This may turn into a bit of a rant as it is a topic that I really have had enough of, you could say it is my biggest pet hate in football. Its the imaginary cards that fellow players and managers show referees.

Now I believe the act in itself is extremely unprofessional, what is the point in getting a fellow pro booked or sent off? If you can’t win without trying to corrupt the ref then you shouldn’t play the game.

We hear constantly managers before big games telling the press that the referees need to be strong in front of intimidating crowds or look out for the other teams diving and hard tackling. So why tell refs to be strong then accept your own players rushing up to the same referees to influence decisions?

Whats worse is that managers now do it. When I saw Roberto Mancini run out his technical area demanding that a Liverpool player be punished further after giving away a penalty I was left disgusted. Why on earth does a manager need to embarrass himself with such childish antics?  The manager should always be the figure head of any club and should lead by example in professionalism. Now before Man City fans shout at me for pointing fingers, Jose Mourinho has done it for years so Mancini isn’t the first to do it.

While I am talking about managers, why do they feel the need to approach/confront refs after the game on the pitch? Paul Jewell was at it this week. Can they not wait for the officials to make their way to the tunnel or better still the refs room? Lets face it the main reason they have a go at the refs on the pitch is to show the fans they are passionate about their clubs and to pass any blame for a poor performance onto the ref. All that they do is come off as bullies and men who can’t control their anger for any great length of time. Again for me it lacks professionalism.

So when the managers, the figure heads act like this can we be surprised when players do the same? Mancini had a go (only days after his imaginary card incident) at Wayne Rooney for influencing ref Chris Foy in getting City’s Vincent Kompany sent off. Well pot, black and kettle are all words that spring to mind. No one can take you seriously Mr Mancini when you do the exact same thing.

Wayne didn’t throw up a fake cards but instead showed the ref two fingers to point out that it was a two footed challenge. Well Wayne if Foy didn’t already see that it was two footed then he couldn’t have acted. So next time keep your hands down and let the referee do his job.

Now a few years back the whole world seemed to be on my side as the act of showing imaginary cards was followed by the ref giving the antagonist a yellow card. Now had FIFA stuck by this rule then it is my belief that we would have rid ourselves of this ridiculous act.

I think this is why I hate the ‘imaginary card’ so much because we can legitimately get rid of the problem. You get caught doing it and its an automatic yellow card, the players will soon stop it. A manager hates nothing more than a pointless booking or worse still a stupid second yellow.

Now with something like diving its not always black and white. It is usually down to interpretation as to whether a touch was deemed hard enough to bring a player down or cause a foul. Having played football for over twenty years (yes that makes me feel old!) I can tell you that at pace even the slightest or most innocuous touches can bring a player down. So sometimes a tackle is neither a dive nor a foul. I am all for retrospective punishment for diving but I still don’t think we will ever solve the issue fully unlike the imaginary card problem.

For managers caught doing it I would banish them to the stands and ban them from the dugout at the next match. The FA rave on about respect but when they can solve a simple problem to help out a ref they refuse to do so.

Now this isn’t a love letter to refs. They can be extremely inconsistent and at times they are overprotected. They should be allowed to talk to the media on Mondays after weekend matches to explain certain decisions especially the professional officials. They will have had time to watch over the game again and see if they have made any mistakes.

Clubs should have easier channels to complain about referees and have better dialogue with those who are in charge of refs. The FA in my opinion need to answer more about refs and I believe that by doing so the rules might become clearer for everyone.

I am all for technology to be used during games especially for goal line technology or used retrospectively to call a player back and be sent off for violent conduct during a game. The technology is now of a standard that you could have a fifth official in the stands or in a stadiums media centre and be able to help the refs at real time make tough decisions through a mic and headset.

Until then, scared linesmen or referee’s assistants need to flag more and help refs out. How many times do they ignore off the ball incidents or fouls in front of their eyes? They don’t seem to want to get involved but surely that is their job!

All in all managers, players, linos, the FA and referees themselves can all make our game better by just acting in a more professional manner.

Posted on January 13th, 2012 by scott
Filed under: Article