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Over-criticising referees
– Did Jamie Vardy exaggerate or manufacture contact? Yes.
– Was the incident worth of a yellow card? Yes, in my opinion, and the subsequent social media disagreement suggests that plenty share that view.
– Did Wes Morgan commit a foul on Winston Reid in the penalty area? Yes.
– Were there other incidents in the penalty area that could have been punished? Yes.
– Did Andy Carroll commit a foul on Jeffrey Schlupp in the penalty area? Yes.
– Does it say anything in the laws about ‘soft’ decisions? No.
By that reckoning, Jon Moss’ only mistake at the King Power Stadium was to commit that cardinal refereeing crime: Inconsistency.
Our holding of Premier League officials to far higher standards than we ask of ourselves continues unabated. A striker misses a chance, it is forgiven. A defender misses a tackle, it is forgiven. A midfielder commits a foul, it is forgiven. A referee misses a foul in the box, it is not forgiven. The first three are paid far more handsomely than the fourth, but the fourth receives the most post-match bile. In Moss’ case, he had Jamie Vardy shouting “you’re a f**king c**t” in his face as a lovely little bonus.
At every set-piece, there is holding in the box. A referee does not have six pairs of eyes or X-ray vision, so he can give only the decisions that he can see clearly and make a definitive judgement on. One presumes Moss did exactly that, especially having warned the players first. Once the replays had been played to the television audience, the damning verdicts came.
“The game became too much of a pressurised situation for him. He could not handle the pressure and I think that clouded his decisions,” said Alan Shearer on Match of the Day 2. In a discussion over pressure clouding people’s decision-making, he failed to mention Vardy’s outburst at the referee. Sure.
‘Ogbonna has arm round Huth’s neck. No offence, apparently. Jon Moss is a really poor referee. So inconsistent,’ tweeted The Times’ Henry Winter. ‘Moss (King Power 2016) goes into the top 3 worst refereeing displays I’ve covered along with Collina (Goodison 2005) & Ovrebo (Bridge 2009),’ he continued. Take a look at this search for the patience Winter has in John Stones, for example. Players are persevered with, referees are publicly persecuted. One has it easier than the other.
The irony in all of the coverage of Jon Moss is that the outrage only came because Leicester are top of the league. ‘Very harsh decision by referee on Vardy,’ the Daily Mail’s Oliver Holt tweeted sarcastically during the game (now deleted). ‘So he’s proved he’s not been swayed by the fairytale. Congratulations.’ Would that have been the reaction to the same incident in Watford vs West Brom?
‘Another mistake from Moss for that last ditch Leicester pen, which wasn’t close to being a pen. Ref seemed to have gone at all levels,’ Holt continued, before tweeting later on on Sunday: ‘Feel a bit for Jon Moss at Leicester-West Ham. Horrifically difficult match to referee.’ Officials aren’t the only ones blighted by inconsistency; we all are.
On Saturday lunchtime on BT Sport, Robbie Savage advised Norwich’s players to chase and hound the referee, making the most of every contact to try and get a penalty after Andre Marriner had (correctly) awarded Sunderland one in the first half. That’s a national broadcaster effectively advocating cheating. If Marriner had indeed fallen for one of these tricks, the Sunderland player would have been ‘clever’ and the referee at fault. In what world is this fair?
When players stop cheating, diving, exaggerating and appealing for decisions they know they don’t deserve, you can criticise referees. And only if you saw it on first viewing. Until then, no.
Wise words.