Bolton Wanderers opinions you won’t read on the BBC
Monday January 25th, 2010
Alan Wiley gets in the mood for another balanced performance (via cliff1066)
Alan Wiley gets in the mood for another balanced performance (via cliff1066)
This post, the first by our second new guest blogger Stephen McClusky, was originally posted on the BBC 606 message board, from where it was swiftly censored on the grounds it would ’cause too much controversy’. In the interests of free speech, here it is…
I know we are probably sick of hearing about the HORRIFIC challenge on mini-Davo; however I need to express my sheer anger and disgust at what was, in my opinion. A VERY cynical (even malicious) tackle on a player who was a massive part of the game.
So here is my honest opinion…
I was trying to understand what was going through Alan Wiley’s mind at the time. You see him go to put the whistle in his mouth, then instead to leave mini-Davo writhing round in pain on the floor until Arsenal scored. This is YET another example of refs ‘helping out’ the big clubs.
Out of interest, have you read the book ‘Seeing Red’ by Graham Poll? It does kind of put the referee’s job in to perspective and I must admit that they have a difficult task with controlling the big games; this is the reason why not many people become pro refs. That said, Poll also states that the worst thing that gets his goat is people ‘questioning the integrity’ of referees. Mr poll, I understand that people do make mistakes, but you CANNOT deny that most of the ‘mistakes’ they do make benefit the ‘bigger’ clubs…strange that!
So do you not wonder why people question referees integrity when we have incidents happening like this every week? The FA will do nothing at all about it, you can appeal but you won’t win, it’s easier to fine/charge a manager for sticking up for his team than it is to look at a dodgy refereeing decision again and evaluate what should have been done.
I believe hands down that referees DO have certain allegiances and DO help out the big clubs. I believe this is more down to pressure from the media and fans more than anything. Think about it – you make a decision that stops a team from qualifying for a lucrative Champions League spot or winning a cup just because you have allowed a ‘less popular club’ to take a perfectly legitimate penalty in the dying mins of a match – the media would rip said referee apart, not to mention the subsequent appeal that would take months and possibly damage the referee’s reputation.
Referees ‘that back down to the big clubs’ (i.e. a ‘good’ referee) will find it easier to deny a smaller or non-London club for that matter a match changing decision as the media don’t care about them so much so the backlash would not be as big and neither would the repercussions – hence better for the referee’s career. Until we can stop the media influence on football in this country (not sure how, free speech and all that) we will always have this problem and the people who do have the power to do something about it – i.e. referees, the FA chairmen, pundits, hacks etc won’t, so it will carry on and get worse and worse and worse.
This is just my theory from a fans point of view and is not written to vindicate anybody. However, as I stated above I just feel that referees do always favour the bigger clubs; there is simply too much evidence to assume otherwise. The club (Bolton Wanderers) should appeal against the ‘lack of action’ to the FA, if anything just to show that we are not pushovers, it probably wouldn’t amount to anything but may make Gallas realise that he is a cheat and we may get an apology (at best Gallas would get a ban).
As I stated above I am not directly questioning the integrity of Mr Wiley (however dubious), I am simply putting forward a theory that it is a large part of the media (mainly London based) who can influence referees decisions and make them think twice about making them.
Your views welcome in the comments below…
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3 Comments to Bolton Wanderers opinions you won’t read on the BBC
Stephen, I disagree with much of what you say here, but I’m delighted you decided to air your views here after the BBC censored you. I wouldn’t mind the BBC’s stance so much if their own journalists always presented fair and balanced arguments, but the number of reporters and pundits they have allowed to criticise Bolton Wanderers fans for their role in Gary Megson’s sacking, without actually giving any of those fans the chance to defend themselves and give the opposite point of view, is disgusting. yet again, yesterday, I listened to Gary Richardson on BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek programme saying that Megson had done ‘a really good job’ at Bolton. Really Gary, bottom three, one win in his last 10, no clean sheets all season, complete arrogance towards the fans causing the most alienation and disillusionment I’ve ever known amongst Wanderers fans… that’s a ‘really good job’ Gary? Of course I would have loved the opportunity to put all these points to Richardson, but the BBC only seems to allow one side of the Megson argument to be given. That’s great journalism.
Anyway, back to the subject of your post… I think most referees make no more mistakes than the average player. And whilst the size of the crowd, prize at stake etc probably does have some subliminal influence on their decision making, I don’t think they try and get things wrong.
Robert WalshJanuary 26, 2010
There is a consensus view that referees favour ‘big’ clubs. Listening to BBC Radio Manchester one was left with the feeling that Bolton two goal advantage was not part of the script. Following the second goal the pressure placed on the referee directly and indirectly by Arsenal resulted in every tackle with an award to Arsenal and the Gallas tackle which from most of the photographs was intent to injure rather than win the ball. The subsquent quotes from the referee when asked for clarification was that he did not see the incident. Yet on the following day the FA in a press release quoted that the referee DID see the incident and no retrospective action could be taken.
The only positive outcome from the entire match being that the injury did not result in a fracture!
KidfosJanuary 26, 2010
Im sitting on the fence a little on this issue ( about Refs, not THAT tackle)
I would like to believe that they are honest to a man. And I do not doubt that many of them are. However there are also those who while not dishonest, do favor the larger clubs. Its quite understandable that some refs cannot cope with the pressure of making on the spot, game changing decisions in front of a large home crowd at the home of one of the top four. What is not acceptable is when the cameras at the end of the match show the referee has clearly got it wrong then the FA needs to step in, find out how and why the ref made such a mistake and if need be taker action should any be needed.
My other point is, Gallas may have implemented the tackle on Davies. But just who gave the green light to the players to behave in such a manner. Win at all costs Mr Wenger?
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January 25, 2010