The Jeff Winter Column 3/11

Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter is here every week on Vital Hartlepool and he’ll be giving his opinions on all things football each week.

You can email any questions to hartlepool@vitalfootball.co.uk or leave an article comment and the questions will be put to him in the next column.

Jeff, what did you think of the awful refereeing performance on Saturday. The only thing he got right was the Boland red card, him and his linesmen were an embarrassment.
Mark

You must admit now Jeff that the standard of refs in our division is appalling, you defend them every week and they are consistency bad. Week in, week out.
Anonymous

Think I can answer both of these questions in one,Mark and Anonymous!!!

First of I am interested to know on what basis you judge refereeing performances. I sit in Directors boxes, press boxes and with the fans and the one thing that strikes me is that a referee is judged not by the decisions that are given but whether or not they are for or against your side. Last Saturday was a perfect example, let’s be honest it was a horrible day, the emotions won along with a Bristol Rovers side who stretched the laws and acceptable behaviour to the limit to benefit from the feelings of both players and fans.

That being said the Boland reation to what had been or should have been a cautionable challenge by Cox was an obvious red card, but the fans howled derision. An an irate supporter even had a go at me, firstly with aggression, then foul mouthed insults then wanted to fight me. All becuase I used to be a Ref and the Ref in his learned opinion should not have sent Willie off !!! In the second half when Jamie McCunnie made what looked to me another very bad challenge again the fans went mental!!

On the reverse side, Referees in the lower leagues are obviously not as experienced and often appear to be refereeing to keep the assessor happy. When you see a more experienced Ref do the bigger games, Clattenburg v Darlo, Bibby v Darlo their class and experience stands out. I think the system make sit difficult for Refs, that is why I am not part of the system. I don’t think that there is the strength in depth that they used to be and as Refs are being subservient to their Masters who control their destiny, they quite often Referee with fear instead of confidence.

So overall, both of you have a point but I am afraid it is lost on me, when week after week I listen to fans screaming for offside, when they obvioulsy don’t know or want to know what the law actually says and that 99.9% of shouts are based on natural bias and ignorance.

It won’t change though, that’s how football fans react!!!

Are you worried that Danny Wilson will get snapped up by another club? Leicester are apparently sniffing around and i think he would be a huge loss to us.
Ed

Of course I am worried, but getting back to the last question and fans knowledge of the game, it is now only 12 months since many Poolies were baying for Danny’s blood!!! Danny Wilson is an excellent manager and should he leave it would be a massive step backwards for the club. I think he more than capable of managing in a higher division.

Let’s hope that is with Pools, then the problem is solved. The trouble is that most clubs have a knee jerk reaction when results are not going well, the likes of Danny and also Dave Penney at Darlo are always going to be mentioned.

If you want to ask Jeff Winter anything, refereeing related or not, you can email hartlepool@vitalfootball.co.uk with your question or leave an article comment and they’ll be put to him in the next column. They don`t necessarily need to be related to Hartlepool United either. Remember to visit Jeff’s official site over at www.jeffwinter.co.uk and to listen to him each Saturday on 96.6 TFM.