Effing and jeffing at the reffing

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Find out what it means to me. Well, in the face of a supposedly high profile FA initiative, it seems it matters very little to players, coaches or the media. Despite frequent calls to her agent I’m afraid I have no indication of Aretha Franklin’s current viewpoint. But I do know that it should be obvious to most that the “Respect” campaign has had no effect on football referees at any level.

Let’s start at the top. Managers. Why not do a little experiment? Run through the match reports on the BBC website or indeed any other major online sporting website. Count the number of post match interviews where the manager bemoans a match changing decision, nay “catastrophic error”, by an official. Now cross reference it against their side’s result. Spot a correlation? Well done, award yourself a gold star, or maybe three points.

Perhaps player behaviour has improved then. Let's have a look at the official site of the Premier League. Surely the campaign has resulted in improved discipline on the pitch. So far this season 55 different players have received their marching orders and 339 have been booked. In the whole of last season the figures were 56 and 351 respectively*. It seems clear this will be exceeded by 9th May. And for once we don’t have any major rule changes to blame. Everything has already been addressed (in theory); professional fouls, tackles from behind, waving imaginary yellow cards – all been clamped down on in seasons past.

Off the pitch we’ve had no reduction in abusive chanting. Not really the peace and love vibe that the FA hoped for is it? And at grass roots level I can offer only anecdotal evidence but I’ve noticed no less shouting at match officials during my coaching work this year.

Despite this I remain optimistic that the campaign can result in, as Aretha’s countryman would say, “Change we can believe in”. The FA should aim their guns towards a vocal minority who have the biggest influence on the football loving public. Commentators, journalists and pundits. How? In my next blog I’ll be running through my 5 point plan for a brighter future. R.E.S.P.E.C.T.? It’s not over until the fat lady sings.

* http://www.premierleague.com/page/Statistics/0,,12306,00.html