WHEN you were a kid, what was the best way to avoid getting in trouble for something?
Honesty, they say, is always the best policy- but chances are you didn't take that route and instead opted to shift the blame to someone else. A younger brother perhaps, or one of your friends; maybe even the dog? Or, in the case of a particular football club, the referee?
On Saturday night, yours truly watched with some amazement a news report on a complaint put forward by Perth Glory FC about A-League referees. The gist of the report was that Glory felt they'd be at least five points better off in the A-League this year if it wasn't for mistakes made by the officials.
Examples given included the offside flag mistakenly shown to Branko Jelic against Gold Coast United two weeks ago; the push by Dyron Daal on Tando Velaphi at home in round nine; and the round one penalty given to Adelaide United for the negligible contact Chris Coyne made with an Adelaide player inside the box during a set piece.
Given this author's previous ramblings about the part-time quality of A-League referees, chances are you'd expect me to be right behind the club in forcing this issue home to the FFA. After all, it is high time a club had the balls to stand up to the governing body and declare Matthew Breeze to be the worst number one ref in the world, right? This move should therefore be lauded as a bold and brave strategy on behalf of Perth Glory FC - except that it's not.
Whilst refusing to cop the flak for your own mistake is something that we expect of many a young child, the same cannot be said of a professional football club; especially one that has been exposed a number of times as naive and slow to react on the football pitch. Perth Glory's move to publicly complain about the standard of refereeing in this country therefore loses all impetus once you realise that half of their complaints could have been resolved by their own players not screwing up in the first place!
Let's take the penalty against Adelaide for example. Yes, it was a pretty soft call - one that, had it of been the only close call of the game, would have been sure to provoke controversy. But in the context of that game, it wasn't the only close call. Earlier in the first half Jacob Burns had committed a scything tackle on an Adelaide player inside the penalty box that was surely only not given due to how early on in the game it occurred. Further transgressions were simply asking for trouble.
For a more recent (and topical) case, examine the free kick taken by Robbie Fowler on the weekend. You can debate all you like about 'the spirit of the game' or the positioning of the referee, but at the end of the day the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the Perth players. Why on earth would you, as a defender, turn your back on a guy like Robbie Fowler?
Did Chris Coyne and Jacob Burns not experience quickly-taken free kicks during their time in England? Why is it that yours truly, a B-grade indoor soccer player, knows not to take your eye off the ball once the ref blows for a free kick, and yet these professional footballers do not? Forget about the points that Matthew Breeze and Ben Williams have stolen from Perth Glory - what about the robberies committed due to the naivety of the club's own players?
Herein lies the problem with complaining to the FFA about the standard of refereeing; or rather, complaining that the aforementioned poor standard has cost you alone. While the club asks for a 'please explain' from the governing body, no answers are provided to the fans asking the same thing of the club in regards to poor performances.
If asking the FFA about the referees was supposed to fire up home fans and get them behind the club, it's a terribly risky ploy. To this supporter at least, it smacks of hypocrisy and seems far more likely to backfire and annoy the fanbase, as it becomes seen as a feeble attempt to fob the blame off on someone else and distract people from what may (or may not) be the real problem.
There is of course a chance that this complaint was never supposed to go public. As far as I'm aware, no press conference or media release was issued declaring that Glory were taking this course of action. Instead, there was a short segment on the radio from a sports commentator, and then the news story on TV that I saw Saturday night (ironically, only a short time before that quick free). However, that still doesn't detract from the problems and arguments that this complaint creates.
In the interests of fairness (and remembering that I do believe that refereeing in this country is of a part-time standard), here's a 'please explain' for Glory themselves:
1. Why does there seem to be an unnecessary amount of tension on the pitch between teammates? Lately at times it looks like we're two steps away from Webster v Harnwell 2.
2. Building on the above, what's with the complete lack of communication that's been on display at various times this year? Defenders not informing their keeper of danger, let alone protecting him; runs forward that are blind to free players on the right or left; and hopeful hoofs upfield when there's a free man ten metres away. Talk people, talk!
3. What is the first thing that a defending team should do when a free kick is given - turn their backs on the play, or immediately neutralise any threats?
4. Why is it so surprising that if you pull a player down in the penalty area, you may just find yourself giving away a penalty?
5. Why, after all the column inches I devoted to it last week, are we still not confident at set pieces? Don't you read this blog Mitch?
To borrow from the (admittedly cringe-worthy) corporate-speak present in my other job, why the hell don't Glory take ownership of their own screwups instead of trying to blame someone else? Whether the decisions by officials were wrong or not (chances are they were) why must the club engage in a game of "but Mum, it wasn't me... it was him!" with their fans?
The club has made some great strides forward this year, both on the pitch and off it. They've recruited well, scored some good wins, and re-engaged a previously disconnected fanbase. But make no mistake, in the opinion of this fan at least, filing this whinge about referees - and doing so publicly - is a greater error of judgement than anything Breeze and co. have been guilty of this year.
