where weve got highlights from all todays Premiership games. David Elleray and Jeff Winter will be providing the analysis”.

MATCH 1 HIGHLIGHTS FOLLOW….

“So, David, what did you think of the performance today?”

“I thought it was a fantastic performance, George. It really was a masterclass in refereeing. Right from the first minute, he was quick and sharp and imposed himself on the game. He made some great early decisions and that really allowed him to take complete control”.

“Lets look at the penalty decision…”

“Well, the build-up started just inside the centre-circle. Weve circled the referee here and you can see his movement is superb. As the play breaks forward, hes right in line with play and then ghosts in at the edge of the penalty area and spots the infringement straight away. Great refereeing; he was perfectly sighted and made a great solo decision without needing the help of any of his refereeing assistants”.

MATCH 2 HIGHLIGHTS FOLLOW….

“Where do you think it went wrong for them today, Jeff?”

“I think there were too many individual performances, they weren’t playing for each other. They are all individually very talented referees, but they’ve got to start working more as a unit, communicating with each other and moving up together”.

“What about the sending off, could he have done better?”

“Without a doubt. Hes nowhere near the incident and his refereeing assistant is totally out of position. Its shocking refereeing. If we look at the replay you can see how far away from the foul he was…. This really is diabolical”.

“Now lets have a look at the decision of the month. There are ten to choose from, and if you agree with the choice of Jeff and David, you could win a trip to the referees assessor course of your choice”.

DECISION OF THE MONTH FOLLOWS….

“Some tough choices there, gents. There really have been some outstanding decisions in the past month. What are your personal favourites?”

“It’s a tough call, George, any one of these decisions could be a contender for decision of the year, not just decision of the month. I would say Phil Dowds decision would just about edge it, that really was top class”.

“I would go for Rob Styles, George. Hes really having a great season and has to be my favourite for the referee of the season award”.

***


The above is a scenario that is never likely to occur. Indeed, many premiership managers would already claim that certain referees demand more attention than is befitting. Or that a good referee should never be noticed.
But even if it goes against all that it stands for on the pitch, isn’t it about time that the profession attempted to talk itself up a bit off the pitch? Referees isolate themselves from the players whenever possible, for reasons of judgement and impartiality, but why should the barrier remain in place to the press and general public?
Fans don’t understand referees- by and large they don’t understand the rules entirely either- and it breeds contempt. In return, managers and players seize upon this and use it as a crutch to lean on in times of need, blaming the referee for all ills. Knowing that the general public will lap up the reasoning, the status quo is therefore maintained and dislike of referees nurtured further.
By publicising themselves, maybe good referees and good refereeing performances could become as well-known as good players and good team performances, which would earn the profession a great deal more respect and leave managers with the distinctly unpalatable proposition of having to face up to their own mistakes instead.
But that really would be a parallel universe.