ToffeeWeb - Season 2007-08

The Mail Bag

Bad Referees... good for the game.

Isn't bad refereeing one of the things that makes football what it is though? If you remove the bad refs and sanitise the game then it loses some of its charm doesnt it? I mean look at the 66 World Cup final for instance, without the ball crossing the line incident people would have a lot less to talk about. There are countless incidents of refereers making mistakes, linesmen making the wrong call and without those then football would be far more boring to watch. How often do you go to work on a Monday and debate these issues? How much have we had to talk about over the years due to incompetent referees and linesmen?

If you make them all perfect I think the game loses something valuable ? human error. That's something amazing about sport in general and the reason that people the world over are enthralled week in week out, the humanity of sport and the way that sport is a metaphor for life. We all make mistakes, we all have our moments of triumph ? remove those and you kill the game.

I say we should applaud those who make errors, in sport and in life. Without them we'd all be bored to tears watching TV replays decide who wins and who loses.

Long live rubbish referees who make football interesting!
Allan Hobbs, London Posted 23/10/2007 at 12:03:37

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John K
1 Posted 23/10/2007 at 19:25:29

Is this a joke? It’s consistently poor referring, amongst other things that are killing the game. I assume you weren’t at the game on Saturday Allan? It’s not only the fact that officials are consistenly shit, but that it always seems to be the teams seen as the ’big four’ benefitting from such decisions, which adds a more sinister slant to the issue.
Referees lack integrety. I could forgive the occasional mistake, as they are only human, but being persuaded to send off Tony Hibbert, after you have pulled out a yellow is weak, and i really couldn’t have seen Alan Stubbs persuading Clattenburg to send off Kuyt after his assault on Neville.
Refereeing bias has no place in a game which is supposed to live up to the ethos of fairplay and sportsmanship, what a load of old bollocks that is! Football continues to protect the ’big four’, G14 et al, and has lost its soul.

Dave Roberts
2 Posted 23/10/2007 at 19:29:51

Match officials making mistakes is something that we are all prepared to live with. But when all the mistakes favour the same team throughout the whole 93 minutes and when, looking back over the years, how many of those ’mistakes’ in Derby games have favoured us...well....I begin to wonder if they are mistakes. I am more convinced than ever that the game is bent in order to preserve the position of the ’big four’....because that it where the money is for the clubs and the governing bodies....they have the same agenda. Do you think Everton in the Champions League a couple of years ago was anything more than an unwanted headache for the powers that be? They even bent the rules to keep one of the ’big four’ in it even though they finished fifth!

It’s corrupt.

Arthur jones
3 Posted 23/10/2007 at 20:42:40

I am convinced that with the ever increasing amount of money in the game it will not be long before a club who are relegated or lose a trophy by virtue of a bad refereeing decision will resort to a court of law to have the decision changed or game replayed . Last seasons court challenges by sheffield united concerning dubious transfers was the first step , Imagine if at the end of this season Spurs are still at the wrong end of the table and Clattenburg refuses them a sure fire penalty and they’re relegated !! Can you see Daniel Levy and his cronies leting that one ride without a fight ?

Ben Jones
4 Posted 23/10/2007 at 22:11:56

Sorry.. but that article is a load of rubbish.. sure it gives more talkin points but they ruin games.. and being at the receiving end of these awful decisions from referees is absolutely horrible!!

I mean Allan... you’re saying you wanna keep the bad refereeing and then make Everton get robbed points again and again? It’s an absolute joke.. if other teams played Everton and we won from really poor refereeing.. i’d be embarassed in a way.. like the Watford game for example.

I mean if referees were consistent all of the time.. AJ would have had more penalties.. and we would have finished 5th or maybe higher last season.. so doesnt that just show?

Karl Masters
5 Posted 23/10/2007 at 22:20:23

What a load of rubbish.

We all accept there is some human error, but it’s consistency we want:

High tackle = red card for ALL CLUBS EVERY TIME

Wrestled to the ground or held down in the penalty area = Penalty for ALL CLUBS EVERY TIME

Ball over the line = Goal for ALL CLUBS EVERY TIME

Abusing the Referee = 10 yard move for ALL CLUBS EVERY TIME

Forward level with defender = Onside for ALL CLUBS EVERY TIME

ETC, ETC

The time has come to help these poor souls with Technology as at Wibledon and wit the Rugby. It works there and it can work in football.

I never want to see anything like Saturday again. I was gutted and most of my Red mates actually had the decency to admit they were embarrassed to win in that way.

Roy coyne
6 Posted 23/10/2007 at 22:37:10

Can we please get this straight poor refereeing means poor decisions for both teams not once did that bastard err in our favour A cheating or corrupt ref gives one sided decisions on purpose not by error this is what occurred at the derby he was and is a cheat lets not muddy the water saying he had a bad game.

Allan Hobbs
7 Posted 24/10/2007 at 12:10:32

As usual the blue tinted brigade have made this purely about the game at the weekend. Do none of you ever look at football from any other perspective other than that of Everton vs Liverpool??

I agree with you that the game at the weekend was poorly refereed and yes, ’we woz robbed’ but you’re all missing my point. Its bad decisions and the human beings that make them, that make sport so watchable. The fact that at any moment, things could be turned on their make, make sport what it is. If you fail to see that, then I believe you’re missing what sport is about.

Everyone has a part to play, not just those taking part, but those officiating and those watching - its that mixture that makes it interesting, as well as unfuriating.

I think I’m going to have to start putting a disclaimer on my posts so that people don’t assume that they’re all about Everton.

Look at the bigger picture FFS!