Refereeing accountability

[backsidebaggie]

Maybe most lucid interviews are also the future. Suit gen Z a treat

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I think you might have missed that players have been conducting post match interviews for years in that offering

They’re not asked why they’ve spent 90 mins cheating, bollocking officials, and making shit passes are they? Jesus Christ 

So in summary your point is we shouldn’t interview refs cos we don’t ask harsh questions of players?

It’s a fascinating angle, I’ll give you that.

No. Not in the slightest. My point is interviewing refs won’t do anything other than get a standard answer that they saw it once and gave what they saw. Every single week. Literally.

It will do nothing. Unless you really want to hear a ref saying exactly the same thing every week. Fair enough if you do, but I think most would be bored of it very quickly.

I remember the ref at the 93 PO final (Roger Milford?) being interviewed after the game and was asked why he sent off Peter Swan. He explained it very well, and no one could have any complaints. 

Refs knowing that they have to explain big decisions in front of an audience may stop them copping out of making them because its 'early' or because its the easy thing to do. 

It may also explain to us why certain things are given, or not, as lets face it, most players/managers/fans/pundits don't know the laws or latest guidance any more than a recent arrival from the planet Zog.

I think you’re being very optimistic. And Milford’s decision was right, so was easy to explain. Who could have complaints about that decision anyway? When they make a stinker, they’ll say they gave what they saw and didn’t have the benefit of tons of replays. And repeat.

I think people need to just accept decisions and get on with it. That goes for players and fans. For every ref mistake there’s a tons of player mistakes. Have a pop at the game, then go home and forget about it and realise that 99.9% of the time you lose games because of players, not because of refs.

[Cheshire East Baggie]

Loads of contrasting opinions on here. What I'd say is that Saturday's referee bottled the first big decision of the season, the push on BTA was as clear a penalty as you could hope to see. From that point on he was fugged. Blackburn players clattering into tackles - they must have thought he'd forgotten his yellow card. Players surrounding him giving him "advice", having to book a coach for dissent. Proper lost control of the whole shebang. Just because he was too weak to give the right decision in the first place. As mentioned above, it shouldn't matter that it was early in the match and early in the season. But it seems to.

Will he get marked down for this? The teams both submit a report on the referee (or they used to. Is this still a thing?). It's like school inspections. There was a time when there was no quality control of teachers' and schools' capability and performance at all. That's when we old folks clawed our way through the education system. I spent my working life in jobs where I'd get sacked if I was doing them badly.

[AnelkasBeard]

Just mic up the referees a la Rugby. Firstly, it may stop the abuse that officials receive. Secondly, we can hear their thoughts and explanations as it's happening, as well as the conversations with the linesmen.

I'm sure I saw a trial of this in the Australian league? It would hopefully help make decisions more transparent, and they should still face some sort of accountability for consistent poor decisions.

[Johnnykayeengland]

Rugby refereeing is brilliant!
It would need the FA to back up refs acting against abusive players.
Would they do that?

[SuperBob2002]

Just mic up the referees a la Rugby. Firstly, it may stop the abuse that officials receive. Secondly, we can hear their thoughts and explanations as it's happening, as well as the conversations with the linesmen.

I'm sure I saw a trial of this in the Australian league? It would hopefully help make decisions more transparent, and they should still face some sort of accountability for consistent poor decisions.

Too many backhanders and brown envelopes for this to work within football.

[Fido]

Rugby refereeing is brilliant!
It would need the FA to back up refs acting against abusive players.
Would they do that?

No. As impotent an organisation regarding real issues as you’re ever likely to find.

[AnelkasBeard]

Rugby refereeing is brilliant!
It would need the FA to back up refs acting against abusive players.
Would they do that?

Indeed. It would take a hard and fast rule of "any abuse, it's a yellow, any more and it's a red". It would stop the abuse very quickly, and with the refs mic audio available, most fans/pundits would understand and probably accept the reds.

Sadly though, in rugby, respect the ref and no talking back is hammered home at every single level from an early age. Anyone but the captain arguing with the ref, and it's a penalty, and even if the captain gets shirty with the ref, it's a penalty. With how bad grass roots and youth football can be (overbearing parents, anyone?), this just wouldn't happen.