Comments on: Jens Lehmann To Bow Out With Dignity. Not. http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html League Football, Soccer News and Views from Around the World Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:45:33 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: RedLine55 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136169 RedLine55 Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:54:50 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136169 time for a career in MLS! time for a career in MLS!

]]> By: gomez http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136155 gomez Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:34:59 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136155 Lehmann loves to complain about referees. I don't think that Bundesliga referees are special in a positive or negative meaning. Lehmann loves to complain about referees. I don’t think that Bundesliga referees are special in a positive or negative meaning.

]]> By: free beet http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136146 free beet Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:39:11 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136146 hes just tired of playing football m8 hes just tired of playing football m8

]]> By: Jan http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136138 Jan Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:48:40 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136138 "Is there a problem with referees in the Bundesliga? Or is the problem quite literally in Jens Lehmann’s head?" You can't ask an either/or question with one answer being "in Jens Lehmann's head", because then the answer is always "in Jens Lehmann's head". :-) Though, Lehmann wasn't the only one bitching and getting a yellow card or even red card this weekend. There was a sudden outburst of ref-slamming this weekend. That one third of the season is already over, until the first real outburst is a good sign that the overall quality of the refereeing this season isn't that bad though. IMHO there are two problems: one is the fact, that German refs hate extra time. It's not uncommon, that the ref blows the whistle after exactly 90 minutes or gives a maximum of one or two minutes extra time. I remember a very closely contested match between Schalke and Bremen, with the action going back and forth with both sides coming close to scoring. The ref blew the whistle after exactly 90 minutes and the match ended 0-0. A draw was just the right result for this match, but it's not up to the ref to make that decision. Because there was enough happening during the match that would have warranted 3-4 minutes of extra time, and the way the match was going, there was a very real possibility that one side would be able to deal a cruel sucker punch. I've seen quite a few players lamenting the lack of extra time this season and it would be something easy to fix. The other problem is over-protection of the refs in case of refereeing mistakes. E.g. I have noticed that a few red cards have successfully been appealed in the Premier League this season. I can't remember the last time this happened in the Bundesliga. I can understand, that the FA tries to protect the authority of the refs, but sometimes they indirectly protect dirty players this way. And I feel this needs rebalancing. After all, dirty players successfully conning the ref, is a worse act of undermining the authority of a referee, than overthrowing a bad decision. “Is there a problem with referees in the Bundesliga? Or is the problem quite literally in Jens Lehmann’s head?”

You can’t ask an either/or question with one answer being “in Jens Lehmann’s head”, because then the answer is always “in Jens Lehmann’s head”. :-)

Though, Lehmann wasn’t the only one bitching and getting a yellow card or even red card this weekend. There was a sudden outburst of ref-slamming this weekend. That one third of the season is already over, until the first real outburst is a good sign that the overall quality of the refereeing this season isn’t that bad though.

IMHO there are two problems: one is the fact, that German refs hate extra time. It’s not uncommon, that the ref blows the whistle after exactly 90 minutes or gives a maximum of one or two minutes extra time. I remember a very closely contested match between Schalke and Bremen, with the action going back and forth with both sides coming close to scoring. The ref blew the whistle after exactly 90 minutes and the match ended 0-0. A draw was just the right result for this match, but it’s not up to the ref to make that decision. Because there was enough happening during the match that would have warranted 3-4 minutes of extra time, and the way the match was going, there was a very real possibility that one side would be able to deal a cruel sucker punch. I’ve seen quite a few players lamenting the lack of extra time this season and it would be something easy to fix.

The other problem is over-protection of the refs in case of refereeing mistakes. E.g. I have noticed that a few red cards have successfully been appealed in the Premier League this season. I can’t remember the last time this happened in the Bundesliga. I can understand, that the FA tries to protect the authority of the refs, but sometimes they indirectly protect dirty players this way. And I feel this needs rebalancing. After all, dirty players successfully conning the ref, is a worse act of undermining the authority of a referee, than overthrowing a bad decision.

]]> By: diana http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136137 diana Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:45:33 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136137 To admit now Daryl, I initially thought you are talking about Lehmann being denied the chance to play against England next week in a friendly. :) There were once talk that he would end his international career with the England friendly (even he himself once said that he like the idea of playing against England, given of his years at Arsenal). There are more details at the Stuttgart Offside. Forget to add about Pizarro's case. He did the criticising after the match. To admit now Daryl, I initially thought you are talking about Lehmann being denied the chance to play against England next week in a friendly. :) There were once talk that he would end his international career with the England friendly (even he himself once said that he like the idea of playing against England, given of his years at Arsenal). There are more details at the Stuttgart Offside.

Forget to add about Pizarro’s case. He did the criticising after the match.

]]> By: diana http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136136 diana Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:40:41 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136136 Daryl, Mad Jens is not the only one. There has been a handful of cases just in the weekend alone in the Bundesliga. Werder Bremen's Claudio Pizarro is another example. He was criticising the referee who was in charge of the Bochum-Werder Bremen match on TV and got fined. A fine of €3,000. Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp actually ran on to the pitch at full-time to confront the referee in charge of the Hamburg-Dortmund match and he had been asked by the German FA to explain his actions. Anyhow, it has gotten the Kaiser himself, Franz Beckbenbauer fearing for the referees in Germany - http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/germany/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/11/11/SOCCER_Ger-Beckenbauer.html&TEAMHD=germany Daryl, Mad Jens is not the only one. There has been a handful of cases just in the weekend alone in the Bundesliga.

Werder Bremen’s Claudio Pizarro is another example. He was criticising the referee who was in charge of the Bochum-Werder Bremen match on TV and got fined. A fine of €3,000. Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp actually ran on to the pitch at full-time to confront the referee in charge of the Hamburg-Dortmund match and he had been asked by the German FA to explain his actions.

Anyhow, it has gotten the Kaiser himself, Franz Beckbenbauer fearing for the referees in Germany – http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/germany/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/11/11/SOCCER_Ger-Beckenbauer.html&TEAMHD=germany

]]> By: Marlon http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136135 Marlon Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:33:21 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136135 Wow. A Dylan Thomas reference. Daryl is dropping literary knowledge on us. Wow. A Dylan Thomas reference. Daryl is dropping literary knowledge on us.

]]> By: Laurie http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136134 Laurie Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:11:07 +0000 http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/jens-lehmann-to-bow-out-with-dignity-not.html#comment-136134 Any time I see "Jens Lehmann" in a headline, I know the story will entertain me. I love Mad Jens. I will miss him when he's gone. Any time I see “Jens Lehmann” in a headline, I know the story will entertain me.

I love Mad Jens. I will miss him when he’s gone.

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