It’s a funny old game ... not!
REFEREES are becoming more like robots these days.
I think they’re told what to do and carry out those instructions to the letter.
As a result, a great deal of common sense has gone out of the game.
I refer to the Chelsea against Manchester United game on Sunday where there must have been six or seven yellow cards dished out.
If they we given for harsh tackles, then that’s fair enough.
But most of them were given for pettiness, like answering back to the referee.
I feel referees should make a judgment for themselves and not listen to the latest edict from FIFA.
From my playing days – and I don’t think it’s changed a great deal – you would like to have a referee who you could have a bit of a laugh with on the pitch.
Sometimes you could swear at certain referees and they’d swear back at you. I thought that was great.
But there were some referees you just couldn’t talk to and, if you did, you’d get booked.
I do have some sympathy for the officials because the game has become so high profile.
But I don’t think they help when they appear to cut themselves off from the players.
The refs who players can approach are the ones people gravitate towards.
I just think that if referees relaxed a bit more, the game would improve.
I can recall when referees used to come into the changing room and have a quick word with the players.
He would tell them what he was looking for but, more often than not, he’d have a few quips with the players and they would have a few back.
It helped settle everyone down and keep things on an even keel.
More importantly, it helped the players to understand where the referee was coming from.
There was always a bit of good-natured banter going on.
But I’m not sure if refs do that sort of thing now – and if they don’t, maybe they should!
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