Are refs getting better?

Join the Sky Sports debate over the standard of officiating in football

Last updated: 30th November 2007

Arsene Wenger

Wenger: Speaking in defence of referees

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has sprung to the defence of under-fire referees.

The Gunners boss, who was sent to the stands by official Eric Braamhaar during the UEFA Champions League defeat to Sevilla, claims the standard of refereeing is improving year by year.

Do you agree with the Frenchman? Are officials becoming more in tune with the game every season?

Should more be done to support referees at the top level?

Should managers and players be more supportive of the job officials have to do?

Join the Sky Sports debate using the form below.

Comments

Jeff Adams (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

I agree with Roger Hathway, what a bad example set by Phil Dowd in front of the home supporters at White Hart Lane. Has he not got enough confidence in his own decisions without asking Uriah Rennie to check it out on the monitor replay. No wonder he got no respect from the supporters who were chanting W**ker on many occasions during the game.Robbie got the ball so it cannot be a foul even. What about the foul on Bale, he let that go completely, not to mention the penalty award. Come on Mr Dowd, play the game and help restore referees reputations.

Posted 19:31 6th December 2007

David Michaels says...

I am led to believe that Uriah Rennie is no longer a registered Premiership referee. If that is indeed the case, how can he possibly be awarded the position as fourth official at any match? If the referee has to leave the field of play for the rest of any game, and for whatever reason, the fourth official would usually take over. Rennie not being recognised, would not be able to do this. I DO find the FA lacking in some respects. And, although I am a Spurs fan, if Robbie Keane's tackle warranted a red card, then I am Peter Pan. Let them take a look at the tackles over the weekend of John Obi Mikel and el Haj Doiuff as evidence of no action being taken when both of these could have caused serious harm, and possibly ended the careers of two players involved.

Posted 04:53 5th December 2007

Tom Carr says...

Being a referee myself, and a young one at that (aged 16), I know how hard it is to referee any match at grassroots level. Its not a question of "Are referees getting better" - because I think top flight referees do a great job. How can we get every single decision right? We can't. So i think people should stop criticising and do a bit themselves. Then they'll see how hard it is. And as for consulting 4th officials - i dont think there is much wrong with that - they are there to be talked to - so why not talk to them!

Posted 20:46 3rd December 2007

Nik Bull (Swindon Town fan) says...

There is a huge shortage of referee's starting at grassroots level. I challenge anyone who questions referee's skills to take the course and do the games. Referee's will always make mistakes and consulting assistant referee's/fourth officials happens in every game....you dont always see it. From what the ref said with the Keane affair he was warning the 4th official of the action he was taking to try and keep the benched quiet.

Posted 15:27 3rd December 2007

Steve Melvin (Celtic fan) says...

Perhaps they could introduce " Five Foul law" like they have in basketball Where a booking is equivalent to 3 "fouls" and players would have to remain wiithin this limits. It may stop some of the more petty behaviour where refs are being abused but have little recource in the laws of the game. Although I wonder if any game would finish 11 versus 11.

Posted 13:24 3rd December 2007

Roger Hathway (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

The red card given to Robbie Keane yesterday was a disgrace. If the referees are going to consult the fourth official (which I wasn't aware they could)as Dowd did with Rennie then why not use techknology. The fourth official can see monitors where he stands so if he is going to be asked for his opinion look at the pictures and get it right!!

Posted 08:41 3rd December 2007

Adam Berki (Aston Villa fan) says...

Refereeing just can't improve because of the increasing number of divers. Many games are decided on bad decisions but it's just impossible to judge a situation in the box. Video reviews should be introduced during the game (wouldn't slow down the game as the 4th referee would watch them) and divers should be suspended.

Posted 20:33 2nd December 2007

Edward Jones (Aston Villa fan) says...

The standard of refereeing is getting worse, I'm not going to complain about decisions at Villa Park blah blah because I think it is getting worse everywhere. It isn't the major decisions that annoy me as these things happen at such speed these days and you can't get everything right but it is the basic running of the game that refs don't seem to be capable of. There is over officious placing of free kicks that are going to be launched 80 yards, woeful inconsistency and on more than one occasion this seaon I've seen the same player get two or three last warnings whereas another player in the same game gets a booking for his first tackle. A few years ago when refs were amateur I would forgive this but now that they earn a very comfprtable living from being professional refs there is no excuse. Also I support the 'smaller' teams when they say they get a rough ride because from what I've seen refs don't have the bottle to give them a decision that may help them beat one of the more established elite.

Posted 19:57 2nd December 2007

Ollie Willis (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

I think that refereeing is possibly the hardest occupation there is in sport, as there is always going to be someone who doesn't see the challenges and decisions in the same way as the man in the middle. Today's game at White Hart Lane showed prime examples of that; I do not think Keane should have been sent off at all and cannot understand how Dowd, who was right in front of the challenge deemed he could be, but then maybe he thought he saw something harsher than the reality? The only way to stop these kind of things happening would be to implant video technology into the game. To be honest I don't think refereeing has changed much over the last few years, the same mistakes are being made, over and over again.

Posted 19:21 2nd December 2007

Joseph Warren (Arsenal fan) says...

I agree with Arsene Wenger. The standard of refereeing is getting much better. Although Wenger was disgruntled with some of the ref's decisions against Seville, he can accept the fact the ref was just doing his job and his decisions shouldn't have and didn't determine the final result. Managers and pundits focus too much on ref's decisions. It is a simple fact that if you are a good team, you should win regardless of how fair you believe the ref has been. Why is so much focus given to decisions? It is a very English thing to complain and blame other parties for their poor results. Look at the England national side. They are quite frankly rubbish. When I speak to England fans there is always an excuse. Whenever we have been knocked out of a national tournament we analyse every decision and can't get to grips with the idea we are just not good enough, much like Arsenal against Seville. Wenger's annoyance with the ref was most probably frustration at the side's poor showing. Other managers/pundits should learn from the premier league's best manager.

Posted 19:06 2nd December 2007

Bobby Smith (Arsenal fan) says...

Consistency is what's lacking not the actual standard of Refs. I just saw Keane sent of for a foul which should have been only a yellow (not intentional, got the ball first) yet a Ref in the Liverpool vs Everton game doesn't even give a card to Kuyt for a kung foo kick, which luckily missed the Everton player. Unfortunately some refs have shown 'bias' in some games and the FA saying you can't say anything about a ref etc etc is causing these problems. When you see that sort of bias or errors then they need to admit the ref was wrong and punish him (ban him from premier league games for a few weeks etc) just like a player gets banned for red cards etc.

Posted 18:51 2nd December 2007

Dave` Robson (Fulham fan) says...

Refereeing on the whole is ok. I just hate the inconsistency, and the inability of referees to understand football. Take Melchiotts dismissal or Keanes dismissal. If someone who had played the game had refereed those games they never would have been reds. I also believe there is too much manipulation on refs

Posted 18:24 2nd December 2007

Mark Moir (Sunderland fan) says...

Referees to me are getting worse not better, when are Sunderland going to get a penalty? I went to the Sunderland vs Derby game yesterday and the standard of refereeing decisions were terrible, Darren Moore, the derby player must have made around 8 fouls on Kenwyne Jones and Andy Cole and escaped without a yellow card. McEvely also should have been sent off, he was on a yellow card, committed a bad foul and the referee turned a blind eye to the foul. There is so much inconsistancy with referees nowadays and people get yellow cards for silly things like kicking the ball away and celebrating in the wrong way and people who commit dangerous tackles like Mikel of Chelsea yesterday against West Ham receives the same punishment. The red card just given to Robbie Keane today is a disgrace and as a player goes to play the ball like Keane is a bit late and gets a red card for something which wasn't half as bad as some of the tackles committed in the Premiership yesterday and went unpunished. So referees need more training in my opinion and help for Video Evidence on big decisions such as red cards and penalties.

Posted 17:31 2nd December 2007

Barry Flynn (Aston Villa fan) says...

All managers and pundits should be compulsorily made to referee at least one match a week, preferably in a local park on a Sunday morning. They would then tell their precious players to button their lips and obey the referee. Time and time again the referee is proved to be right but the amateurs who have never refereed in their lives pick up on the mistakes they have made after seeing 20 different angles! I would like to see for an initial period the red card come out far more often for foul language, dissent, fouls, surrounding the ref etc. Within weeks we would have the ref's authority restored as the managers would insist on it!! It would also help if the pundits, even when the referee has been proved right, did not say the decision was hairline, hard, a bit harsh etc. if the decision was right then the ref was right. Yes the ref will get some decisions wrong because he is human, accept that, the players are also and managers etc do not castigate their misfiring precious bundles for losing matches. The ref can only give what he genuinely believes he has seen and I do not believe they cheat; unfortunately the same cannot be said of the players nowadays, look at our player Young yesterday, a disgrace. As I type this Gray has just had a go at the ref for sending off Keane, the tackle was late and the second foot was raised off the floor, check the rule Andy!!

Posted 17:31 2nd December 2007

Eddie Fitzpatrick (Arsenal fan) says...

Two Points. My 9 year old son has been playing rugby for 3 years. he has been taught from day 1 not to backchat. If he questions anything during training or a game he is sinbinned. Secondly. Refs can move a ball 10 yards if decent follows a decision. I could count one one hand the number of times I have seen this utlised. In gaelic football it used to be used 10 times am match until teams started to realise teh significance 10 yards can make in terms of scoring.

Posted 12:01 2nd December 2007

Amador Cambra (West Bromwich Albion fan) says...

The football referee's job is under more analysis and scrutiny than almost any other.While a surgeon, for instance, can make a big mistake in the operating theatre and only few people, if any, get to know about it, a referee's error, is broadcasted, sometimes live and in slow motion round the world. When you consider how many decision a ref has to make during the course of the game, (and remember he is making them continuously ,whether he blows the whistle or not), the percentage of errors is so small that puts to shame many other professions.

Posted 10:47 2nd December 2007

Steve Hunt says...

The referees have always been a decent standard, everybody makes mistakes in all jobs, and refs are no different. However, the attitude that managers and players alike that is shown to referees is shocking. The amount of times you hear managers pin a defeat on the fault of the ref is shocking, maybe their team just wasn't good enough. Football still needs to take a leaf from Rugby's book as far as respect is concerned, but we without doubt the ref's are improving, and so are the players attitudes, so we're going in the right direction.

Posted 16:40 1st December 2007

David Franklin says...

We've all played the game and whenever we do we make mistakes all the time - we start to sympathise with players who miss free headers or open goals from inside the six-yard box because you realise that actually, the ball's coming across goal pretty quickly and if you're not in exactly the right position it's pretty hard to put the ball in the net. Relatively few of us have refereed - as such, we have no sympathy when they get the "easy" decisions wrong because we have no experience of doing so ourselves. Give them a break!

Posted 15:29 1st December 2007

Bob Beale (Southampton fan) says...

Refereeing in general I think is quite good. Sure you get the occassional mistake but these only really become apparent when the tv commentators show it from 6 different angles and in slow motion. If the commentators would just talk about the game and not spend as much time picking every decision by the referee and assistants apart it would make the world of difference.

Posted 15:14 1st December 2007

Liam Mcc (Celtic fan) says...

A great question to ask, if any neutral spectator watched the Celtic V Shaktar Donestk game on wednesday will see that european referee's are definetly not getting better, but I think British referee's are usually on the ball. The ref at the Celtic game asked Artur Boruc to move the ball onto a seperate blade of grass because he wasnt happy with it. Another ref blunder was the Scotland v Italy game, if anyone seen that no matter who they support they would be laughing at the thick referee who gave Italy a free kick after shoulder tackled Alan Hutton. How do we stand a chance of a fair game of football with referee's making such decisions. Video evidence has to be used more.

Posted 15:14 1st December 2007

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