Refs have to earn their respect

1:00pm Friday 3rd October 2008

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A week on and that Shrewsbury goal still sticks in the craw.

It’s fair to say Jarnail Singh will hardly be welcomed with open arms if he pops up at Valley Parade later in the season.

And I’m sure the patrons of Colchester and Bristol Rovers are thrilled by the prospect of seeing Singh in action tomorrow afternoon.

You see, the official received no kind of rebuke for his blunder last weekend.

It was an error of judgement, without a doubt – and that’s not simply me defending City because Shrewsbury scored while two defenders lay dazed in the turf after cracking heads.

The rules quite clearly state that play should be stopped immediately in the event of a head injury. That’s straight away, Mr Singh, and not when the ball next goes out of play; or in the net.

If you’re not sure about that, read the referees’ own association website. It’s all spelled out clearly and particularly the bit about “always” halting the play if a serious head injury is suspected.

I’m not trying to start a refereeing witch hunt. They have the toughest job in the world and get little thanks for it, other than an earful of abuse from one side – and quite often both.

Without the men in the middle, of course, there would be no game at all. For that, they should be respected, which is why the FA came out with their all singing and dancing campaign this season.

The sentiments are laudable. Nobody likes to see the referee surrounded by a mob of baying players every time he gives a call against their team.

But seeing sides walk out together and shaking hands along the line like a Champions’ League final is not going to change that.

Nor is the sight of someone clearly not up to the job of taking charge.

Respect is a two-way thing. It has to be earned – and Singh’s action, or inaction in the case of TJ Moncur’s injury, will never achieve that.

Depressingly, he is not alone. These kind of mistakes are not something restricted to the so-called basement of our game.

The fall-out from the “phantom goal” at Watford still rumbles on. Fast-tracked referee Stuart Attwell rightly copped a load of flak for awarding the goal that never was – and this weekend he will be plying his trade at Wycombe.

Nigel Bannister, his hapless assistant who “gave the goal”, will be spending another day in his garden; possibly, although obviously I can’t confirm this, putting in bedding plants a couple of yards to the right of their pots.

But where is the comeback for the teams who suffer from these terrible calls?

Like Bolton, whose resolute rearguard action at Manchester United was blown apart by a penalty decision which only referee Rob Styles deemed to be a foul.

Styles has since apologised to fuming Bolton boss Gary Megson; as if that’s going to make everything okay.

Sorry may be the hardest word but it’s also the cheapest. The game has gone.

Yes, the referee’s decision should be final. It should be respected at all time. But that is a mighty big ask when the calls in question defy all logic.