The Referee is a ..................

Do referees deserve all the negative publicly directed at them. I suppose there are two sides to this argument.

Referring today in soccer has become a lot more difficult. In the last couple of years diving and playacting has really being a common occurrence in the professional game. Nowadays players are actually playing for frees and penalty kicks. Refs have been very weary of this and try to let common sense prevail in making decisions. Some players are prone to diving and these players have grown a bad reputation amongst all refs. When refs see these players falling over easily in the penalty box, its very hard for them not to think that the player is diving. However what really annoys me is when a player goes down in the penalty box, looks for a penalty and the ref just waves on play. Surely it’s either a penalty or the player should be booked for diving. This non consistency from refs is what really invigorates both players and managers.

Another thing that refs and their assistants are criticised for is whether the ball has crossed the goal line or not. It probably happens 3 or 4 times a season. However this decision could be in a major game and may decide the outcome of the game. It’s almost impossible for these refs to be 100% sure that the ball has crossed the line in close cases. Goal line technology should be brought into the game. I don’t know why Sepp Blater is so slow to introduce the technology into the game. It can be only bring a bit of fairness to game. It’s not like technology is going to take over the whole game. We can learn a lot from rugby counterparts. They use a Television Match Official (TMO). A rugby ref will go to a TMO if he is not  100% certain about a big decision. The TMO will then look at the play from a number of different camera angles and give his recommendation. I’m not saying that soccer should follow this procedure but maybe they could use it for  the awarding of goals.

The one thing that really annoys me about refs is their inability to admit publicly that they made a mistake in a match. We see managers give interviews after games critcising  the performance of a ref. I think managers and players alike would have a lot more respect for refs if they acknowledged  that they made a particular error in a match.

Taking the Good with the Bad!!

This week I’m gonna talk about football managers. Management of any sort is not for the faint hearted. Football management takes this to the next level. I think the vast majority of people have this perception that most good soccer players can adapt relatively easily to management. This is certainly not the case.

Results are key. Football managers are always under intense pressure and most run the risk of being sacked by the team performing poorly over a short space of time. This is entirely true in most cases except for managers who have been at a club for reasonable amount of time and has brought success whether it be trophies or promotions.

I think QPR’s decision to sack manager Neil Warnock last week was a truly awful one. Do they remember what position the club was in before he joined them. Warnock joined QPR in March 2010 when they were struggling in the Championship. He managed to avoid relgation comfortably that year and went on the following season to win the Championship and gaining automatic promotion to the premier league. This was a league that the club hadnt partcipated in 15 years and it only took Warnock 14 months to complete this. Now they have decided to let him go because of the recent 8 games. Surely you give the man who guided you promotion within such a short space of time a full season to prove himself at this level.

For the past weeks there has being mounting pressure for Blackburn manager Steve Kean to resign. Fans have organised demostrations before league games and have continued these chants to their home matches. I believe these chants in the stadium to be very unfair to the manager and more importantly to the team. Blackburn are in for right battle this year to avoid the drop and fans chanting towards the managers departure is not helping the cause one bit. The team needs all the support they can get to pick up points and this must be very frustrating for the players themselves. David Moyes, the Everton manager was in attendance at one of their home games in recent weeks said that he had to leave at half time because of his surprise and disgust over the fans treatment of their manager.  Keans team went to Old Trafford on New Years Eve and pulled off the shock result of the season by beating Man United. Kean is adamant he is staying but if he cant win over the fans sooner rather than later it could have major repercussions on the teams league position.  Therefore I think Kean should step down if the ongoing saga continues and shows no sign of being resolved.

Who do people think wil get the next sack?

Odds on the next Premier League Manager To Be Sacked –

15/8 – Steve Kean

      4/1 – Owen Coyle

      9/2 – Alex McLeish

      7/1 – Andre Villas-Boas

      8/1 – Mick McCarthy

      12/1 – Roberto Martinez

      20/1 – David Moyes

      20/1 – Roy Hodgson

    20/1 – Martin Jol

BUY BUY BUY!!!!

It’s that time year again where teams are looking to stregthen their squads for the remainder of the season. Buying and selling in this year's January transfer window is not expected to reach the records of last season.

Thierry Henry is on the verge of completing a sensational return to Arsenal on a two-month loan deal as cover for Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh during the African Cup of Nations. The deal is all dependent on insurance with the American club outfit. What are people’s opinions on the signing?  Is Wenger right to wait till the summer to sign another striker for a reasonable price or is he just taking the easy option? I don’t think Henry will have much to offer this current side and could possible be putting his Arsenal reputation on the line.

One of the biggest talking points of the transfer window so far is Didier Drogba’s future. Drogba is frustrated with the lack of suitable contract being offered by Chelsea. He is looking for a two year contract but that isn’t being offered. There are three Chinese clubs interested in signing the striker. Guangzhou are reportedly ready to offer Drogba up to €480,000 per week. This would make Drogba the highest paid player on the planet. It looks like Drogba is off to China unless Chelsea intervene.

Robbie Keane looks certain to return to the UK.  Currently training with former club Spurs, Keane is wanted by Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Celtic.
The Irish skipper has decided to seek a short term move back to the Premier League to boost his fitness ahead of Euro 2012. If Keane decides to move back the premier league it will be his 11^th club.

I have not decided to develop on the Carlos Tevez saga. It has being all over the papers for too long and hopefully AC or Inter Milan will take him so we will see the back of him.

Gary Cahill looks set to sign for Chelsea depending on personal terms. This will be a good buy for them and might tighten their defence which has being leaking goals of late.

Liverpool has publicly announced their interest in Aston Villa striker Darren Bent. Have Liverpool finally given up hope on Andy Carroll. I think they could be better off to cut their losses and sell him on. What do you think? Another transfer rumour is that Blackburn defender Samba is on his way to Spurs.

Have people heard of any other major transfer speculation!!!