Click on one of the below or scroll down.
They say time flies when you're having fun. Well, in that case, I must be having the time of my life at the moment. No sooner do I seem to get one Newsletter finished, than I am getting chased by Brian Foreman to get the next edition to him in time to go out with the minutes! There is hardly a gap between them, and with so many other things going on at home and at work at the moment, it's a bit of a struggle to meet the deadlines. Hopefully this one will just scrape in (again), and will reach you as planned.
At the time of writing, the big news hot off the press is the sacking of Chelsea manager, Gianluca Vialli. This dramatically demonstrates the fickle world of football management, when a club can sack a manager who has won no less than five major trophies in less than three years. Most clubs would crave that sort of success. There was obviously something going on behind the scenes for this sort of action to be taken after just five games of the new season. Personally, I hope he finds another job in England, as I think he would be a sad loss to the Premiership.
Probably the most controversial incident in recent weeks occurred in the game between Derby and Middlesborough. Paul Ince deliberately kicked the ball out of play to allow an injured player to be treated, as has become the accepted practice in recent times. This accepted practice then usually continues at the restart of play, when the throw in is taken and the ball is thrown back to the team who were originally in possession. However, in this particular incident, Derby kept possession of the ball and mounted an attack. Although they did not score directly from the attack, they did score from the resultant corner, which certainly upset the Middlesborough players, particularly as Derby went on to complete a comeback to 3-3, having been 3-0 down. Bryan Robson accused Derby of cheating, but, of course, they did nothing wrong according to the Laws of the Game, although I would suggest they certainly did not act within the spirit of the Laws. The poor referee was powerless to do anything about the situation, although I did hear one television pundit suggest that the Law should be changed, so that the throw in would be called a foul throw and awarded to the other team in these circumstances. It doesn't seem a bad idea to me, but I can't see the Law being changed!
On the Fantasy Football front, Smiley Utd are settling in a mid-table position in the Conference at present. The main problem seems to be that the players I chose aren't all playing for one reason or another. You would have thought these Premiership managers would have had the decency to let me know that one of their first team regulars for last season would not get a look in at the start of this season! Then I could have picked someone else instead! The big blow, however, is the injury to Harry Kewell, which will mean an enforced dip into the transfer market at this early stage of the season. I'll keep you posted on the progress.
My thanks to John Aggett for sending me the following article, relating to the dreaded computer viruses. I am sure you will find it as amusing as I did!
You may not be aware but there are a number of football related viruses being written, take the following as a warning!
The Manchester United virus: - Your PC develops a disorder whereby the memory forgets everything before 1993.
The Man United shirt virus: - This one is especially hard to detect as it changes its format every 3 months.
The Schmeichel virus: - Your PC develops a hideous, large red dot in the middle of the screen.
The David Beckham virus: - The lights on your PC are all on but nothing works.
The Roy Keane virus: - Throws you out of Windows.
The Alex Ferguson virus: - Your PC develops a continuous whining noise.
The Andy Cole virus: - Your PC is unable to get anything into the inbox
The Massimo Taibi virus: - You just can't save anything.
The Ryan Giggs virus: - Makes your computer think it's better than it actually is.
These are less virulent, but still wise to keep an eye on them:
The Ian Walker virus: - Your PC will act as though it will save something, but let you down at the last minute.
The David Ginola virus: - Computer pretends to go down, but then boots back up and is OK.
The Stan Collymore virus: - Luckily this one doesn't actually work, but sometimes boots up some Swedish computers.
The Glenn Hoddle virus: - Disables your PC, blames it all on its previous life as a calculator.
The Tony Adams/Rio Ferdinand virus: - All drive privileges lost.
The Bradford City virus: - Makes you think it will go down but presses escape at the last minute.
The most controversial article I have received this month concerns the much publicised life ban imposed on a 15-year-old player for assaulting a referee. The referee, Terry Lowrie was punched in the face twice by the goalkeeper at the end of a schoolboy's game, in which three players were sent off. Mr Lowrie blamed the example set by the top professionals, saying that young players copy their heroes.
The boy's parents called the ban "absolutely ludicrous" . I am not surprised, having heard an interview with the boy's stepfather, where he claimed that the punches could not have hurt the referee because the boy was still wearing his goalkeeping gloves! Somehow, I think he's missed the point!
The Secretary of the Central Wales FA disciplinary panel pointed out that the player did not even bother to turn up for his disciplinary hearing, and said that top players might get away with illegal play, but it would not be tolerated at this level.
I think referees all around the country should praise the disciplinary panel for their decision. This was an ideal opportunity to set an example, and the opportunity was taken. Let us hope that we do not hear of any more such incidents now that players are aware of the consequences of their actions if they choose to assault an official.
The Branch website has attracted more attention again this month. We have been contacted by a gentleman named Michael Harris, who has published a new website dedicated to referees. It is called The Whistler, and you can check it out at http://www.thewhistler.co.uk It is an independent site packed with news, views, opinion, and comment on and about referees. Michael is looking to get as many amateur referees as possible using and contributing to the website, and there is an amateur referees section, which can be contacted at http://referees.rivals.net/default.asp?sld=1057&Stld=186527&p=2. (I hope that makes more sense to you than it does to me!) Currently, the majority of the views expressed are from the fans' perspective, so if you feel like defending referees and putting your opinion forward, you know where to do it!
You may also be interested to know that the RA website has been given a facelift. The site is at www.footballreferee.org , and has a new design and layout, plus many features. The site aims to bring together RA members and non-members with information on the RA, and an opportunity to exchange views.
Finally this month, there is a two page article from Monsieur Michel Vautrot, who was a French FIFA referee up until 1990, which has some very interesting views and opinions on the changing face of football as we move into the 21st century.
KEEPING PACE WITH CHANGING TIMES
MICHEL VAUTROT (France) was a FIFA referee up to 1990.
We humans can be very sensitive to symbolism. It seems that for many people, the passage from the 20th to the 21st century, from one second to another last New Year's Eve, meant that the 1900s were instantly relegated to antiquity. Maybe that is why certain trends in modern football refereeing inspire a few mixed reflections that may nevertheless have a certain something in common ...
In my fine home country of France, a First Division referee receives about USD. 1,600 for all the sweat and the talent that he puts into a single match. Many people seem to find this out of all proportion, and even scandalous that he should get so much for the work of a mere 90 minutes, in comparison with what a worker gets for a whole week of grind - not to mention all those who have no work at all. This fee, payable only when the referee actually has a match, is to be seen as a general remuneration for all the referee's expenses and the hours he spends preparing for these games (some referees, incidentally, have got together in order to share among themselves the costs involved in hiring a specialist physical trainer), as well as the time needed to recuperate and to maintain hi s kit, his medical costs, the time he has to take off work, as well as all those other bits and pieces of expenses that have to come out of his own pocket because, unlike a player, he has no club to do all this for him.
Seen that way, the picture looks a bit different. It would be more relevant to make comparisons between referees and players, but short-sighted and small-minded critics avoid doing so and prefer instead to mix apples and oranges and thus create more confusion (which is perhaps precisely what some of them want to do...). It often seems that there is a move to make referees feel guilty about their relationship with money.
Indeed, if it is so easy to make a living so quickly by blowing a whistle on a football field, why are we so short of referees? That is a rhetorical question, of course.
Talking about money, so many people talk these days about the professionalisation of refereeing, a subject that was taboo not so many years ago. There was a time when the word was virtually blasphemous w hen uttered by a referee. But these days, if they do not talk about it they are branded as some kind of awkward reactionary. How times change...
As often happens in other walks of life, it may be that some people regret having been born too soon and others who subscribe to the good old principle that it never goes down well if one is proved right ahead of one's time. What is right today is never right tomorrow and those who now vaunt the virtues of this evolution after having fought against it (including me!) should realise that only fools never change their opinions. To be absolutely honest, I should say that everything around us and things in football have changed so much that it would be impossible for referees to continue to live in the stone age when football itself is enjoying a golden period.
It is somewhat bizarre that nobody talks much about taking a more professional approach to the training of referees and if we are not careful we shall risk having amateurs (no matter how competent and how dedicated they may certainly be) to teach the professional referees. We may finish up depending on pensioners or millionaires instead of other more capable people, which would only serve to create even greater confusion within a hyper-professional environment that is constantly maintaining that it has the resources to ensure nothing but the best.
Then there is television. In many countries, television pays enormous sums to cover football and if the appeal and the success of the game is clearly due large ly to the universality of the Laws of the Game, where is the logic of playing a match in thick fog? The Laws say simply that the referee must be able to see the two goals and his two assistants on the touchlines. But in the professional game, what about t hose who have paid to watch? Football is a spectacle, a show, and the letter of the law no longer measures up to the spirit (i.e. the economic reality) which has come to mean that somebody organises a game in order that others pay to see it.
Who could imagine the audience in a theatre having to sit and watch a play despite the lights having failed and the whole stage being plunged into darkness, and not complain? It is not really different than television showing a match simply because they have bought the rights expensively but nobody can see more than a few shadowy figures moving about in the gloom.
Whether we like it or not, the duty of today's referee means he also has to take into account the economic dimension of the game and it would be a good idea - an urgent one, in fact - for the authorities to lay down some legislation in order to avoid a riot one of these days or a major clash over the financial implications. There was a striking case that occurred recently. One of the sponsors of the French Cup threatened to withdraw their support and to claim damages because the referee at a recent Cup match took exception to one of the teams wearing colours that could cause confusion with those of their opponents. The team due to change agreed to do so, reverting to its normal strip -- which just happened to bear the logo of the main competitor of the aggrieved Cup sponsor. And nobody else took any notice.
The day may not be far off when referees get so caught up in football business that they have to read the Financial Times before the Laws of the Game. Business writes its own rules and they do not always conform with the laws... at least, not yet.
STREAMLINING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
I have to admit that this article has a very tenuous link to football. I received it from a work colleague, but Nolan Wilde saw a very similar article in a programme from a match on which he was officiating. I thought it was very amusing, and also very clever. I hope you enjoy it.
The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling has some room for improvement and has accepted a 5 year phase-in period that would introduce "Euro-English".
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c" . Sertainly, this will make sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the"k". This should klear up any konfusion and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be eskalating publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replased with the "f" . This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage when more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterant to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.
By the 4th year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and also the "w" with a "v" instead. During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be droped from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changed vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After ze fifz yer, ve vil hav a rel sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mo r trubls or difikultis and evrivon vil find it ezi tu understand ech ozer.
ZE DREM VIL FINALI KUM TRU!!
As Newsletter Editor, I always try to keep a few articles, which are not affected by the passing of time, in reserve, so that I can use them at any time in the future if I am a page or two short. In the course of this edition, I have used up the last of these reserve articles, so I am getting a little desperate for some more.
Therefore, if you have any piece of news, anecdote, snippet, joke, comment, or otherwise on refereeing, please let me know as soon as possible, so I can build up my re serves again. It does not matter if your contribution is only a couple of lines, because if I get a few of them, they will still fill a page. If I do not get any items, then the next couple of Newsletters may be a bit short, as I need the time, the inspir ation, and the inclination all together, and the time, in particular, is short at the moment.
If you can help, please let me know.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
DIARY DATES
Saturday 28th October 2000 - Race Night at View Point Club, Thong Lane. Tickets £5 including food.
Saturday 25th November 2000 - 20 year Presentation Evening at View Point Club, Thong Lane.
Saturday 16th December 2000 - Christmas Parties. Children's Party in the afternoon, Adults Party in the evening.
Saturday 3rd February 2001 - February Disco at AEI.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Please send any articles etc to:-
Ian Miles, 17 Church Farm Road, Upchurch, Kent. ME9 7AG
Tel: 01634 - 235148
E-Mail: ian.miles@marshalls.co.uk
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Please note that any views expressed herein are not those of the Branch unless otherwise stated. All articles to Ian Miles, 17 Church Farm Road, Upchurch, Kent ME9 7AG. Tel: 01634 - 235148. E-mail ian.miles@marshalls.co.uk.
