How does officiating improve?

[Corky]

No two incidents are the same, yet people who are completely clueless like Shearer think it is an easy job and there are only a handful of incidents that can happen so they can be treated in the way.

How can you have consistency when the every tackle or incident is unique? If you read the laws you will find "in the opinion of the referee" has primacy, and we have to live with that.

 

[bluevillain]

Great suggestions put forward already.
I also would add.
They don’t half bottle a lot of decisions throughout a season. They allow players too much latitude in the vitriol of their protest.
Im not advocating the Krays as officials. But show some mettle and leave nobody in any doubt who is in charge. A simple example for me is time wasting. Footy is meant to be entertainment for the fans.
We have to put up with it a lot at home. Give the keeper his yellow after 5 minutes not the 85th.

 

[KentBlue]

Something should have been done a long time ago, back when the despotic pisscan had most of the ref's and officials in his pocket.

We pay very good money to see a fair game of football, we pay a lot of money for travelling, programmes, souvenirs etc - we don't pay good money to see a game where the result has already been decided in favour of the rags/dippers.
Riley and his gang of 'untouchables' have taken more than enough from me over the years, I'll be fucked if I'm going to let that continue.

If and when that shower of unethical, shameless bastards pigmol are finally toppled then I might start going to live matches, but until then I'll stay an armchair fan.

 

[Gorton_Tubster]

Exactly and more to the point the lack of it.

I could show nearly any tackle from any game on here and we'd get a hundred different opinions.

They're is no such thing as consistency. It's always a judgement call. And what fucks me is is that judgement is being made by what, 6 different people? No wonder its screwed when it comes to consistency. The only consistency we can have is from ONE man and that's the best we can hope for, but VAR has ruined it. "match commanders" Wtf.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Unfortunately the issue with refereeing is cultural, and it's not going to improve.

The sport and fans treat referees with contempt, with conspiracy theories abounding and abuse completely normalised. "The referee's a wanker" is possibly the best known chant in football. People laugh and congratulate managers or players who openly abuse referees or accuse them of corruption.

That contempt reaches the grassroots where there are fewer young referees than ever before because they keep getting abused and assaulted and quitting. Any teenager with anything better to do goes and does it after being spat at or punched by some 35 year old hungover twat.

Fewer grassroots referees mean you a shallower talent pool, which means fewer professional referees of the correct standard.

That's where all of the Premier League's problems begin. Mike Riley does everything from the perspective of protecting the referees that work for him, because they are an endangered speices. 2 top PL referees have recently quit because the abuse wasn't worth it. We have parachuted in an Australian to boost numbers.

Why don't retroactive decisions happen? Because they don't want to publicly undermine referees by overruling them. Why do we have "clear and obvious error" bullshit? To protect the referees on pitch from being overruled. Why don't we hear VAR/Referee conversations? To protect the referees. Why don't referees get demoted? Because there's no good options to promote.

There are some issues around the laws being written in a oblique way that makes refereeing harder, but mostly the issue is that no one in their right mind would ever want to be a referee.

The sport and fans need to change the culture around referees and then we might attract better ones. Bring back some respect for a profession that the sport can't function without and is a disaster when standards slip.

I'd start by giving us the feed on their mic as per Rugby, and heavily fining every player who is abusive towards them for the first season. 1 match ban the second time.

Do it retroactively to take it out of the referees hands because they won't suddenly adopt zero tolerance on being called a cheating **** by 5 players after a lifetime of putting up with it.

If it offends viewers on TV then blame the players.

superb post

unfortunately so many fans are in the mindset that the games ''corrupt' every time there's a decision they feel doesn't go there way that I can't see how they will ever be rational , fans are so blindsided by their loyalty to their team and the hatred of the opposition - every throw in, every foul, every decision - fans are up in arms screaming that it should be given their way - even though they don't even know most of the time.

I've tried to be calm and measured in the VAR thread by highlighting that it's a benefit to have a system in place for the ref to get a second look, and say for instance Mahrez goal at the weekend, the lino flagged offside - VAR corrected this and gave the goal - for me that is a massive positive, yet it's met with silence - pre VAR we would have accepted a perfectly onside goal not given ?! That's where I stand and despite me being frustrated when Refs/VAR get it wrong - I still get accused of all sorts of names - the level of anger, blind loyalty and general thickness of the average football fan means we're never going to get there whereby everyone is happy with the laws and decisions of the game - there's too many grey areas and too many hot headed fans.

 

[Pingu the Penguin]

I could show nearly any tackle from any game on here and we'd get a hundred different opinions.

They're is no such thing as consistency. It's always a judgement call. And what fucks me is is that judgement is being made by what, 6 different people? No wonder its screwed when it comes to consistency. The only consistency we can have is from ONE man and that's the best we can hope for, but VAR has ruined it. "match commanders" Wtf.

Yes agreed. You need one decision maker who explains why they've decided something. So blindingly obvious

 

[Saddleworth2]

Looking around Europe for best practices and bringing in referees / VAR advisors to train our referees. That will take time though so I’d be using foreign referees for now.
I know this thread will descend into a corruption conspiracy but IMO it’s almost entirely down to incompetence that is impacting all teams in one way or another.

Have said from the start. Learn how to use VAR from Rugby. Everything 100% transparent. That would soon make them clean up their act.

 

[Saddleworth2]

superb post

unfortunately so many fans are in the mindset that the games ''corrupt' every time there's a decision they feel doesn't go there way that I can't see how they will ever be rational , fans are so blindsided by their loyalty to their team and the hatred of the opposition - every throw in, every foul, every decision - fans are up in arms screaming that it should be given their way - even though they don't even know most of the time.

I've tried to be calm and measured in the VAR thread by highlighting that it's a benefit to have a system in place for the ref to get a second look, and say for instance Mahrez goal at the weekend, the lino flagged offside - VAR corrected this and gave the goal - for me that is a massive positive, yet it's met with silence - pre VAR we would have accepted a perfectly onside goal not given ?! That's where I stand and despite me being frustrated when Refs/VAR get it wrong - I still get accused of all sorts of names - the level of anger, blind loyalty and general thickness of the average football fan means we're never going to get there whereby everyone is happy with the laws and decisions of the game - there's too many grey areas and too many hot headed fans.

There is no abuse of the referee in Rugby because the referee has the means to punish it and the offending team. Why it’s tolerated in football god only knows. The whole thing needs looked at top down and bottom up incremental changes could be made season by season but a comprehensive change of culture will take years.
immediate improvements could be made by introducing zero tolerance for abuse (captains the only players that can address the referee and only then it is to ask for clarification of a decision) hand in hand with transparency of VAR a la RU. Refs and Officials miked up and tv and fans in ground able to hear what is said. Film of what the refs are looking at shown on screens at stadium and on TV. Rugby seems to be able to scrutinise tries from 4 or 5 angles. Why not football?

 

[Paladin]

There is no abuse of the referee in Rugby because the referee has the means to punish it and the offending team. Why it’s tolerated in football god only knows. The whole thing needs looked at top down and bottom up incremental changes could be made season by season but a comprehensive change of culture will take years.
immediate improvements could be made by introducing zero tolerance for abuse (captains the only players that can address the referee and only then it is to ask for clarification of a decision) hand in hand with transparency of VAR a la RU. Refs and Officials miked up and tv and fans in ground able to hear what is said. Film of what the refs are looking at shown on screens at stadium and on TV. Rugby seems to be able to scrutinise tries from 4 or 5 angles. Why not football?

Referees in football have the tools to deal with ill discipline. They can caution any player that shows dissent, by word or action, against any decision made by the referee. If they issued more cautions for dissent, players would accumulate the five cards required for a ban. They would miss a game. Their team might lose. They would soon learn to keep their mouths shut.

 

[moomba]

Why don't retroactive decisions happen? Because they don't want to publicly undermine referees by overruling them.

You don't think they're undermined more when they make blatantly wrong decisions?

Given the chance to have a look at a TV screen, and make the right decision I would have more respect for a ref prepared to change his original decision.

I look at cricket, TV umpire asks the main umpire to change his decision and it doesn't undermine him at all imo. People are just happy the right decision is made.

But when making the wrong decision is considered better than making the right decision because it protects a ref, our priorities are totally wrong.