Ferguson had carte blanche to do and say what he liked because Murdoch pulled the strings.
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Everything Tompkins says in this article is on the money.
Its going to be seen by aome as one sided, Liverpool biased. But itâs more than that.
Its a factual observation of how Coote and some others have treated us.
I doubt such biases exist against any other team.
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I think this bit is the worst if you let the 1st tackle go what happens with the oppositions thoughts he got away with so can I.
My thoughts are the opposite when refereeing, you have to get control of the game at the beginning because you struggle to get it back, if a tackle deserves a yellow/red no matter when it happens, you make the right call.
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Really weird as a lot are saying that they are arrogant and want to be seen as the centre of attention and if that is so then they would communicate with authority.
I donât think they are weak as no one who is âweakâ would stand there in a baying cauldron with a whistle in his mouth. Do I think they are poor and donât understand the application of the rules or recognise good from bad challenges, the answer to that is yes, I also think they are inconsistent in applying the rules.
And I do think some refs are biased.
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I remember at the time, with the Skipp incident he shouldnât have been even on the pitch if the ref had applied the laws correctly as he should have been sent off, like you canât remember the challenge.
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Correct.
But television demands that you âdonât ruin the spectacleâ.
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Hi Sir.
Good morning.
Missed a comma.
Ban.
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Iâd prefer to ruin the spectacle than my reputation ⊠not that I have much of one.
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They are full of their own importance, yes. Arrogant, yes.
But weak as kittens in doing what they are paid to do.
The prima donna actor isnât always able to do the job properly, all fur coat and no knickersâŠand some of these refs are the same. They fuck up in the knowledge that Gallagher will be in their corner on SKY on MondayâŠbut they cannot control footballers with any authority.
Their thinktanks during the summer consider how to invoke the laws in the new seasonâŠno pulling shirts at corners etcâŠthese measures last till boredom sets in after a few weeks.
But they donât address managing players on the pitch.
I agree that some are pure inept.
But they are too arrogant to learn.
And yes, some are biased.
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If they managed players on the pitch by applying the laws, which I think should happen, we would have many abandoned games as players roundly abuse refs even when they are right.
I do think the refs are poor and weak that is because they donât apply the laws in their entirety as the public spectacle would be ruined for the bedding in period and that wouldnât be allowed.
I hear all this talk about respect, how can you respect a lot of the players, they lie and cheat throughout the game always trying to get a decision even if it was a blatant foul by then or last went out off them.
Although throughout my playing the game, I do respect the refs that communicate with players, unless they talk shite.
If refs sent off multiple players per game, as they should, the bad behaviour would soon stop.
The alternative would be to âupdateâ the laws of the game for the modern market, and that would face an awful lot of opposition.
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I think in games you know are going to be competitive, more so than normal, you have to use your judgement about when you go to the cards. Iâm not talking about nasty or dirty tackles but if you book someone for a simple mistimed tackle in the first couple of minutes of a game being played at a way higher pace than your standard game then youâre boxing yourself into a corner where you have to do that for every tackle. You either know at that point that youâre going to be inconsistent in more important moments of the game, or that youâre sending at least one player off that day.
You can say thatâs on the players to manage and thatâs fair but its also impossible to untangle the referee from that. The referee can use their judgement in the moment to allow a few early nerves/poor timings on tackles to go without booking or commit to âruining the spectacleâ by being seen as overly fussy in a game everyone just wants to see flow.
I donât think its possible to referee every game exactly the same way. Context does come into play and the rulebook canât always properly define every situation possible in the infinite possibilities of a football game. We need smart referees to use their judgement in the moment and understand how to control the game happening around them.
On the flip side you can go the other way. If you know youâre refereeing a game involving a team known for leaving one in early, Burnley under Dyche for example, then maybe you book the first guy even if the tackle wasnât that bad. Itâs up to the referee to figure out the best approach, I donât believe in just following the letter of the laws exactly in every context. Afterall its just written by falable huma s who cannot possibly imagine the exact scenarios that will come up.
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It wouldnât. They would make an example of someone and then the league would quietly tell the referees to stop punishing it because it ruins âthe productâ.
That would happen far sooner than players becoming more disciplined.
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Iâve already addressed the âproductâ matter. 
Even if you look at the Nottingham forest game, a more proactive referee could have stopped the tactics used by the Nottingham players.
Same goes for any game where man City play, If they get a card early on , it would do quite a bit to stop their dark arts
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I do agree it isnât easy, but you have to set a standard as a referee and shouldnât change because of the importance of the game or itâs intensity. The players then respect you because they know what they get and that same standard should be set across the league.
Again not easy as it seems some of the refs havenât a clue.
I just wish they would come down hard on shirt pulling, holding, feingning injury, time wasting etc.
These are all a deliberate act not mistimed etc and should be forced out of the game.
Hate it when you hear a pundit or former referee say yeah he grabbed is shirt but didnât hold it long enough for it to be foul, bollox IMO
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I would love the leagues/refs to enforce the Laws of the game with regards to abusive language and the so called professional fouls, shirt pulling, diving etc etc etc
I think thatâs what ethnic minority referees have had to face for a long time given that exposĂ© I read in the Grauniad a while back.
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Howard Webb had this to say when reviewing the clips in question: âWe became aware of a video being circulated on social media that we are taking very seriously. Weâve instigated a full investigation.
âOne of our referees, David Coote, has been suspended with immediate effect pending the outcome of that investigation.
âThereâs not much more I can say at this stage until we work through that investigation.â
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