Mascherano Off as Revenge of the Refs Begins

By: Daryl | March 23rd, 2008

Revenge of the refs, Steve Bennett Premiership referees are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore. No more being treated like some sort of parasite, no more listening to Wayne Rooney’s limited vocabulary of mostly four letter words, and certainly no more taking shit from Mr. Ashley Cole.

Last Wednesday, Cole put in a nasty knee-high tackle on Spurs’ Alan Hutton that could easily have been worth a red card. But when Mike Riley tried to show Cashely a yellow, the Chelsea player gave the ref an earful of venom and refused to turn and face him. I would have sent Cole off purley for acting like a dick, but that’s probably why I’m not a Premiership ref. Mike Riley is, and he let its slide. The softy.

But no more. Javier Mascherano’s red card during Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat to Man Utd today was like a warning shot. The revenge of the refs has begun.

It all began when Fernando Torres was brought down by Rio Ferdinand. Torres won the free kick, but started giving out to Steve Bennett for not protecting him enough. So Bennett gave Torres a yellow for dissent. That got Mascherano mad, so the midfielder went over to argue with the ref. And then kept arguing. So Bennett gave Mascherano a yellow for dissent, the Argentinean’s second of the game, so he was off. And angry. It took Rafa Benitez, Steven Gerrard and others to calms Mascherano down and persuade him to leave the field.

In many ways Mascherano’s sending off ruined the game. Man Utd were already one up through Wes Brown’s header, and with a man advantage they scored two more in the second half. I’ve alos got some sympathy for Mascherano and Torres. They couldn’t have expected those cards, because last week they almost definitely would have gotten away with talking to Bennett like that.

But that was last week. Looks like this is a new era where refs don’t take shit from anybody. As with any new rules, it’s going to take some adjusting and there’s going to be a bit of controversy, as there was today.

But in the long run, this has to be a good thing. Increased respect for refs (with the threat of cards to back it up) means the men in the middle having more control, which is one piece in the puzzle of stamping out dangerous tackles from the game. Most importantly, these aren’t new rules. Booking players for dissent is an old rule, and a good one, because it supposedly to ensures the referee’s authority. So maybe now that rule is being enforced again Premiership refs will be able to get on with doing their job properly.

Some Related Stories:

Category: English Premier League

« Happy Easter | Home | Photo of the Day: Kiss It »

The Offside RSS Feeds

Sheps

I completely disagree Jono. At the end of the day, footballers are over paid, whinging prima donnas who aren't used to having things their way.

Are you saying, for instance, that Ashley Cole was completely right whinging that he'd been booked for what was obviously a red card tackle?

We need the refs respected by the footballers. The nature of football is such that we can't stop and start it, it's a flowing game - decisions must be made on the spot. For instance, we can't pause for 30 seconds while the ref watches a replay of an appeal for a penalty, because what if in the meantime the other side could have broken up the other end and scored on the counter? Football would have kept up with the times if it was possible, but if you compare the natural pace with cricket, where after every ball there is a pause anyway, and therefore technology is prevalent, you begin to see why.
Jono

The respect for refs will not increase just because the FA starts a campaign for it. It certainly will not grow with them making dubious decisions like this one. In fact, it actually decreases confidence and respect when decisions taken are seen to be arbitrary and unfair.

I think that this whole situation is really one that has come from the fact that football has not kept up with the times in terms of officiating. Refs need more help in getting their decisions right. Instant replays, in super slow motion, show fans at home and even in stadiums what happened, and so they can immediately spot poor decisions. Players can see for themselves after the fact how badly officials blunder when they review games on tape. All this has eroded the confidence in refs. So something must be done to help them get the decisions right. They also need to be given the support in allowing them to leverage on technology to get things right. This will build confidence, and as a result build respect.
Sheps

wait... nothing new here has been introduced. It's just that referees have not been doing their job until now. Quite clearly, the rules state that dissent leads to a yellow card. Questioning the referees decision in a threatening manner constitutes dissent, therefore Mascherano deserved the second yellow.

About this there can be no arguement. That Mike Riley declined to properly do his job last weekend is of little relevance.

Namir, I think that you descredit everything you say by stating that 10 seconds of dissent should never constitute a yellow card. In ten seconds, you could, for instance, say "I hope, referee, you and your family die a slow slow death". Clearly this would be dissent.

But, at the end of the day, it's not about the length of time Mascherano questioned the referee - and indeed if it was, then one would have to consider the multiple times he'd questioned decisions before in the game, which would clearly lead to a booking. No. It's about what he said and the manner in which he said it. And since no one really knows that apart from the player and the ref, we'll have to trust the referee's judgement. I certainly understand his frustration with the player given he'd just seconds earlier booked a team mate for exactly the same offence.

How did Mascherano think that conversation could end positively for him? Was the referee about to change his mind?! Of course not. He was out of line and fully deserved his punishment.
zan

On one hand he chose to uphold the authority of referees, on the other hand he had indirectly led to serious doubts on the credibility of the standard of refereeing.

I agreed that Mascherano should be sent off, that guy lost his cool and went over to ask a question when he's over the other side of the field, but due to Steve's inconsistency, he had failed to protect a player from getting roughed up.

Is refereeing all about authority, and less about protecting the best interest of football itself?

I think he ought to reflect on why he ever choose the path in the first place.
Josh

I think everyone could see that yellow card coming. Mascherano was beaking at the ref all half, questioning every decision and berating the referee with his own four-letter words. Mascherano wasn't booked for that one incident of dissent, he was booked for the pattern of dissent he showed all match. I'm personally disappointed that he didn't control himself, but I'm also disappointed in Gerrard for not having a word with him and preventing him from stepping over the line. That's what we saw Gallas do with Eboue in the Chelsea-Arsenal match after Eboue, after he had been cautioned for encroaching at a set piece, started acting the fool and chasing the referee around. Gallas spoke to him and he was good as gold the rest of the game.
Bobo

While completely understandable, this whole thing should have been postponed and introduced in the beginning of the next season, and not in the middle of title race.
Good for any league.
nemir

Seriously, the performance that referee put in last night was atrocious. That isn't the way to earn respect.

The first tackle that Masch laid, he was a little late but already committed. So he tucked in his legs to ensure that there was no risk of a yellow card. And he gets given one anyway.

And then Masch had to watch as time and again as much worse tackles were laid by players and nothing was said.

Then he watches as Torres, the new Reds Talisman, is given yet another soft yellow card. So he goes over to ask why. No sooner does he go in to ask before he sees a second yellow.

I'd be pretty confused too.

Masch has been playing and watching football for twenty odd years now, and never seen decisions like that. He's played about 40 odd games this season and not seen any decision like those.

This was the one of the biggest games of the season. There is a time and a place to give the refs license to change the way they discipline players, but this game definitely wasn't it.

After the first yellow, he should have called Gerrard over to let him know to cool Masch down. 10 seconds of 'dissent' should never warrant a red card under any circumstances.
Sheps

Andy Gray was furious at the decision, ranting about how it's "taking emotion out of the game". Uh... no. How is stopping chatting back to the ref taking emotion out of the game? It's stopping emotion being put into an improper channel and redirecting that emotion back into actual football, which is what people want to see, not spoilt brats arguing with the referee.

Quite simple - every team has to have a field representative (if the captain is the goalie, choose someone else as well), and only they can talk to the referee for the duration of the game. If the ref wants a player to calm down, they ask the team rep or captain to talk to that player - surely more effective a message if coming from a colleague rather than a referee.

Anyone breaks the rules, yellow card.

This needs to come from FIFA though, and the problem with that is that Platini will need to find time out of his busy schedule of England-bashing to actually do something to progress the game of football, so unfortunately it's unlikely.

Meanwhile, can we have a show of huge respect for Middlesbrough, who have a club rule that players don't chat back to the ref - if they do, they get fined. Well done - let's give them the UEFA cup fair play spot! Oh wait, that would involve Blatter taking time out of his busy England-bashing schedule to do something useful...
KMD

Good for them. Refs make a lot of bad calls in England (and elsewhere), but they SHOULD defend themselves. The sending off did mess up the game. Here's a thought. Don't freak out at the ref and expect that nothing's going to happen...cause "I already have one yellow and there's no way he's going to give me a second for arguing." Well, guess what, he just did. Mascherano should grow up.
Michael

Totally ruined a hugely important game.
Naeem

Mascherano is an idiot.

Torres got a yellow for chirping the ref, so what made him think he would be treated any differently.

He runs 10 metres to the ref to give him an earful.

That was stupid.

Obviously he was gonna get the second yellow.

Spoilt a good game
Milt

Respect for corruption? Rubbish. If they add open mikes, an extra official, goal line technology, and replay, then they'll get their due. One has to ask, why they don't want to make the game more fair? The soul of the game doesn't lie in 'mistakes' or the imperfections of human beings. Yes, I am being facetious. A penalty is a penalty when the ref says it is. They don't deserve respect but that's not they want either.