Officials must now take responsibility

During the weekend Premier League games we saw some awful officiating. There were two games in particular that caught my eye.

Those games were the big game on Saturday Manchester United versus Chelsea and the Sunday clash between Everton and West Ham at Goodison Park.

Awful

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing at Old Trafford as Chelsea striker Didier Drogba fired past Edwin Van der Sar, after he was standing at least a few yards offside. I bet he couldn’t believe his luck when the referee’s assistant didn’t put his flag up.

How could he not see what everybody else in the ground and at home watching could see? It wasn’t even like it was debatable it was obvious that Drogba was offside. It was an obvious mistake. How come after watching the incident on the television didn’t he come out and admit it was a mistake?

Then there were two debateable penalty decisions that weren’t given by referee Mike Dean. The referee has come in for criticism in recent months for the amount of penalties he’s given this season. It seemed to play on his mind yesterday and it looked as though he was determined not to point to the spot.

Blatant

Then there was the incident at Goodison Park that got me really riled up. Everton striker Louis Saha received the ball just inside the West Ham area only to be brought down by West Ham defender Manuel Da Costa.

Everybody expected referee Howard Webb to point to the penalty spot but the big official waved away claims. English referee Webb is going to the World Cup this summer and I’m starting to wonder why. He breaks up the flow of the game and it sometimes spoils the game.

He also strikes me as a guy who would be too stubborn to admit that he’s made a mistake. He may be a big guy in stature but it takes a big man to stand up and admit he’s wrong. I just don’t see that happening.

Human

We understand that these officials are only human. Everybody in life makes mistakes and usually when we make mistakes we take responsibility. In life sometimes you have to put your hands up and apologise for your mistakes.

However it seems that Premier League officials are exempt from the rules of normal life. They can make mistakes without having to apologise to fans, players and managers. Their mistakes could cost managers their jobs and lose clubs millions of pounds if they suffer relegation or lose out on league titles.

Managers

Premier League managers can’t say anything about referees or officials nowadays without being hauled in front of the FA and fined. I believe that managers should be able to be honest. Sir Alex Ferguson came out and told the media that he thought the officials were poor in yesterday’s game.

Love him or hate Fergie is only saying what we all think. Everton boss David Moyes kept his opinions to himself about the Saha incident, because of the warning he received from the FA after his handbags with Roberto Mancini.

Respect

These officials make a mockery out of the RESPECT campaign. I’ve always been taught that you earn respect. Some of the performances of these officials don’t deserve our respect. If you are respected it shows by the attitude of people around you.

In my experience people who have respect can also admit when they are wrong. These are professionals at the highest level of sport. Shouldn’t these professional people be able to admit that they are wrong?

Then I would certainly reluctantly accept these wrong decisions with more grace than when the officials decide to remain tight-lipped. I would also respect these individuals far more than I do at the moment.

I’m sure the managers and players of the Premier League would also show officials more respect if they were honest and open. Then maybe the RESPECT campaign would not be needed.