You probably have a point here, but you know, that’s how it goes. He’s free to call it as he sees it and you’re free to do the same about him on Soccerlens. I think the best the FA can do is enforce it seriously on the pitch and ignore the pundits.

I like what you wrote at the end about video help. I for one think it could go a lot farther that that, without significantly affecting the game flow. But they could begin with a more limited approach. But they most likely won’t do it, not very soon anyway.

But on the other hand, it does irk me somewhat that some pundits seemed to view respect as a joke from the start and do their best to undermine it. Ho hum.

Anyway, hands up who’s looking forward to Joe Kinnear’s reaction to the first bad refereeing decision against his side?

There’s a little too much of it for my taste. The video ref wouldn’t take it all out, of course, but maybe just bring it to the right level.

You can enforce respect by players and officials, and it may be a good idea. You won’t enforce respect by fans for refs making certain decisions. That’s most important.

BTW, I strongly disagree with the idea that the TV commentator should be barred criticizing decisions. That’s nonsense. That’s against free speech. Players and officials yes, they are under the rule of the game, the ref is like a policeman to them. Commentators may express their point of view. It’s England, not Saudi Arabia. Next thing we know, the TV coverage itself won’t be permitted to present dubious plays from all angles so as to not show the refs’ monumental errors.

The iPod suggestion – I don’t think we’ll ever see this. It would be a step in the right direction, and the bosses have repeatedly shown they don’t want this. If they ever were to change their mind, there are probably better ways for video assistance.

“Just as you get good players and bad players, you get good refs and bad refs.” – yes, except that if the player is bad, he and his team will suffer, whereas if the ref is bad, some poor team will who aren’t at fault.

@11 & 12 so you think it’s acceptable for players to use violence against referees if they get decisions wrong?

@7 Just as you get good players and bad players, you get good refs and bad refs. And from my experience of the lower leagues, the good refs do get moved higher up the leagues. I don’t think tackling will be lost, but ever since the Eduardo tackle I think refs have been more concious of clamping down on the studs-up two footer. Pogatetz’s tackle probably goes a long way towards enforcing that in their minds (and you can bet Ferguson would have been the first to defend his player if the situation had been reversed).

Yes, there should be more consistency towards refs who make mistakes. But I also don’t think that – hard as it may be to take – we should be crying to hand, draw and quarter the ref after one bad mistake. Sure, punish, fine or demote them for a brief period, but unless they’re serially bad period then view it as a similar punishment a straight red would draw for a footballer.

I think what it’s easy to lose sight of is that the referee has to make a snap judgement when an incident occurs, which is why I’d like to see video technology introduced.

I think, when comments are made such as ‘referees have never been worse’ or ‘in the old days player x would have gotten away with that’, it’s easy to lose sight of how the game has changed. Back then, we didn’t have endless video replays highlighting their mistakes, or pundits squabbling over the rights or wrongs of the ref’s performance. Players could get away with a lot worse tackles that we see today. Whilst I’ve criticised TV pundits, I think in some regards, the advent of Sky Sports has helped up the standard of refereeing and made the game safer, which is a good thing.

I genuinely believe that if you give refs respect, there’ll be less likely to make a pressured, wrong decision.

That said I agree with Chris (@13). Refs definitely don’t deserve the abuse they get, even if some of the criticism is justified. There need to be wholesale changes, and the respect campaign needs to be more than just lip service. I can’t see this happening though.

Respect does have to be earned and not enforced, but I suspect the authorities are forcing the initiative on the referees as well as everyone else – at least with the word ‘Respect’ taking centre stage.

I think most referees would agree they need to earn respect. But they don’t deserve the abuse we give them either.

Whether they’re capable of earning that respect without a complete change in structure is questionable.

You dont enforce respect.
YOU EARN IT!!!