Poor choices made by referees and VAR administrators alike have recently brought attention to refereeing standards; nevertheless, Geoff Eltringham’s performance at Hull City vs. Saints on Saturday offered proof of why officiating is subpar.
We won the game, so I can complain about the referee at the MKM Stadium on Saturday from a strong position. In addition, I have no issues about him costing us the game or making any truly contentious calls for either side.
However, the referee in issue, Geoff Eltringham, demonstrated that he was not in control of the game with two occurrences that, to be honest, startled me and left me wondering, “Who is refereeing?”
I have no complaints with Mr. Eltringham’s performance in its entirety, however he did let the audience to influence him.
Even though these were little incidents, they called into doubt the referee’s judgment and level of control.
Though seemingly innocuous, the incident had deeper implications. Saints were about to take the corner when the Hull fans erupted, shouting that the ball wasn’t in the semi-circle. Since the linesman wasn’t close, Mr. Eltringham followed their lead and went to verify if the ball was in the rules. After confirming that it was, he waved Saints on to take the corner.
However, this repeated itself a second time; this time, the fans erupted when we got a corner, the referee hurried over to investigate, and once more it was determined to be within the rules.
The audience was playing tricks on him this second time; they had tricked him into checking the first time, so they were building him up, and he fell for it and let them to manipulate him.
This may appear little, but in actuality, the referee was being swayed by the spectators, causing him to halt play and examine the ball, wasting time.
Even if it was only a few inches beyond the line—we’re talking inches, maybe two at most—why did he still do it?
If he was ready to go to that length for something as little as this, what would happen if he was asked to make a really contentious decision? Without VAR, there would be no opportunity for a comeback. Would he be influenced by the audience while making a major decision?
It’s the broken windows policy: how can a referee be trusted to make important decisions if he lacks the mental fortitude to make a straightforward choice and believe in his own judgment?
My real amazement came from the fact that, in more than 50 years of watching professional football, I had never before witnessed a referee being manipulated by a crowd of this size.
Naturally, referees are influenced by the spectators at
Over the years, supporters of teams other than Manchester United and Liverpool have made claims, but I have never saw a referee act insensitively to the audience for something like this.
I would say that the assessor did not take this well on the day. An official cannot inspect every area simply because a few hundred fans near the corner flag shout. It was bad enough that he did it once and looked foolish, but it was unacceptable that he did it again just minutes later.
There was a time when we had the greatest referees in the world, and I genuinely have respect for those that officiate, particularly in smaller leagues and other settings, but there is a problem with officiating now, and I believe it has to do with the way VAR is being used.
Although I believe that VAR may be beneficial when used well, it isn’t being used effectively, which has made professional officials uneasy since they are afraid of making mistakes.
While I don’t have many complaints about Geoff Eltringham’s handling of the game on Saturday—I can’t say the same about other games this season—his dash to the corner flag has sinister overtones. Referees are becoming more and more afraid of making mistakes, to the point where they fear that if the Saints had scored from a corner and the ball had been determined to be outside the line on this particular occasion, he would be called into question.
However, we cannot have referees who are influenced by the spectators, especially at a time when the stop-start nature of modern games is being questioned. Additionally, there are instances where the law cannot be strictly applied, such as at corners. It doesn’t matter if the ball is an inch or two over the line; it is obvious if it is two feet in front of the line, etc., and that is sufficient.
