Being crazy mad about football, i tend to watch most EPL games, especially the top teams. I have noticed that recently i'm screaming more and more at the TV; that my face is becoming redder than my hair (which is pretty damn red) and that my throat is increasingly sore after games. Unfortunately, this can not always be put down to an intense exciting game of football. It is actually due to the referees.
I find it so difficult to sit and watch a match and not find myself fuming at the refs and their assistants. Its frustrating to think that they only have one job to do: they run around after the ball and just have to follow the action. Yes its difficult, and yes it makes it harder when the football is getting better and the pace of the game ever faster, and yet! i still think that i could do a better job (if i had the stamina to run around for 90 mins of course). It makes you wonder if they have ever studied a rulebook of football, and if they need a bit more training.
It is absolutely unbelievable to watch the post game analysis and see that the ref is standing right there, over the action, his eyes glued to the perpetrator and his foul, and yet - nothing! Of course refs have their own problems these days with footballers giving Hollywood actors a run for their money as their theatricals force nonsensical penalty decisions and atrociously decided red cards, but i still feel that the FA need to call for consistency, as a matter of urgency.
These little mistakes here and there, with a false free kick here, and a harsh card there, are costing teams valuable points, and with it being so close at the top this season, are costing some the Title too.
I guess i find it mind blowing that a simple meeting can't be organised where officials are reminded of the EXACT rules, and in some instances the FA need to clearly define exactly what constitutes a card, a sending off, and a penalty. Every week we are seeing the same foul being committed, with different consequences, and penalties not being given for blatant fouls, and yet given when a beautifully dramatic dive in the box and a few angry players screaming at the ref suddenly warrants one. I feel that just because a players leg isn't broken after the tackle when it should be a red card due to the technical approach of the tackle, such as two feet off the ground, refs are deciding beyond the definitions of the rules regarding cards, just because a player avoided serious injury. Similarly some refs do not have what it takes to face built, angry, sweaty-faced celebrities as it were, screaming at them, and they simply do not have the conviction to stand by their initial judgement, and therefore become too easily influenced. Shockingly, although it is unfair you can understand a players reaction because they are there in the thick of it and tensions run high, but i think it is despicable when managers try to get involved and desperately try to influence the ref from the sidelines - we have Mancini waving imaginary cards every other second, AVB jumping an squatting at the touch line more theatrically than most, and Wenger throwing drink bottles every time a decision doesn't go his way.
This inconsistency is unfair, frustrating and ruining this beautiful game. Talk about pressure - no wonder the refs buckle.
