Respect for Referees still a Real Problem

Despite the FA's Respect campaign being nearly 5 years old, I don't think many would argue the fact that football is still a long way behind other sports in terms of the respect shown to match officials. We still see players disputing virtually every decision and appearing outraged the instant a foul is committed. We still have players surrounding the referee and managers storming onto the pitch at full-time. And how often do TV cameras still catch players shouting profanity at the ref after a decision goes against them?

Scenes like this are still too familiar

Of course there has been improvement, such as a significant decrease in the number of bookings for dissent, but the truth is that fundamentally players and managers still complain almost instinctively, usually before the ref has even had a chance to blow the whistle. Is it not embarrassing to see players cry out to the ref as though he's committed war crimes when in fact he's already in the process of giving the foul? 

Watching the Six Nations recently highlighted just how well managed the disciplinary side of the game is in rugby union, and consequently emphasised how much more football has to do. The ref calls over the offending player and the captain, has a quick chat (which everyone can hear over the mic) and everyone gets on with it. There is the odd question in reply but no pathetic whinging or mock despair and certainly no aggressive abuse. Players accept the decision, and potential punishment, maturely and with minimal fuss. Even for controversial decisions there is limited argument, due in part perhaps because the players have the sense to realise it is of no benefit, but is more likely to be detrimental if anything. There are sanctions such as the loss of 10 metres or the reversal of a penalty for excessive arguing. 

Of course there are differences between sports, not everything is immediately transferable. The loss of 10 metres for example would have virtually no effect in football but can be very significant in rugby. The differences between officiating football and rugby, from the perspective of the referees themselves, was discussed in a group interview recently (it can be read here). A major point of discussion was the relationship between players and referee, which to me seems almost entirely absent in football and certainly a long way from the ideals set forth by the Respect campaign.

A while back Gary Neville wrote a piece about the futility of arguing with refs, which had taken him years to realise. Far from having even the slightest influence on a referee's decision, constant complaints and aggressive behaviour proves much more likely to harden a ref's resolve against you. Have you ever seen a decision overturned because players complain or get in the official's face? Why then does it continue? Players need to be better educated to this fact, managers need to do more to control them and all round the professionals need to set a better example. It's completely in the culture and nothing is going to change while young players at the clubs and watching on TV see how their idols behave. 

Not exactly powerful and inspiring imagery

The Premier League has a Fair Play League table, in line with UEFA's equivalent, and points are awarded not just for avoiding yellow/red cards but also for respect to referees, behaviour of team officials and even behaviour of the fans. The scoring system can be read here. Rewards are given out for such things but the reality is that a fairly insignificant cash prize isn't much of an incentive to a Premiership club, so as long as they believe that pressuring referees enhances their chances, why would they ever change? 

Is It Possible To Overdose On Sport?

Let's be honest, it has been an absolutely crazy fortnight of sport. Where to begin? No matter which sport takes your fancy, there has been drama, intrigue, upsets, epic performances and records set in them all. 

Let's start with a rarely mentioned sport in this blog: Horse Racing. The Grand National is not an event I've ever taken much notice of before but my recent gambling addiction and the culturally dominant feeling of "you have to bet on the National" prompted me to call the bank manager and pick a couple of random horses to be honoured with 5p bets.

Despite both of my sure-things falling by the 5th fence, there was enough going on to hold my interest. Before the start a major jockey pulled out injured, the favourite threw off his rider then comically ran loose, a couple of false starts and then only 15 of 40 horses actually finishing the course, the best ever finish for a female jockey and the closest photo finish ever. Of course there is the tragedy of two horses being put down and others being injured and retired - a debate I'll leave to writers more experienced and informed than myself. 

Back-to-back Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends have yielded some surprising results. Normally a Vettel pole and start-to-finish victory wouldn't raise an eyebrow but this season it comes as quite a shock. But the highlight has to be the Chinese Grand Prix of last weekend, where Nico Rosberg claimed both his first pole and first victory of his career.

This weekend's tennis saw Rafa Nadal seal a record 20th ATP Masters 1000 Series, winning in Monte Carlo for an 8th consecutive year, also a record, and in doing so he broke a 7 match losing streak against Djokovic. And then our Fed Cup team epitomise the British sporting paradigm I was talking about in my last post. A new regime under Judy Murray, a strong team with good depth and very encouraging displays led us to the brink of rejoining the World Group for the first time since '93. And then defeat against what is in reality quite a weak Swedish team, and there's that familiar story we all know and love. What did I tell you about getting your hopes up? 

This weekend has also seen the beginning of the Snooker World Championships. Stephen Hendry, the most successful player in the modern era (i.e. when you can't win a world title by winning one match in the pub), came through qualifying and then reeled off his record equalling 3rd Crucible 147 break on the 1st day of the tournament. We've also seen the emergence of the youngest ever player at the finals, 17 year old Luca Brecel.

And what a fortnight of football: A Premiership title wrapped up at 82 minutes at Old Trafford was suddenly torn open for the potential of a late City steal. What odds on Tevez getting the winner next Monday evening? We've also had a few fairly dull and uncontroversial semi-finals. Of course I'm referring to Hearts v Celtic. That huge game aside, there was also a Wembley-based Merseyside derby which proved that Liverpool can win football matches and that Andy Carroll is capable of scoring, an uneventful clash between Spurs and Chelsea which had even John Terry being honest, and then Barcelona proving ineffective when coming forward at the Bridge, before losing at home for the first time in about 5000 matches and surrendering La Liga to Real in last night's El Clasico.

I shouldn't like to ignore the elephant in the room so I'll make mention of the fact that yes Sheffield Wednesday's automatic promotion push is still on after a 95th minute winner on Saturday, but how many times do I have to tell you? Don't get your hopes up.

Oh and as if that wasn't enough, it was the London Marathon today, with a few million people exhausting themselves on our capital's streets in the name of charity or Olympics qualification (for the most part).

If you think this sporting gluttony is about to wind down then may I draw your attention to a few particular days ahead of us this spring and summer:

5/5 - World Snooker Champs + FA Cup Final

13/5 - Premiership final weekend + Spanish Grand Prix

19/5 - Champions League Final + Heineken Cup Final + Championship Playoff Final + England v West Indies 1st Test Match

26/5 - Norway v England (football) + AVIVA Premiership Final + Monaco Grand Prix + England v West Indies 2nd Test Match

9/6 - Roland Garros + Euro 2012 + SA v England Rugby + England v West Indies 3rd Test Match + Canadian Grand Prix (I think this is my favourite date)

16/6 - US Open Golf + Euro 2012 + SA v England Rugby + England v West Indies ODI

1/7 - Wimbledon + Euro 2012 + England v Australia ODI

7/7 - Wimbledon + British Grand Prix + England v Australia ODI

Well, you get the picture, there are also a few test matches against South Africa, a bunch more Grand Prix, a couple of golf and tennis majors, and I'm sure there's something else I'm missing to do with London and 2012 but I can't quite place my finger on it.

Can Anyone Stop Man City?

We've got that Dentyl mouthwash that has both green and blue liquid in it. You shake it and it becomes somewhat turquoise and then after a while the colours settle back down into separate layers.

The first few months of the Premiership are much the same. Teams like Blackpool last year find themselves flying, only to settle back to where they're destined to fight for survival. And teams like Arsenal of this year struggle initially only to slowly rise and challenge for the European places. By early November, the table has started to roughly resemble how it will look in May (with a few exceptions - sorry Toon Army, it ain't gonna last)

Now that we're into double figures in the Played column and it's no longer what can be appropriately described as 'early season', the question really must be

"Can anyone stop City?"

They're 5 points clear, have dropped just 2 points all season and since beating Everton 2-0 on 24th September, they have scored 20 goals in 5 league matches, never failing to score at least 3 goals in a match. Which of Aguero, Balotelli, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko, or Toure would fail to get into any team in the league? My Football Manager experience tells me that a squad rotation system is for blooding youngsters and giving the players you rely on a bit of a break, not just because you've got so many world class players it's fun to experiment. My mistake.

The only comfort for Utd, Chelsea et al. is that City haven't been here before. They have multiple league winners in their squad but as a club they're very much new to leading the league and being title favourites. They could yet turn out to be a Newcastle of 95-96, who led by 12 points at Christmas time, only to be overhauled by Utd.

Every team has poor spells of form or a month with a few key injuries, the only question is how City will cope when that inevitably comes. So far they've managed to combine devastating (e.g. at Old Trafford) with gritty (e.g. yesterday at Loftus) and get the results every time. When the Champions League knockouts, the FA Cup, even the Carling Cup, are all knocking at the door, Mancini's plate-spinning skills are really going to be tested.

But I think the hardest challenge for City this season could be the 2012 African Cup of Nations in January. So far this year Yaya has been their driving force, providing infinite energy and power as well as attacking prowess. Most importantly for City he combines the ability to go forward and create & score goals with the defensive skills required to allow Mancini to play multiple forwards. Players like Barry/Hargreaves/De Jong offer the defensive side, players like Silva/Nasri/Johnson offer the sleight, skilful attacking side. When Yaya is away for what is likely to be the full 3 weeks, it is going to really test the depth and mental strength of the new league leaders, especially during what is traditionally United's strongest period of the season...