Webb Earns Some RESPECT

Howard Webb; tall, strong, imposing, and sporting an impressive holiday tan, won praise from football commentators on Saturday for preventing Wigan’s Hugo Rodalegga assaulting Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic.  His actions were not unprecedented.  Uriah Rennie always liked to ‘mix it up’ a bit with players who had lost their cool.  I even have footage on an old ‘Football Nightmares’ video of a referee exchanging punches with a player.  And although it is widely believed that a good referee is one that goes unnoticed, referees who are strong enough to stand up to big, angry, snarling footballers should not be overlooked.

The fact that Webb was quickly praised by the media for his quick thinking in diffusing a potentially volatile situation, does raise the question of whether the sight of match officials doubling up as boxing referees is good for football.

Had Mr Webb not intervened, Rodallega would almost certainly have struck Vidic and been sent-off.  When supporters go to a football match they want to see entertaining football between two teams of 11 players.  With so much unsporting behaviour in the modern game, referees have an increasingly hard job.  Play-acting, career-threatening tackles, foul-mouthed tirades and fighting are all a long-standing threat to the FA’s RESPECT campaign. So Webb did do the game a favour by keeping 22 men on the pitch.  He acted quickly, used common sense, despite Rodallega’s flailing arm almost catching him, and diffused the situation. For this he should be applauded.  

However, there has be a time when we draw the line as to how much a match official should involve himself in physical conflict.  Of course, Webb could have allowed Rodallega to retaliate against Vidic and promptly sent him off.  Some referees might have been happy to do this.  But it would have been against Webb’s natural instincts to do this. He is a big man, and he is also a policeman.  In other words, he can handle himself.

The same cannot be said for every referee.  If the likes of smaller men such as Andy D’Urso had dared to stand their ground against the likes of Roy Keane in the now infamous incident when the then Manchester United captain chased him a good 20 yards towards the corner flag, he would have been bundled to the floor in a similar way to Paul Alcock by Paulo Di Canio.

As much as I admire Webb’s intervention, it does create a grey area as to when the referee should become involved in breaking up skirmishes, or stand back and let the players get on with it and dish out the cards afterwards.  If a referee did this he would be accused of not being in full-control.  Nobody could accuse Howard Webb of that on Saturday. He may well have been acting on his gut instinct, but it worked.  

However, problems may occur if this becomes a frequent occurrence, particularly if play is still going on.  

I had my own experience when I volunteered to referee a local Sunday league game, as the appointed official had not turned up.  I did not want to have to book anybody, never mind send someone off.  Maybe I had this in mind when I rushed over to break up a confrontation between two players before it escalated, and I ended up booking neither player.  I was initially pleased with my quick actions, but then it dawned on me that I had not actually stopped the game while this had been going on. If a goal had been scored I would have been none the wiser and no doubt huge controversy would have ensued.  Luckily, the ball had gone out of play for a goal kick and both teams were able to resume the game without argument.  

Referees at the top level have two assistants as well as a fourth official, and the television cameras pick up any off-the-ball incident they do miss.  If a couple of players wish to indulge in a bit of handbags at ten paces, my advice would be to let them get on with it and punish them after.  If a referee can stop a situation from reaching that level, as Howard Webb demonstrated, then I have full respect for that.