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Harold Bishop Killer

Got bummed around Aus
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
4,600
Location
Hullbridge/Southend
Its not just transfer rumours which get out of control in the ‘silly’ season but also always appearing from the shadows again is the subject of TV referees or a 3rd eye if you prefer. A referee sitting high in the sky surrounded by as many tvs as your local Dixons and making the call on a decision that could win or lose a game but even further still could mean the difference between champions or 2nd, survival or relegation. Like everything in life there are positives and negatives from taking the cricket and rugby league approach. So is it best for the game that decisions that for years have gone against can now go for?

For clubs and players the answer is probably yes (Pedro Mendes would definitely agree! Geoff Hurst probably not.) Many pundits say that throughout the season what goes around, comes around. But what if it does not? What if that one bad decision from a referee costs you not only 3 points but also survival in the Premiership or in monetary terms around 40 million pounds! Money is today’s football heartbeat. It is the life line that all clubs need. Without money you are not going anywhere about from down and out. And with the Premiership now being the richest league in the world money is more important than ever. When Swindon was relegated in the 1993/1994 season they survived a hit on their financial plan. But that was a mere stone drop in the ocean compared to what the likes of Derby, Birmingham and Reading will lose after relegation this summer. At the end of the season most people agree that the table does not lie – but does it? Did one decision back in September cost Reading their premiership status? And would a TV referee kept the Madejski stadium hosting Premiership football again next season? Maybe so, maybe not. I am personally a firm believer that at the end of the season the table does not lie but club chairman’s do not care if the league table is telling the truth or porky pies. Their main concern is money. Remember its money that does make the world go around and football is most people’s world!

So say from next season the TV referee was used with the intention it will only be refereed to in ‘big’ decisions. But what would classify in big decisions? Watching the State of Origin Rugby League match the other week in Sydney it seems every decision is that ‘Big’ decision. The TV referee must have been referred to at least 8 times spending at least 2-3 minutes on each decision. That’s around 16-24 minutes wasted waiting for decisions that, half of which, could have been made by the man on the pitch. In rugby league which is quite stop start game anyway it is tolerable but in football, a game built on speed and fluidness, this would harm the game. The FA and FIFA would insist it would not but in the long run referees would get lazy knowing that a guy a few meters up has all the information they need. I mean if you had an answer sheet for that big exam find its way into your hands wouldn’t you use it? It has great intentions but once again I can only see new technology making people lazy and the end harming the game it was supposed to help.

So if video referees are not the answer what else can be done to improve a game that in this day and age when big mistakes are made, big consequences occur. Well how about taking the Australian Football direction? On a pitch at anyone time is 2 umpires and 6 touch umpires. Ok they need this many due to the size of the pitch and with one only one umpire and two touch judges they would be lucky to make it to ten minutes. But how about the use of two referees on the same pitch? There would always be one of them close enough to the action to hopefully make the correct decisions. But that would mean doubling the number of referees currently registered at the moment and with not enough in the game already in my opinion it would increase the number of sub-standard referees. We have seen them all enough times down Roots Hall, referees who could not tell their **** from their elbow let along if that was a penalty or not. It would take years to train adequately the number of referees needed to use this idea. And that only if we manage to get enough to want to be referees and with players these days getting close enough to literally bite his head off the idea of being a referee in today’s game is not appealing. So is there anything else we can do?

Well goal line technology is already being tested across the world and in my preference this can help. In today’s game where money talks and one goal can mean life or death this technology can at least give some hope that a correct decision can be made. Everyone knows how it works now, the ball crosses the line, a beep signals in the referees ear and a goal is given. Perfect you say. How can it go wrong? Well I have been racking my brains can not think how. The only thing I can think of is that the technology is too refined and a beep signals even if the whole ball does not cross the line. But hopefully this is just me being picky and this will not happen. Sure the boffins coming up with this technology will refine this.

In the end more and more technology will creep into the game. And it’s up to the governing body that it does what it is intended to do – help rather than hinder. Personally I still love the fact you can go down the pub with your mates and talk for hours whether it was a penalty, was it not. Was it a goal, was it not. Was it offside, was it not. That’s what football is all about. It’s not only a sport but a language. And taking away some of its surprises and mysteries will only hinder the game to many fans. Although if you are John Madejski right now, you may disagree.
 
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