Another weekend has been completed in the Premier League and there was more controversy as the call for technology is strengthened even more.
I’m getting sick and tired of referees and match officials making dubious decisions this season and at least not getting a valid explanation for why they made a dodgy call.
Managers get in trouble for saying anything nowadays, players are charged if they send out a tweet which looks suspicious and even television pundits are accused of showing too much bias.
Maybe it is time for the role of the match officials to be scrutinised much more.
Diving
Earlier in the year, a FIFA official branded diving in the game as a ‘cancer.’ While I have disagreed for a long time with FIFA’s aims within the game, this is a fair point.
We are seeing more cases of petulant simulation and although officials are coming down harder with yellow cards, the message is clearly not getting through.
There was another case of a blatant dive which proved to be a turning point in a Premier League game this weekend.
Sunderland had recovered from a poor first half to only trail a largely dominant West Brom side 2-1 in the Saturday lunchtime kick-off.
The Black Cats were having their own rampant spell of possession and had the visitors on the backfoot for lengthy periods before and after Craig Gardner’s free-kick had brought them back into the match.
Then Albion get a penalty as Liam Ridgewell goes down under a challenge from Adam Johnson.
Admittedly from the live action, it looked like contact had been made but when you see the incident from various different angles, it is clear that Johnson has pulled out of the challenge and Ridgewell has made a meal of it.
While it is easy for us to judge, thanks to the various camera positions within modern day stadiums, this is where technology could and should come to help Mike Dean’s decision.
All it needs is for a quick referral, a stoppage for no more than half a minute and then a final decision.
As Ridgewell dived, the book should be thrown at him. He should have been sent off, there is no doubt in my mind that simulation should now become a straight red card offence.
Therefore we might have games where four or five players could be sent off but I’m sure the message will eventually get across to the overpaid profession.
West Brom converted the penalty and went on to win the match 4-2 at the Stadium of Light.
They deserved to win the game but it wasn’t in the right spirit and it is unacceptable at this level.
Martin O’Neill did well to keep his thoughts to himself, it was a ridiculous decision by Dean and it ended the match as a potential contest.
Diving is a ‘cancer’ in football and it is time to put a stop to it.
Explanation
Howard Webb is one of the best referees in the world, let alone the Premier League but he had an afternoon to forget at the DW Stadium where Wigan entertained Reading.
The Latics had a dubious offside goal ruled out in the second half but more costly was a Reading penalty that wasn’t given.
With the scoreline at 1-1, Jay Tabb made a surging run into the penalty area and was clearly clipped by Maynor Figueroa.
Tabb went down and he didn’t even go down looking for the spot-kick. He had been clearly tripped by his opponent.
Amazingly, Webb (pictured) waved the claim away and Wigan proceeded to win the match 3-2, courtesy of a late winner from Jordi Gomez, who scored a hat-trick.
Brian McDermott probably expected a response at full-time but he never got it and nor did the fans.
It takes a big man to face up to the press afterwards but referees need to start doing this or be told that you must speak to the media.
They do receive a lot of pressure on the day from bickering players and passionate supporters but I’m sure they would win a lot more respect if they came out and said why they came to that conclusion.
At least then we don’t have to start querying the referee’s decision on Monday at work or in education.
Webb could have started a trend on Saturday but as expected, he didn’t.
That was disappointing, especially when you consider his experience. This is an individual who in my view, handled the 2010 World Cup final fairly well despite the amount of brutal challenges from Dutch and Spanish players.
Officials need to start explaining decisions to us fans through the media. It will stop the questions and win the men in the middle the respect they deserve.
Referees have been in the limelight for a number of weeks after the allegations made against Mark Clattenburg by Chelsea which have since been dropped.
They have a difficult job and nobody is perfect, everybody has made mistakes. It would help the game though if they started to talk to the media or to the managers at least in private to justify their decisions.
Where does the game go from here?
It has taken far too long but goal line technology is about to be introduced into the game, with trials expected during the FIFA World Club Championship event in Japan in December.
That is a start but where does the game go from here in regards to modern technology?
Football needs it badly. I’m afraid it is at least a decade and a half behind rugby league and rugby union and several years behind the likes of cricket, tennis, Formula One and athletics – all who have used the technology available to great effect.
UEFA’s ridiculous idea to employ extra officials is a waste of everybody’s time.
As shown by Manchester City’s sheer frustration at not getting a blatant penalty in their recent Champions League home match with Ajax, the officials seem to do nothing except stick a flag up on occasions and probably have a long conversation with the match stewards and photographers.
Michel Platini might have been a great footballer in his time but he is a dreadful leader.
You don’t need a degree in psychology to work out how important technology is to the game of football.
While it is essential to keep a human side and not allow the game to turn robotic, the sport needs goal line technology to start with in every major European, world and domestic competition.
We then need to trial video referees for penalty box situations and maybe as an outside chance, consider offsides when a goal has been ruled out by the linesman.
Ditch the extra officials who do nothing and embrace the concept of having a video referee, who is able to access all the TV cameras to help make the referee’s final decision.
Unfortunately as long as Platini and FIFA president Sepp Blatter are in charge, the chances of all this happening are slim to nil.
Football is living in a prehistoric climate and has been for a number of years now.
Perhaps the Premier League could learn from these two very questionable decisions over the weekend and lead the way for more technology to be incorporated in the beautiful game we all love.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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