Here's a question for all referees who read this column.
Hands up if you have never had a player ask 'when are you going to give us something
ref?' or 'there are two sides in the game ref'. I don't expect any hands to go aloft. This is something that happens to referees at all levels all the while. Now it has been highlighted by the claim of Chelsea's Portuguese manager Jose Mourino, that Alex Ferguson bullied and intimidated Neale Barry, the referee, at the half time interval in the Carling Cup semi-final last week.
I didn't see the game but it seems that Ferguson did speak to Neale Barry as he walked down the tunnel at half time. He was apparently clearly seen, in, shall we say, earnest conversation. We shall probably never know what Ferguson actually said but whatever it was, it didn't seem to affect Barry's refereeing in the second half, for the statistics do not give any credence to Mourino's claim that Barry was biased in favour of Manchester United.
Including offsides, the second half tally of free kicks, according to the official recorders of the Press Association, was ten against Chelsea and fourteen against United. For straight fouls, the score was even, nine apiece. For the whole match, there were sixteen free kicks against Chelsea and twenty-four against Manchester United. It just blows Mourino's claim of bias and the referee bending, to what he claims was Ferguson's intimidation, straight out of the water.
This however didn't stop Chelsea skipper, John Terry, repeating similar claims. 'The ref didn't give us much,' he said. 'As captain, I can usually have a word with the ref. I wasn't whinging about not getting anything but I tried to speak to him to say "be fair and give us a bit," but he wasn't willing to listen, which was disappointing'.
Can you be surprised that Neale Barry ignored him when he didn't have anything more original, or intelligent to
say? What did Terry expect the referee to reply? 'Oh I'm sorry skipper, I'll give the next two free kicks to Chelsea or I'll let you get away with the next foul to even things up a bit'.
In one respect Mourino does have a point. Managers talking to referees at the half time interval is frowned upon. At the professional level, no one is supposed to approach the match official on matters of the game until thirty minutes after the match. The reason of course is that emotions can often run high but most people will have calmed down after half an hour. Managers sometimes by-pass this regulation and speak to referees as they come off the field at half time but usually referees ignore it, unless it is insulting.
Recently Middlesborough manager, Steve McClaren, was seen waving his arms at referee Phil Dowd as he walked off at half time after he had sent off Middlesborough player Queudrue, for a two-footed lunge at Tottenham's Noe Pamarot. Quite rightly, the referee reported it and McClaren was found guilty of improper conduct. However, most of what is said goes unreported by referees.
I was watching a Reading match at the Madejski Stadium some time ago when the spectators were hurling abuse at the referee, claiming he was only giving free kicks to the opposition. The usual old cry came up, 'Why don't you just put on a red jersey (or whatever colour the opponents were wearing) and be done with it'. The after-game statistics, showed that there was in fact a difference of just one free kick between the two teams.
I don't suppose the referee's antagonists even bothered to look, any more than Mourino or Terry did after last Wednesday's game. I mean they wouldn't want the facts to get in the way of a good moan.