Giving a Bit Of Respect

Chris Coleman - castigated the referee after Fulham had played Arsenal

No, it’s not Graham Branch. It’s the referee.

The problem is, he’s not just the most vilified individual – he’s also the most important. And the easiest target.

Football is in essence a simple game, but onto those straightforward principles are grafted complex rules, requiring the exercise of a whole host of specialist skills.

Referees have to see everything. They have to analyse everything which happens on a football pitch, no matter how fast. And then they have to interpret the rules of the game and decide whether they are applicable to the particular individual in question. Then they must endure unenviable abuse from every manager in the land, as well as the players.

It’s a culture which has grown up in football, and it isn’t very pleasant. It isn’t actually a problem that other sports, such as Rugby, have. There, there remains a level of respect for officials which embarrasses everyone involved in Football.

Players don’t turn on refs in rugby. Indeed, if one does, he is likely to get slated by his team mates for doing so. Only the captains are allowed, as of right, to speak to the official. After the game, coaches very, very rarely take the cheap shot.

That’s not to say that Rugby refs are somehow superhuman. As someone who’s played a fair bit of Rugby, I know that players come off the pitch spitting nails over the performance of the man in the middle. The difference is, that it isn’t made public.

How sad it is that Football doesn’t learn those lessons. That way, we’d avoid the unseemly scenes such as that which followed Fulham around the country a couple of weeks ago. Chris Coleman normally comes across as a decent individual, but his behaviour in firstly castigating the referee in their match against Arsenal, and then condoning or even encouraging the appalling behaviour of his players the week after, was way out of line.

Not that Coleman is the only manager to blame. Two weekends ago, Steve Cotterill took the bait in the post-match press conference and took aim at Michael Jones following Michael Duff’s sending off. Now, there is debate about whether Duff deserved to be sent off, but for what it’s worth I thought it was a sending off at the time, and I haven’t changed my mind upon seeing it on the telly.

Referee Michael Jones - criticised by Clarets boss Steve Cotterill

The very fact that there is a debate is indicative of the difficulty that Mr Jones was faced with. And in any event, you could argue that Cotts himself made a mistake every bit as costly as Mr Jones’. Micah Hyde might have played well at right back in midweek, and so moving him to that position in the re-organisation following the sending off might have been a logical call. But the fact remains that it was the lack of a defenders instinct in that position which allowed Ade Akinbiyi to equalise. Yet it was noticeable that Cotterill had only time to criticise the referee’s purported error in the pre-match press conference.

Steve Cotterill’s approach, though, is no different to any other manager. The biggest problem it creates, though is that it merely increases the pressure upon referees – and it doesn’t actually solve any of the problems that there may be. It serves to make the job of the referee even more unattractive. And, of course, that will lead to less people taking up the job – so standards will probably fall from current levels in the future.

It’s a vicious cycle, and it needs breaking. It needs those within the game to take the lead and show a bit of responsibility when talking about officials. Oh, and always remember that if any manager had fancied it, they could have been a referee. As an ex-pro, they’d have been fast-tracked through the system and probably made it to the very top. That they chose not to is indicative of the problems we face in finding top-quality officials.

Blaming referees is always an easy option. And it’s remarkable how often the two opposing managers each find something to criticise about a particular refereeing performance. That alone, emphasises the absurdity surrounding the issue – one which won’t go away if we carry on as we are.

On a completely different note, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass without complimenting everyone involved in instigating a singing section at the Turf for the Derby game. It’s high time something pro-active was done to kick-start a proper atmosphere inside the ground.

And well done to the club for introducing quid a kid for a game which, due to television coverage, could have suffered an embarrassing turn-out.

I just hope that those kids who turn up enjoy the whole experience. Forget cheerleaders, goal music and all the rest of that paraphernalia, although it may well be that it gets some kids hooked.

But I wrote some time ago, when Burnley were threatened with administration, about my own experiences in becoming an fan. I talked about the atmosphere, the noise, and the sense of belonging – and, perhaps more than anything else, kids need to feel part of a gang.

Against Derby, when a few kids take their first steps on the Turf, let’s impress that upon them. Let’s sweep them away in the noise and the passion of it, and wrap them in the emotional bond between all Claret fans. It is, after all, how the great majority of us who are fans today became deeply attached to the Clarets.

Times have changed, and I accept that it may not work for all those potential fans out there today. There are too many distractions out there for that. But it might just attract a few for whom Jeff Brown and the rest of the grafted-on match day stuff doesn’t work. There is, after all, more than one way to skin a cat.