Over the last few moths I've noticed a phrase that is new to me: that of refs "managing games" when making their decisions.
The theory seems to be that refs have a duty not only to enforce the rules, but also protect the spectacle or the entertainment, and that to do this, they back away from certain decisions such as sending players off early on.
Now I think I can safely assume that refs haven't reached this decision by themselves, and that the FA or prem association have some major input into this, or perhaps even UEFA.
My own view is that this is a load of F***ing bollix.
We witnessed this in action last night against sunnerland, when that vagina fella (can't remember his name
) should have been sent off not once, but twice in the first half.
We've seen it before as well this season on too many occasions when players should have been sent off early in the match.
We lost to chelsea when Eto'o should have been sent off in the first 5 minutes.
Last night we could quite easily have dropped 2 points.
There's lots of other examples, but you get my point.
In my opinion, the ref is there to enforce the rules consistently, objectively and without bias.
Giving only a yellow (or no booking at all) when the rules say straight red because they "don't want to spoil the game" is a huge F***ing cop out, and being honest, it's really pissing me off.
Forget about spoiling the match or managing games.
Enforce the rules, do it consistently and to the best of ability without bias.
In other words, do the F***ing job they get paid to do, and forget about TV cameras, pundits, and viewing figures, because what really ruins a game is a ref making a decision that he knows full well is wrong.
