When will the standard of refereeing improve in the Premier League?

Referee Kevin Friend wrongly dismissed Sunderland defender Wes Brown in the Black Cats 2-0 defeat at Sunderland

Last season I broached the subject of poor refereeing in the Premier League on a number of occasions.

The standard last season was not really stand out, but there were still some major mistakes by officials which cost teams points.

This weekend we saw yet more poor officiating at a number of games in the Premier League. These decisions were simple ones for the referees to get right, but still they managed to mess them up.

Mistakes

Firstly let me state I not usually somebody that likes to berate officials, as they do have a hard job to do.

However, the three major refereeing mistakes this weekend were inexcusable. The first mistake of the weekend came in the high-profile Merseyside derby.

Even as an Everton supporter I accept that Toffees winger Kevin Mirallas should have been sent-off against Liverpool for his high tackle on Reds striker Luis Suarez, but referee Phil Dowd decided to produce just a yellow. The Belgium international has since came out and stated that he feared he would be sent-off, but that he apologised to the Uruguayan striker after the incident.

The second incident was ridiculous and came at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium, as Sunderland defender Wes Brown received a red card for a tackle that was not even a foul. Referee Kevin Friend got the decision very wrong.

The former-United player made contact with the ball and did not even touch his opponent. Black Cats boss Gus Poyet was absolutely furious with the decision, as were the away supporters I suspect.

The last incident came on Sunday, as Wayne Rooney received a yellow card for lashing out at Cardiff midfielder Jordan Mutch, when he should have been dismissed. The England striker wrote on Twitter after the game “Just watched game back. I agree mine was bad tackle and ref dealt with it,”

Rooney was obviously very careful with the wording of that tweet and did not want to get into hot over the incident. The referee in question at the Cardiff City Stadium was Neil Swarbrick.

Accountable

The officials involved in these incidents are professional people that are paid very good wages in a game that is big business. Their mistakes could cost the respective clubs millions at the end of the season. The referees must be made accountable for the mistakes they make.

Demotion

I try to have sympathy for officials, as the players sometimes do not make it easy for them, but when they are making such blatant mistakes it really is hard to feel sorry for them. If players make such blatant mistakes then then are dropped from the team and maybe there needs to be more demotion for referees that perform poorly.

I know it happens, but it has to happen more, maybe these referees need to learn their trade further down the football pyramid where there is less pressure on them. Then maybe they can come back into the top-flight with a greater level of concentration and improved knowledge of the game.

They are human beings and make mistakes, but sometimes their decisions are simply inexplicable, in Wes Brown’s case especially. If people performed their jobs in normal life as poorly as some of today’s Premier League officials they would lose their job.

Standard

For the standard of refereeing in the Premier League has been very poor for a number of years. For some reason a lot of the officials in the top-flight do not seem good enough to be at that level. Maybe it is a case that the referees are not given the right standard of education or maybe it is a case that they now feel power mad because they are now such high-profile figures.

Improvement

Some people say that referees making mistakes is part of the game and that it adds to the entertainment of the game. However, it would be just as entertaining to see these high-profile professionals doing their job correctly and not making awful decisions like we have seen this weekend.

The fact that three such high-profile mistakes have happened in one weekend of Premier League action just illustrates that there has to be an improvement of standards amongst referees. This issue needs to be addressed by the Premier League or more teams will have to pay for the costly mistakes of the men in black.

Are Premier League officials good enough to referee at such a high standard?