Wow…we’re only nine days into the 07/08 campaign and the men in black have already taken center stage!

According to conventional wisdom, a good referee should be seen but rarely heard - obviously Rob Styles, Alan Wiley and Andy D’Urso didn’t get that memo. At Anfield, Ewood Park and Craven Cottage they had their megaphones turned up to number eleven (one louder than ten) along with their best ‘don’t you look at me’ frowns this weekend as controversy raged.

Let’s take a quick look at this bumbling trio, review their respective matches and perhaps come up with a solution before anarchy reigns.

Rob Styles, who increasingly reminds me of the public school master and ex-referee, David Ellary, had an absolute rascal on Merseyside. Firstly he let the players impose their will over him. Secondly he gave the worst penalty decision I’ve seen in years against Steve Finnan. Thirdly he booked, Michael Essien twice but didn’t show him the red card and lastly he also managed to caution a further eight players in ninety minutes of rather tame play considering the history of the two teams.

Over at Blackburn, Alan Wiley also had his date book out with eight players cautioned along with Ryan Nelsen seeing red. Admittedly the Kiwi deserved to go but once again you couldn’t help but feel that the man in the middle was not in control of the proceedings. Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, claimed that Rovers waged ‘violence’ on his charges, which in typical Wenger fashion was way over the top however, Wiley needed to take control of this contest from the first whistle. Like the Liverpool/Chelsea encounter this match up had plenty of ‘previous’ and needed a firm early hand.

The biggest mistake of the weekend though goes to Andy D’Urso as Fulham lost to Middlesbrough. Subbing in for Lee Mason who limped of after seven minutes, D’Urso failed to spot, Boro goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer cuddling the ball whilst in the back of the net denying Fulham and David Healy a last gasp equalizer. I suppose we can’t pin all the blame on D’Urso who did consult with his assistant but even from a terrible TV angle it was so obvious that the ball had crossed the line. It was Pedro Mendes versus Roy Carroll all over again (Man U v Spurs). When they tab up the points at the end of the season and Boro have plus two while Fulham have minus one, this basic error could be worth millions of dollars.

If we look at major sports from around the world nearly every one of them employs some form of video/graphic replay – not to change the game – but to help the officials make the right decision. In the States the NFL, NBA and NHL all use technology while cricket, rugby union/league and tennis have also joined the 21st century. That leaves two major sports with their heads stuck in the ground…football and baseball. Two sports steeped in tradition and yet unable to grasp the simple fact, that people make mistakes. If you can identify why they refuse to acknowledge this…I’m all ears.

Let’s end 99% of the arguments once and for all and employ video replays in the following circumstances when there is and this is the important phrase…and ‘element of doubt’: 1) penalties 2) red/yellow cards 3) balls crossing the goal line. So what if it stops the game for a minute or two. At least the decision will be correct and just think of the drama as you await the outcome from the video referee.

Another possible solution is to employ two referees who patrol one half of the pitch each. High schools in the US use this system as a money saving device for soccer (not paying two linesmen). With the riches of the Premier League another official is hardly going to dent the finances. This will allow referees to view different angles of the same incident and if they need to collaborate to get it right, so be it.

Look, at the end of the day the sport has become too difficult to officiate. The rules were established over 100 years ago when the players moved at a snail pace and the referees could keep up with the play. Now they fly around the field and obviously in a professional game attempt to gain an advantage wherever and whenever possible. Let’s do the likes of Styles, Wiley and D’Urso a favor. Give them another set of eyes so that when they come home after a hard day at the office, they can turn on their TV sets, smile contendly and view a job well done.

Until then, get the beers in and my thoughts are with Brian McBride for a speedy recovery.

Football is all about opinions and not surprisingly everybody has one especially when the subject matter is about bringing back standing terracing to the top flight of English soccer. This debate is perhaps the most emotional issue within the game as no-one will ever forget the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 and the 96 Liverpool supporters who lost their lives…the fight for justice for those that perished still rages today and rightly so.

Following Hillsborough, the English government was forced to look at football instead of ignoring the many problems that surrounded the game. At the recommendation of the Taylor Report, it was deemed that football in the top flight of England should be played in all-seater stadiums and that’s how it’s been since the formation of the Premiership.

A recent poll conducted by the Football Fans Census (FFC) found that 92% of fans want to bring back safe standing areas to their clubs while fans groups, the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) and Stand Up Sit Down (SUSD) are leading campaigns to reopen the case for standing however as far as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Football Licensing Authority (FLA) this issue is a non starter – all-seater stadium are here to stay as far as they’re concerned. I can easily appreciate both sides of the argument.

My first taste of football as a kid was on the terraces. Back in the late 70’s I’d meet up with my schoolmates and go to the likes of Highbury, White Hart Lane and Loftus Road. We’d get to the grounds nice and early, staking out a place behind a crash barrier near to the goal. As the pens would fill up especially for big matches, crushes would develop but I never felt scared, as I was too busy soaking up the atmosphere. Looking back now the lack of fear was probably because I was a teenager and like all teenagers thought I was indestructible. I was scared getting on the wrong tube carriage though on some Saturday afternoons in the capital!

Btw this experience was incredibly cheap…ticket, travel (tube), match program, pie and chips…and I’d still have change left out of $10 hence the fact that the average age of crowds in those days was mid 20’s instead of the 40’s that we see today as the cost of following top flight football has become exorbitant.

Having been lucky enough to cover World Cups and Euros from the press box where standing isn’t an option and atmosphere is non-existent, I must admit that occasionally I find myself reminiscing while watching fans singing and celebrating behind the goals (where terracing traditionally is located). It sure does look like a lot of fun but I think deep down, I know my days of bouncing up and down for ninety minutes are over.

Maybe that’s why whenever a colleague comes back from a match my first question is never about the quality of the contest but ‘what was the atmosphere like’ – and let’s be honest, without a decent atmosphere, you might as well be watching my over 30’s team down at the park. This has become an all too common complaint about Premiership matches over the past few seasons.

The EPL has priced out young supporters and not given them an outlet to support their local clubs. You can’t hang out with your mates if you’re all seating in a row and as for signing sitting down…forget about it - you’ve got to stand to belt it out.

However you do have to feel sympathy for the person sitting behind you who fancies a nice afternoon watching some top class football and not having to reposition themselves every 10 seconds to avoid a view of your or mine ample backside!

You know that takes me back to the Rose Bowl in ’94. I’d scored tickets for my first World Cup Final and in all the excitement had a few beers before kick-off. As ####, as the match was though (0-0) I was up and out of my seat for 90% of the time much to the annoyance of an American couple behind me. “Young man, do you mind not standing up, you’re spoiling our view” said this fellow who was obviously attending his first and last ever game. I was stunned that anyone could say that, I mean, c’mon this was the biggest game of football in four years and I let him know it. However 13 years on I’d like to apologize because he was right. We were in an all-seater stadium and he’d paid the same money as me to watch the same game.

I guess what I’m trying to get at is the fact that there wasn’t a choice and there isn’t one in the Premiership either. What clubs have to remember is that supporters are customers and they should have choices.

The terracing and policing that caused the Hillsborough disaster was a disgrace and hopefully we’ll never return to those unenlightened times but for the authorities to refuse to even open up the debate about a standing seems ignorant.

We’ve seen that standing areas work well in Germany and at least 10% of tickets on sale must be for standing areas which can then revert back to seating for European and International matches. The atmosphere at Bundesliga matches is also superb with a mixture of young and old packing out stadiums with average crowds of 45,000+ and it’s inexpensive.

With the advent of CCTV, better policing, a different attitude (less hooligans), I believe that standing should once again be allowed in the top flight of English football. The majority of fans also want it back because without full grounds and atmosphere football will slowly turn into a night at the opera…sit down and shut up…it really is about choice.


Until then, get the beers in.

A million words have been written and spoken about David Beckham since I broke the story on Sky Sports News on Wednesday so I figure I’ll have the last word as the hullabaloo dies down...for now!

Football in the United States changed forever on Thursday afternoon with the announcement that David Beckham would be leaving the Galacticos in Madrid to become a Galaxian, right here in Los Angeles. The deal is worth reportedly $250 million dollars for five years…’not bad money’ said his new teammate, Cobi Jones, in the understatement of the 21st century.

To be honest though, this move didn’t exactly come as a shock. Ever since Beckham opened his DB Academy at the Home Depot Center, I just had a feeling he would come to MLS sooner rather than later and I’m so pleased it is the former because at thirty one he still has so much to offer the sport. Some critics especially in England though have been quick to slag him off for this momentous decision claiming that he’s finished as a footballer and that he’s just cashing in on his celebrity and notoriety. I say to this charge…you’re just jealous.

Who in their right mind would turn down the following opportunities…?

Earn close to a million dollars a week…
Be the biggest star in American soccer and one of the biggest stars in American sport…
Become an ambassador for the world’s most popular game in the last, great untapped market…
Change the way non-believers view the sport while raising the profile of a league still in its embryonic stages…
Live in one of the world’s most desirable cities with fantastic year round weather…
Become a hero and role model to millions of young kids who are desperate for a soccer icon that they can call their own…
And finally party with TomKat every other weekend.

Sounds pretty good eh!

Why the critics argue would ‘Golden Balls’ risk the ridicule of his peers who claim that this move to the States finishes him as a top class player and puts the final nail in any attempt to add to his 94 England caps. A legitimate question I suppose and here is my answer.

David Beckham has an ego…but guess what, we all do and you can’t tell me that there is not one of us who wouldn’t do everything in their power top feed our own respective egos. Beckham’s ego would never let him go back to England to play for anyone else but Manchester United and I completely agree with this logic. Why eat canned tuna when you’ve had caviar.

As for this massive contract, well, I believe it’s just Beckham’s way of telling the world that he’s still the man and regardless of how you feel about him, you cannot deny that the team behind him are marketing geniuses…Entertainment 19, CAA and Simon Fuller take a bow.

$250 million for an ex-international and current bench warmer does seem madness when you contrast it to the salaries current members of MLS make but when compared to stars of the NFL, NBA or MLB, it’s in line with what the top players expect to earn and I think we all know that Beckham isn’t a bench warmer in the true sense of the phrase.

His current boss at Real Madrid, Fabio Capello just doesn’t fancy him as a player and to be fair, that’s the Italians right as coach however one could honestly say that he didn’t give Beck’s a fair crack in an ageing, dysfunctional team. Let’s not forget that Beckham led La Liga in assists last season, so he’s hardly past his sell-by-date. With the announcement on Saturday that Capello will refuse to play the Englishman again this season, it’ll add fuel to the fire that he has it in for the former England captain and hopefully hasten his early departure to us in March/April instead of July/August.

So is Beckham coming to America a gamble?

For Beckham no…he has hit the mother-load and if someone is willing to pay him then surely he deserves whatever he can get however for AEG it represents a serious outlay. I can’t help but wonder who is carrying the insurance policy and just HOW much it’s costing. You can bet that employees around the HDC are not allowed to even think the word…INJURY! Thankfully Beck’s has been fairly durable during his career.

But let’s get back to AEG for a second and the owner Phil Anschutz along with President & CEO Tim Leiweke...you guys rock the house. It takes brave men with huge stones to even contemplate such a move, let alone pull it off. If there is one thing soccer needs in this country, it is visionaries and with the recent passing of Lamar Hunt, you two men represent the last realistic chance for the world’s greatest sport to succeed. I applaud you both and hope that your gamble pays off in everyway you envision.

As for Beckham and whether he will succeed here in LA, I think there is no question that he’ll take the Galaxy and the league to a new level along with paving the way for other players of his stature. You know I was talking to Galaxy GM, Alexi Lalas, recently and he told me the most important quality that he, Leiweke and coach Frank Yallop looked for in a player was a good character and that is a quality that Leiweke has constantly stated that he admires in Beckham.

I can’t really attest for Beckham’s character having only met him briefly twice however the vibe I picked up from him was very cool. On both occasions he looked me in the eye despite being surrounded by loads of other notable journalists and gave me his complete attention. He’s obviously a great family man and loves his kids. It sounds like he’s had trouble in the past with his wife, Victoria, but then again who doesn’t go through rocky periods with the more important half. It’s how you come out the other side that shows your true character and I believe that his integrity will be the defining characteristic of his stay in America.

From Leytonstone to Red Devil, the England captaincy, Galactico and now Galaxian, ambassador for Major League Soccer, Beckham has always had something of a pied piper about him. Let’s hope he can now help lead the non-believers to the Promised Land.

Until then, get the beers in.