During the inaugural FA roadshow, held at the Hawthorns, Brian Barwick, the FA Chief Executive, stated that he is to launch a major grass-roots pilot scheme aimed at getting players to show more respect to referees.
His proposal is in three parts but the main one of interest to me is where only the Captain can approach the referee. We have all seen Rugby Union matches whereby only the Captain is allowed to speak to the referee and what a refreshing change it is to see.
I am thoroughly fed up with the antics of so called professional football players who hound the referee all over the pitch for the most trivial of incidents. It is done purely to intimidate the referee and have him “running scared” which will obviously influence the weaker minded referee.
We all know who the main culprits are and is there nothing less pathetic than seeing the likes of Sean Wright-Phillips “giving it large” to the man in black because the referee would not give a free kick when Droghba tripped over a blade of grass (again).
The Managers have to take a large part of the blame as there is a total lack of discipline and it is a terrible to see young kids follow the lead of these so called professionals.
I am all for the proposal of the FA but yet again it is only going to be a “trial period” and at grass root levels. Surely, it must be better to start at the top and stamp on it now so that the “grass roots” would follow the lead of their heroes.
Does anybody agree that having only the Captain speak to the referee should start now or are you happy with the way things are at the moment?
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