A Referee asks Riley or the system to blame?

By Whistle Blower
November 1 2004

Below are some random thoughts of an FA qualified referee on the recent controversy around Mike Riley's refereeing.
The views of the referee are his own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of this website).
 
This is what he told Arsenal Times:
Mike Riley, had a bad day,the really big decisions were missed, but many pundits have said that Arsenal v Utd is impossible to referee. Fair point this match has a history to it, neither team  hold back, often with lots depending on the result.
 
So what position did Riley take in refereeing this game? Well it would be ridiculous not to assume that he didn't discuss the tactics he intended to take in dealing with this game with the assessor, in advance, who is in attendance at all games. (The role of the assessor has been ignored by the press. Editor)
 
We can only guess,as fans,what these plans were but it would be fair to assume  that Riley beleived that the first 20 minutes were  going to be crucial for the flow of the game. To try to stop confrontations, keep players focused on the game and prevent any vendettas bubbling up from previous games.
 
This is a reasonable and rational way of looking at it if you're a referee - but - if these tactics are going to be adhered to it logically follows that you have to give some leeway to those events that happen early in the game i.e.Reyes being targeted, Freddie through on goal, Ashley being brutalisedby by van Nistelrooy..etc (these were BIG decisions)..and then as a referee try and impose yourself later by coming down on things by giving yellow cards. Now this theory is just speculation and referees never want to be seen as any thing other than utterly fair, and independant, but how else are we as fans to understand our top referee getting these top decisions so wrong. It could be the system at fault, just as much as the individual referee.
 
This is the first in an occasional series on the thoughts of a referee. Arsenal Times will be consulting the referee when ever situations of controversy involving Arsenal arise.
 
 
 

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