I'm so sorry, I made a mistake..
Oh well, that's alright then. No sweat, don't give it another thought Howard. Sit down son, take the weight off your whistle.
Somehow, I don't think that will be Rafa Benitez' response to the news that Howard Webb has admitted "I made a mistake" by awarding Man United that penalty against Spurs. Plenty of other people are also of the opinion that "the penalty didn't really make any difference, United would have won anyway" blah blah blah.
I suppose then that Smicer's goal against AC Milan didn't make a difference on that night in 2005? That Dudek's save from Shevchenko didn't make a difference? Liverpool would have won in Istanbul anyway? Right?
Wrong. Goals change games. If Webb doesn't award the penalty and United spend another 20 minutes failing to score, do their heads go down? Maybe. It's also possible they do stage a fightback but without the catalyst of the penalty then maybe they only manage a draw?
In case nobody has really noticed, the whole point of twenty-two millionaires running around a football pitch is to try to score goals in the opposition net whilst also trying to stop their opposition doing likewise. When the referee gifts a goal to the other side, people are likely to get a bit "tetchy". Especially when there are only four games to go of a season that started way back in August and especially when it's even possible that the title could be decided on goals scored.
Football has moved on even since the creation of the Premiership. Players are fitter, stronger and faster. Covering more ground in a game and at a higher pace than ever before. Diets have changed, medical techniques have improved, tactics have changed. Off the pitch, the game now attracts a whole new demographic. A few years ago "footy" never had any idea that we'd even use the word "demographic" when discussing the game. TV coverage is now slicker, with multiple camera angles, computer generated analysis, High Definition quality and world-wide coverage. The Champions League has captured the imagination of the planet and we now talk of "Global" clubs and "marketing the brand". Many kick-off times are scheduled to cater for the lucrative Asian market and the massive TV audiences there.
Even Shankly might be lost for words trying to take in the changes. Maybe not though, I can't imagine the Great Man ever being lost for words.
What has not changed however is the fact that the whole thing is still controlled by the actions of one man in the middle of the pitch with a whistle.
True, we don't have "linesmen" any more we have "assistant referees" (they are still linesmen to me) and we do have the fourth official on the touchline who in practice seems more of a fifth wheel with very little to do. But fundamentally, things have not changed since Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers in the first FA Cup final at Kennington Oval in 1872.
Goal or no-goal, penalty or not, sending off or not, it's all down to the decisions of the man in the middle.
Other sports have moved with the times. Rugby League has the video ref. In Rugby Union the referee explains his decisions to the watching crowd. In football, multi-million pound decisions are made and the referee just waves away the protesting players. After the game, they then review the replay of the event and if wrong essentially say "Oops, sorry".
Nobody doubts that the refs have a difficult job. We've already acknowledged that the sport itself has changed drastically. Decisions are made in split seconds and they get plenty of decisions wrong because of that. Surely, all the more reason then to allow a short pause to decide matters? View a replay of the event. It takes seconds. Why are we not employing the technology we have?
If United win the league and equal Liverpool's record of eighteen Championships will anybody in ten years time remember individual decisions by individual referees? No they won't, but those decisions can not only change games they can change seasons. If referees actually want respect then they themselves should be pressing for live video replays so they are sure of the decisions they are giving. The games will run more smoothly, the players will be more at ease with decisions and the supporters can at least know that the outcome to a game is as fair as possible. A reasonable expectation given the ticket prices you might feel. Football is big business. If someone makes a mistake that costs millions in business then companies can rightly seek compensation via legal means. You obviously can't start dragging referees into court over decisions but with the Carlos Tevez affair we've seen writs flying about from all and sundry over loss of earnings from West Ham playing an ineligible player etc etc.
There is too much riding on the outcome of football matches these days to rely on the fallibility of just one man. It's time the Premiership introduced video replays from a suitably employed fourth official sitting in the stands with a TV monitor. UEFA and FIFA may not like it but even from a financial viewpoint, being seen to be not only the most successful league in the world, but also the fairest, surely must attract even more top class players and an even greater worldwide TV audience?
As it stands today, both players and fans go into games both apprehensive of the key decisions that the referee may get wrong and also with pre-conceived ideas of whatever referee is lining up in the middle. Just seeing a particular referee warming up can make you wonder what will happen in the 90 minutes. Referees are only as good as their last decision. They have to be seen to be right as often as possible. While they can make potentially costly errors and then just say "sorry I got it wrong" they will never gain the respect they seek.
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liverpool fan here.
just listen to yourself, talking about another game and blaming an official from another game...just pathetic.
if liverpool hadn't got themselves into this situation we would not be in a position where our fate lies in someone else's hand.
think about your own team's deficiencies before another's yeah!
Shut up Zali and stop being so naive! Of course it affects us what happens in other games! It's unlikely that we would win every game, so when the opposition picks up points (a lot of points in fact) from poor/bias decisions etc, it inevitably affects us! Yeah we drew some games we should have won, but manure have won some games they should have drawn (or lost), but through bad refereeing decisions! Liverpool could do everything right through a season, but still not win the league due to such incidents! How does that make you have to look at your own team for not winning?
Erm, Liverpool Fan here too.
I assume you didn't feel the breeze as the point went over your head?
If you also remember, we had a perfectly good goal disallowed at home against Stoke? The ref got that Wrong so how can the loss of two points there be a "deficiency" of my team? That decision was hardly any of the player's doing was it? A video replay would have proved the goal as good and we'd be closer to United than we are.
The whole point of the piece is to use the Howard Webb example to call for the introduction of 21st century methods into what is, after all, the 21st century.
The reason Rugby can have a mic on the ref explaining the decisions is because the players have a certain sense of behaviour. A mic on a football ref would quickly require football programming to be changed to 18+, given the colourful language that is used by footballers to express their opinions.
The risk with a video appeal system is that it slows down the game. And if players appeal for offside, and the whistle is blown, which is then shown to be incorrect on replay, what happens? Is it a free kick to the attacking side?
A video appeal system is a much needed change but one which need to be implemented only for Penalties which are dubious and also to see if the ball has crossed to goal line in certain instances. Both teams should be allowed to request one appeal per match for these instances and if they are right, they get to keep their appeal, but if they are wrong they would lose it.
WHY stop the game for a few seconds???, there is no need to stop the game, the given and SCORED penalty video, should be viewed by a sitting panel of two, and than their decision should be relayed to the referee if the penalty was given in error,the ref by hand signals at the first opportunity, like for example, a 'throw in', 'goal kick', etc or even by the sitting panel themselves, through the Loudspeakers, and than the Displyed DIGITAL scoreline change to show accordingly......Any comments on this?
Slightly controversial opinion: Everyone gets dubious decisions, but Manchester United gets them exactly when they need them.
Anyone checked on this before? Sure refs make mistakes, they're only human. It should happen to every team equally, and at equally random times. Yet, the Mancs seem to get astounding decisions exactly when they need the ref's intervention. I can't remember the last time they got a dubious decision when they were already 3-0 up with ten minutes to go. BUT when they're being held 1-1 in the last minute of a must-win game, 2-0 down and desperately need a pick-up, can't break down the opposition, we've seen it too many times before that they get a ridiculous call from the ref, and that changes the outcome of the game. Which of the other 19 premiership teams gets those calls with such regularity?? After the match Fergie will typically say 'I didn't see it', or 'Yes, we were a bit fortunate. Football is funny like that.' No, Fergie, it's not funny. It's wrong.
I agree with the writer, regardless of my allegence to the reds. This will benefit all teams in the long term and will cut out the dubious split decisions being forced upon the refs these days.
If we want to be more fair over the season then we should be looking at the fourth official taking on the role of the video official for the areas such as penalties, violent conduct, goal line incidents.
I would not use it to remove the responsibility of the ref for the other decisions such as offsides as between them and the linesmen then there is no excuse for not being able to do this without the need for video references.
A list should be drawn up of the decision types during the game that would benefit from a quick video review before the decision being finalised. A discussion should take place on the impact to the game and this should be done involving club owners, FA, refs and fan club representatives.
I am sure in this day and age there is room for a bit of technology to help us out here....
All the club fans can go on talking about this for the next century. What are the club owners doing about it. Think this is a big time match fixing thing going on from them right up to UEFA and FIFA. They are not going to do anything about it....will not. All the top guys are making tons of money from this, even the players are getting their pay checks on time, win or lose. The losers here is the fans who pay so much money to watch thier beloved team. For once can all the club fans unite as one and don't go for 10games in a row. See what will happen.