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19 Dec 2011
By Guest Blogger Thomas Rooney
It is a strange world where one man is totally unaccountable for his actions and can live without fear of reprisal on the football pitch or afterwards, but Chris Foy will be counting his luck stars that he is one of those few men.
After Tottenham’s game against Stoke Harry Redknapp was left fuming, exasperated at the perceived ineptness of Foy as he missed the handball for Stoke’s first goal and the handball that denied Tottenham an equaliser in a game in which they sacrificed their 11 game unbeaten streak.
Add into that a missed penalty when Ryan Shawcross hauled down Younes Kaboul in the penalty area, who later then received a yellow card for protesting against one of Foy’s incorrect decisions a little too strongly, and his assistant denying Tottenham a goal by Emmanuel Adebayor when the Togolese international was at least two yards onside.
The fact that Foy made plenty of mistakes on the pitch is just about bearable for Tottenham fans; as little of the rub of the green they received they will be hoping the favour will be returned later in the season and the footballing gods see sense, it is the restraint placed up on their ability to criticise Foy afterwards which will really rankle.
Chelsea boss Andre Villa-Boas found this out to his cost earlier this season, laying into Foy for what he perceived as a terrible referring performance in his side’s game against QPR which saw three of his players given their marching orders. A late penalty to hand QPR the victory was also salt in the wound.
The Portuguese boss came out after the game strongly and heavily criticised Foy for his performance. The FA’s response? To fine him £12,000 and warn him about his further conduct, even though many would agree that his comments were fair and balanced.
Redknapp was lucky to get away with just a warning from the sport’s governing body, who, rather than leaving Foy off the refereeing list for this weekend’s games kept him in the mix whereas before he would have been told to put his feet up and sit this one out.
Why referee’s and their assistants are not answerable to the questions put forward to them is a mystery when the teams and managers they preside over are placed under the harshest of spotlights.
Much better for the game, more than extra referee’s behind the goal line and technology to decide whether the ball crossed the line, would be the ability for ref’s to come out and explain themselves and hold their hands up if they are wrong.
It would make football a better place, would remove any of this unfair restraining of manager’s to criticise and create a much healthier environment when opinions can be aired. The Football Association, it’s over to you.
Before any decision is made though – if one is at all – it might be time to relax, play poker games and forget this latest fall-out caused by poor refereeing decision
Have your say! (1 Comments)
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30 Dec 2011 - 15:47 GMTtufc
After a player misses an open goal, or makes another terrible mistake, is he obliged to go on TV and explain it? No, so why should a ref be forced to? At the end of the day, what is a ref going to say? "I made a mistake. I'm sorry." Is about all they can say. Another pathetic article from an imbecile who seems to have a psychotic obsession with attacking referees (yes, it's "referees", not "referee's").