A different perspective on the World Cup Final

Pepe LeFrits

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/25/howard-webb-world-cup-final

Howard Webb on the WC final. An excerpt:

"Yet within 20 minutes we knew how it was going to turn out. I knew quite a lot of the players from the Premier League, the Champions League and from refereeing the national teams, and all I can say is that the emotions in that World Cup final were quite raw. The Dutch were devastated, disappointed and in some cases angry, but there was nothing about being familiar with the players involved that would have helped."

He admits for the first time that had he had a better view of the incident where the Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong kicked Spain's Xabi Alonso in the chest he would have reached for a red card rather than yellow. "Having seen it again from my armchair, I would red-card him," the 39-year-old Yorkshire official said.

"The trouble in the actual game was that I had a poor view of that particular incident. I was looking through the back of Alonso and though I could see the foot was high, I could not be certain of the extent of the contact. It wasn't that I didn't want to send anyone off because it was a World Cup final, though I was mindful of the fact that the game was the pinnacle of the players' careers as well as of mine. I just wasn't prepared to take a guess 25 minutes into the game."

As I recall he had a decent game, at least I don't remember thinking that he was having a bad game, De Jong on Alonso aside. It's an interesting read, particularly how it describes the level of pressure and the mental fatigue.

GavRedKing

I thought he did well enough, got most of his decisons right, other then the De Jong one, which he has said he would have acted differently had he seen it, but thats what his assistants are there for, to provide help with such incidents.

Dont know why there was a media witch hunt, he was taking charge of 11 Dutch amateur kick boxers against 11 Spanish ballerina's. He did his best given the circumstances and the players didnt help to make it easier for him.

PHB

I thought he did a cracking job personally, didn't understand the criticism of him at all.

Warper

You can understand where he is coming from. No one wants to see a player send off in a WC Final and the pressure must have been immense. The Dutch players didn't help either. He had a top-notch WC before the final and any mistakes he did make in the Final are excusable really.

#15

I think Webb did an excellent job, considering the amount of cheaters on the pitch at the same time.

therokerroar

The man is everything that's wrong with the modern day referee.

He strolls around with his 'look at me' attitude, and there's a documentary around of when he was refereeing in Euro 2008, in which he thought he was a celebrity on the same level of some sort of Hollywood film star.

The worst thing that's happened in the Premier League is the referee turning professional. They certainly haven't become better or any fitter than they were before they turned professional, and they only thing that it has done is inflate their egos even more.

Howard Webb's main task is to be on the back pages of the newspapers, and when you have the likes of Graham Poll (an absolutely awful referee who couldn't even count to two) sticking up for referee's in his column each week, even when they've had a piss-poor game, it doesn't help.

A complete overhaul of referee's is needed, not only in England but wider Europe too.

#15

therokerroar wrote: »

A complete overhaul of referee's is needed, not only in England but wider Europe too.

I agree with the sentiment but what practical changes would you make?

Warper

therokerroar wrote: »

The man is everything that's wrong with the modern day referee.

He strolls around with his 'look at me' attitude, and there's a documentary around of when he was refereeing in Euro 2008, in which he thought he was a celebrity on the same level of some sort of Hollywood film star.

The worst thing that's happened in the Premier League is the referee turning professional. They certainly haven't become better or any fitter than they were before they turned professional, and they only thing that it has done is inflate their egos even more.

Howard Webb's main task is to be on the back pages of the newspapers, and when you have the likes of Graham Poll (an absolutely awful referee who couldn't even count to two) sticking up for referee's in his column each week, even when they've had a piss-poor game, it doesn't help.

A complete overhaul of referee's is needed, not only in England but wider Europe too.

I agree with your point about Graham Poll - an aboslute stinker of a ref. Sure only last year live on ESPN after a match, he was asked should Gerrard have been sent off for what was a blatant red card (Gerrard wasnt send off), his reply was it is hard for referees to send off the England Capt. and that was the reason why he wasn't send off. He more or less condoned the preferential treatment shown towards the big names in the game. Scandalous.

mikemac

Warper wrote: »

I agree with your point about Graham Poll - an aboslute stinker of a ref. Sure only last year live on ESPN after a match, he was asked should Gerrard have been sent off for what was a blatant red card (Gerrard wasnt send off), his reply was it is hard for referees to send off the England Capt. and that was the reason why he wasn't send off. He more or less condoned the preferential treatment shown towards the big names in the game. Scandalous.

I remember that incident.
But wasn't that for John Terry though who was captain at the time

Well the incident I remember was on Setanta and it was JT
http://www.epltalk.com/arsene-wenger-slams-referees-after-graham-poll-highlights-weaknesses-in-officials/3993

It was on Monday night, when Graham Poll was speaking live on Setanta Sports in the aftermath of John Terry’s controversial dismissal against Everton, that a serious weakness in top flight referees was revealed.

Poll claimed that even the best of officials find it extremely hard to send off big-name players, and that it is more difficult to show a red card to the England captain than it is to a youngster just breaking through the ranks.

Chardee MacDennis

I thought he had a very good game tbh. The ref will always get stick.

LuckyLloyd

Technology please.

Gone Drinking

PHB wrote: »

I thought he did a cracking job personally, didn't understand the criticism of him at all.

I think saying he did a cracking job is pushing it a little. I've seen worse refeering, but i don't think he had a great game.

Watch the final, or even the highlights again

dfx-

Warper wrote: »

I agree with your point about Graham Poll - an aboslute stinker of a ref. Sure only last year live on ESPN after a match, he was asked should Gerrard have been sent off for what was a blatant red card (Gerrard wasnt send off), his reply was it is hard for referees to send off the England Capt. and that was the reason why he wasn't send off. He more or less condoned the preferential treatment shown towards the big names in the game. Scandalous.

He said that about Terry/Ferdinand on Setanta Sports' Monday show the previous year..

Poll was a fine referee, tbh. Especially compared to Webb.