I want to share this with you lot because I think it's a fair point for the discussion on referee's and all things officiating that we are discussing in this thread. I have refereed at Grass Roots level for under 7's, 8's, 9's and 10's for two years, as well as coaching the game from a level 2 badge mainly for kids football. I hear all the time from parents, coaches and general dogs body on the sidelines having a go at refs and at the level I deal with from both coaching and reffing the abuse is horrific, but this is the foundations of the house and where it all begins. We are talking serious abuse, from calling them out to wanting a fight because their son or daughter has been badly challenged. But this leads me direct to my next point and one that relates to officiating now in the PL and how refs are so called 'Lost in the game" At Grass Roots level you are dealing with a game that is a lot slower thus becoming easier to read, which then points direct back to the ref and it becoming easier to officiate that because it is slower but also at the same time it allows you to build and get the basics correct, and like I said the foundations. I feel at the level I coach at and ref at it is crucial I speak direct to the children involved in the said incident and also the ones i am giving instructions to who cross the white line. It's about interacting, the discussion, the explanation if you like and putting across the point why you have given the decision and what the reason was…..eyeline to the children and clear talk to them. It's also the same from the sidelines, at this level of football you have to deliver a direct point because their age does not allow them to process this and transmit it to their feet, but the clearer and shorter the advice is the better the transition to the field. Now onto the the main point about officiating and where we are at now. week in and week out you will see the official giving a card and the player asks why…the ref will then walk away and do nothing but brandish the card. I wouldn't say I agree or disagree with this but what is lost is the players understanding of who exactly is the boss. Now this leads to my next point of consistency in todays game and why players get wound up and makes the react in the way they do. All that supporters ask is for these high class , well trained officials to get the basics right, and this season it's been far from that, in fact probably one of the worst seasons. Take the Azpilcueta so called challenge against Sunderland last week, the ref is way behind the play, that is fine, it's a fast paced game and that will happen, but what follows from that point is the case in point for me. He is then relying on his linesman, the man who is supposedly in the best position of all, but he isn't, he's caught at the angle of looking at both players feet at pace and bare in mind it takes us one replay to see it was not a foul, you cannot tell me in that split second the linesman is 100 percent sure that is a penalty, and that is where the communication lines between officials becomes a grey area. Of course the officials stick together, they will say that but we often talk about this 'Element of doubt' and that is where the officials get it wrong along with the basics of the game of football, and it comes from the Grass Roots level from whom they are taught. Officiating these days has gone away from the basics, the refs make it difficult by not getting the basics right. Turning their backs on players, telling them to go away and discarding managers like they are a piece of scum. If a manager asks me to speak with him I ask him if he is going to be civil, if so, we speak and chat about because if i feel I have gone wrong I can then put it right if i feel i have done wrong. If the refs continue to wave away players and managers then we will not see change, and was is most prominent about it is, the things the managers and players want to discuss are basic poor decisions. And by the way don't get me wrong in all this, todays players do themselves no favours with the way they react, swear and generally get in the face of the referee, it's wrong, but what is also wrong is the fact nobody is allowed to get the answer from the ref, speak with him and that's that. That's my view on why managers get annoyed, and i stand by it. Officiating has dropped massively across the board.
