Has referee scrutiny produced a generation of 'egotistical' sociopaths?

14 Nov 2024

Football365.com

Who would want to be a Premier League referee? Somebody with ridiculous self-belief and a thick skin, obviously.

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Have we done this to our referees?
I’ve watched the fall-out from the David Coote incident(s) with curiosity. I’ve got no skin in the game of whether his accused bias against the Scousers has any merit. Were it not for the slightly racist element (and, yes, for the all reasons described by others in today’s mailbox, bringing nationality into the insult means that it was racist), his comments about Klopp being a c*** would be quite funny. He is a bit, isn’t he?

But now there’s more. Evidence allegedly showing him hoovering up a line of “white powder” that just feels so out of place for someone in a role that I would always assume were bastions of morality and playing ‘by the rules’.

I grew up watching the likes of Philip Don, Mike Reed (not that one… or that one), Gerald Ashby, Vic Callow, Roger Milford and Paul Durkin. #Carlingsmen ref edition. They were paid so little that most (all?) had full time day jobs. They genuinely did it for the love of the game and I bet none of them could afford to nurture a coke habit. Their intent on matchdays was to remain invisible; unnoticed. They were all pretty unfit and all somehow looked much older than today’s officials.

Paul Alcock was most famed for his hilarious tumble under the slightest of contact from Italian fascist loon Paolo Di Canio, but Alcock looked like the kind of weedy kid who would go down under a strong breeze. Neither a face nor body that’d attract links to Strictly or I’m a Celebrity. All those men were pretty much unknown – still given plenty of shit from the terraces; but aimed largely at the faceless “w*nker in the black”.

The most memorable was, for me, David Elleray, who seemed (despite evidence to the contrary from my brief research) to be in the middle of virtually every big match I watched during my formative years. David Elleray was a school teacher at a posh private school. A proper job that you’d absolutely expect of a proper referee. Not even 40 years old when he refereed the 1994 FA Cup final, he looked and, with his distinct received pronunciation, sounded like someone from another age.

If you asked an AI to create a schoolmaster from a posh private school and David Elleray never existed, it’d create David Elleray. He seemed inscrutable, like a high court judge or a local bobby who’d nick his own gran for a minor speeding offence rather than bend the rules. I’ll bet the only white powder David Elleray has been near is Brut talcum powder.

But we’re now through the looking glass into the world of celebrity referees on salaries and matchday bonuses that’d make a senior civil servant blush. Brash, coke-fuelled (allegedly) alpha-males; matey with all the players. Centre stage, heroes of their own story in a world where they are, at best, the 23rd most important player.

Once retired, get a high-enough profile from the cushy TV gigs where you throw your former colleagues under a bus and maybe you can ride the football gravy train into some Premier League club bullshit consultancy role (at least until their social media team stitch you up). They just don’t look or feel like the referees of yesteryear. And what has done this? Have we done this?

For what it’s worth, I’ve always thought I was the kind of fastidious so-and-so who could be a good referee. I’ve a childhood passion for the game and I feel like I properly understand nuances of the sport and the laws of the game. A fundamental lack of talent stopped me playing at any higher level than Sunday League, but I talked a good game.

And then you see the levels of abuse directed at every referee from the top to the bottom of the footballing pyramid, every age group, every match. Not for me, Clive. Not in a million years. It’d break me. We all know it’s worse than it ever was. And I’m probably guilty of having done it myself. I also don’t think that, deep deep down, as a Spurs fan of 30+ years, I could every really properly remove bias from my decision making if I were involved in something that affected Spurs’ season and I think I’m somewhere near the objective end of the football supporter spectrum.

So what kind of egotistical, thick-skinned personality is prepared to put themselves through that sh*t to get to the very top and then have their every decision pulled apart in super-slo-motion by ex-players who spent their entire careers trying to con the same referees? I’m not having a pop at the 99% of genuine heroes who pick up the whistle every week and put themselves through exactly that for the reward of a few quid in petrol money and some choice comments about their parentage, so that thousands of football matches can take place. But the ones who get to the very, very top in that environment must have some sort of sociopathic tendencies, surely.

And then come increasing accusations of bias from the tin-hat wearing online community. Is there bias, though, or are referees getting worse? A drop in underlying standards of top-flight refereeing was something that VAR-opponents such as me were fully expecting as a fairly direct consequence. Why worry about refereeing things right first time when someone else gives you the chance to re-referee it at your leisure?

But does that also have the unintended consequence of pushing the referees even more centre-stage as they go through the performative nonsense of trotting across to their little screens, all cameras and eyes on them, 60,000 people on tenterhooks waiting interminably for their final adjudication? You’ve got to have some inhuman levels of self-belief to put yourself in that place. So then are we surprised when this environment we’ve manufactured delivers exactly the ‘wrong’ kind of people?

Not sure exactly what point I’m trying to make any more, but well done for sticking with me this far. In the interests of balance, I’ve just stumbled across a story about historic accusations of racism and bullying against David Elleray. In conclusion; maybe referees have always been knobs after all.
Chris Bridgeman, Kingston upon Thames

MORE COVERAGE OF DAVID COOTE ON F365
???? Top ten football swears features Didier Drogba, Mary Earps and new entry David Coote
???? David Coote to ‘quit before he’s sacked’ with ‘X-rated Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp rant’ to ‘cost him £1m’
???? PGMOL already punished Coote for Liverpool, Klopp rant but ‘use of German’ could lead to ‘stiffer sanction’

…Listen carefully kids, that sound you don’t hear is a handful of individuals suddenly going very quiet after 3 days of blindly defending a man because it best suits their own narrative.

This week social media and beyond has been littered with defenders of a man who had merely been suspended pending investigation, for something absolutely worthy of investigation. Individuals who suddenly became experts in employment law because of the common agreement they had between said investigated party and themselves despite not having all of the facts.

We have obviously already seen the narrative switch a touch from “he doesn’t deserve this!” to “why now? Won’t someone PLEASE think of the referees!” and there will, I imagine, still be some that think both videos do not prohibit a man from being able to referee a billion-dollar sport but if there’s one thing we can all agree on it’s that I love a teachable moment.

Maybe we can all learn from this, myself included, that we can take from this that (outside of the obvious, like “don’t get filmed doing something and then say ‘don’t release this footage'” and “don’t snort/pretend to snort, class-A”) maybe we should all take a slightly more balanced approach when stories of this nature break.

We don’t have all the facts. Very few did or do, and those that do are not only best placed to make decisions, they are the only ones who can. Instead, we can focus on a common ground, discuss our opinions from the position of “my opinion is no more valid than yours” – if any good can come from this poor man’s week from hell, us all learning to get along a little better would be at least something.
Harold Endeavor Hooler
P.S: Not many people have had a worse week than he has and I actually sympathise with the guy for what has probably been a hellish few days of wondering “when the other(s) video(s) will drop” – I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

He’s been an idiot, mind
In my previous email, I expressed some sympathy for David Coote, who appeared to have made an error of judgement in trusting some shady characters who have stitched him up. That sympathy has now evaporated with the realisation that he appears to have filmed himself ‘snorting white powder’ in his employer-provided hotel room while away for work, and sent it on to a “pal.”

I once had to sack someone who phoned in sick so that they could attend a sales conference where they were promoting their side hustle (some sort of weird MLM/Ponzi Scheme thing.) The only reason I, and my managers, knew that they were attending said conference was that they had plastered their attendance there all over their Social media while ostensibly too unwell to turn up to work. If it hadn’t been forcibly brought to our attention by the employee themselves, we could and would have happily turned a blind eye, because the person in question was a good worker.

If you’re going to commit gross misconduct, particularly if it’s potentially criminal, YOU DO NOT DOCUMENT IT YOURSELF, PEOPLE! At least leave it up to your employer to gather the evidence.
Dara O’Reilly, London

…Gotta say, the degrading state of discourse around things like this is a sight to behold.

My view is a bit more ambivalent. I think David is far more likely to be a giant moron than a racist, though who knows. Giant moron is probably a massive understatement too.

I’d wager he’s not the first nor the last referee to call someone names or even slurs when they really shouldn’t, or do a bit of drugs. Or a lot of drugs. I’d be shocked if there aren’t many players and coaches that indulge. If he’s not fried while reffing (or playing, training, coaching etc.) I’d say it’s hardly anyone’s business, whether it’s nitrous oxide, the powder, the reefer madness, booze, whatever. If it doesn’t affect your ability to function in your life, and in this case, your job, you do you.

The filming and the lying are a different story. It makes him easy to blackmail if needed. Like, hilariously easy to blackmail. To the extent that he definitely can’t ref a prem match again. Who knows what other videos might be out there? He may be a United fan, he may be a Macclesfield fan for that matter. There’s video evidence of him doing illegal things that obviously he doesn’t want out there, thus his integrity is compromised. Simple as. You could probably get over the first one (probably not as a Liverpool fan, admittedly, but if taking bags of money from City’s owners doesn’t rule you out…), but the moment he lied, it was pretty much over. If you’re caught with your hand in the cookie jar and your job relies on impartiality, you can’t be this clearly squeezable. With the second swing, he’s also breaking the law.

Drugs aren’t really a moral issue these days, so it’s not an issue of being ‘cancelled’. Also turns out racism isn’t a moral issue anymore, judging by world politics, though again, I am assuming that he’s less of a racist and more of a gigantic, preposterous ignorant moron. The only major issue here (concerning the actual sport of football) is that all his calls are now suspect, whether it’s due to bias towards Germans or Scousers, or due to him trying to keep his stupid decisions secret.

Are there other referees in the league with similar skeletons? Maybe. Maybe there’s a dumb-looking student out there with massively incriminating text messages from [insert referee/player/coach name]. But that doesn’t make any of the outrage hypocritical. Sure, maybe everyone does it. But we know about this one, so this one is the one that has to be handled. When a video is leaked showing [insert referee name] doing [insert inappropriate things… diggity] making him obscenely easy to influence, that should be handled as well. Until then, get this ridiculous, bumbling, out-of-this-world f*cking moron his P45.
Generic Fake Name, Team Which Surprisingly You Also Support FC (I’m actually pretty excited to see how Howard Webb balls this one up. Actual lay-up for him but I bet he’s gonna fall flat on his face).

P.S What kind of prick do you have to be for your also massive prick mates to send videos of you sniffing lines to the actual S*n? Whose dog did you run over?

David Coote: Not racist
I’ve had no strong feeling on the Coote thing but c’mon surely that’s not racism. The idea that if you change ‘German’ to ‘Black’ it then sounds racist and thus is racist works for every other word in the English language. If I call you a silly c**t, or a bald c**t, or even a charming c**t your logic dictates that I’m being racist. It’s nonsense, so to is the previous accusation that I’m inferring all silly, bald, or charming people are also c**ts.

Perhaps there is some remnant of nationalist dislike of Germans in there but given that was a widely held attitude in this country for 60 odd years it’s not at all surprising that it shows up in the language of someone off their head on god knows what and describing a German person they dislike.

This need to make a sociolinguistic study of everything people say is really tiring and incredibly detrimental to reasonable common sense discussion.

Coote didn’t like Klopp which given the shit he received following the Van Dijk/Pickford incident, fuelled by the Liverpool manager’s comments, isn’t an unreasonable opinion. Expressing that in a public setting, intentional or not, is this issue causing the uproar and it will likely cost him his job, probably rightly so.

The notion that this proves a bias against Liverpool, or discrimination against scousers, or a conspiracy at PGMOL, or that Coote is racist or xenophobic is bollocks, and you’re all being ANNOYING C**TS for pushing the narrative.
Dave, Manchester (I’m getting too old for this shit)

We are all a bunch of Cootes
The MB has been fun with ‘sack him’, ‘institutional bias’, ‘he’s human’. So I thought as a self-confessed City fan, could I officiate a PL match without any bias whatsoever? My only concerns were with the players, coach, and to an extent the fans. Not the club as a whole or the owners.

Arsenal
Nope. Can’t stand Arteta, nor the stupid vocal support. Plus Piers.

Aston Villa
Never been a fan of the West Country, and I am an anti-Royalist, so, no.

Bournemouth
Yep.

Brentford
Also, yes.

Brighton
Not a problem

Chelsea
Yeah, I could ref this lot.

Crystal Palace
I could officiate, sure.

Everton
Yes. If this was based on owners it would be a no. But see Liverpool to rule me out.

Fulham
Not sure. There was that whole Michael Jackson thing, and now Al Fayed. Let’s say, no (is this a club thing, and therefore I can’t go off this?), which is a shame because Margot Robbie.

Ipswich
No problem

Leicester
Never liked Vardy. Nope.

Liverpool
Nope. Nothing against Scousers (some of my family are LFC fans), but I see entitlement and I would fail the PGMOL questionnaire.

Man United
Ha! Hell no.

Newcastle
Yup. Not a problem.

Notts Forest.
Definitely.

Southampton
Yes.

Spurs
Yes. Used to hate them due to that FA Cup Final in 1981, but times have changed. However, I don’t like Richarlison, so no.

West Ham
Yes. Like them a lot. Trouble is Russell Brand, so no.

Wolves
Too Brummy for me. Nope.

That’s 9 of 19 I could do, but that’s before they hear of other family members and close friends. Maybe we are all Cootes.
Mike D

Club v country
In an attempt to change the conversation away from David Coote – who appears to have given PGMOL an even easier out with his latest video – I was interested by Harry Kane’s rather public rebuke of his team mates for dodging International duty. I think there are number of reasons why he has slightly misread the room.

The first is that players are increasingly unhappy with the amount of football they play. This is largely due to the increased size and scope of tournaments held by UEFA and FIFA at a club and International level. Something has to give or would or well have even more players turning up to the major tournaments in their last legs. Much like Mr Kane last Summer.

So the question then becomes what should give? Maybe the League Cup but teams already rest players for that and we’re already down to the last eight in that tournament. City and Chelsea (accounting for three of the players that have dropped out) are already out of it. I think every other tournament, except maybe the Conference League – which Chelsea haven’t even registered Palmer for – is more important than these glorified friendlies.

So the question really is: are England games more important than club games?

Well it’s definitely going to hit like crack if England do win something but I’m much more invested in United. If you told me I had to pick one to watch there’s no way I pick England. United winning the Champions League vs England winning the World Cup? The former for me though if I supported Real Madrid I might change my mind given how often they lift Big Cup. I think if you release yourself from the notion of supporting the team of the country you happened to be born in through no fault of your own, the inhabitants of which seemed to have been actively ruining your life for all of it, then it’s a choice. And I choose United.

Then look at it from a players’ point of view. They get abused enough as it is but as soon as you play for England it’s a different level. If you fail for England – which is inevitable because the expectations are always laughably high – the press will crush you (or try anyway). Regardless, you’ll be hammered for such banal things as getting a tattoo or noble acts such as campaigning so that kids can eat. You can’t even get to two Euros finals on the bounce (we’ve never got to one before 2021 and never a final on foreign soil) without the manger facing calls to be sacked.

And let’s not forget that the clubs pay the players wages. Get seriously injured playing in the Nations League and it can cost you a lot of money over a career. Why risk yourself if you’re not contributing to an ambition to play in the Euros or the World Cup (though if we duck up World Cup qualifying this is a secondary route admittedly)?

Harold seems to have missed that several Premier League teams have been dealing with injury crises. United’s feels like it’s been going on for a number of years but Newcastle were also there last season. City and Arsenal have been dealing with injuries this year and look where that’s getting them.

All in all I think these particular games are probably the least important “competitive” games in the calendar. Harry Kane clearly doesn’t feel that way – he’s got stats to pad don’t you know! But I think a better way for him to deal with it would have been merely to say that it’s an opportunity for new players like Morgan Rogers and it’s up to them to take it.

I also wonder whether this is a sign of what to expect under Tuchel, with a more hard-line approach to absences. Is Harry Kane anticipating this and getting the good work in early? Time will I tell I suppose.

What do other mailboxers think? Club or Country?
Ash Metcalfe
Ps Robbie Fowler was a player that I should hate as a United fan but my god he was the best finisher the Premier League had and rightly called God. There was a time when the only striker I’d have wanted United to sign more was Ronaldo (the OG one).

MEDIAWATCH: GERMAN sparks ‘humiliating farce’ as England players withdraw…

Liverpool fan tells Man City fan what’s wrong with Man City
Andy D asks what’s going on at Man City. It’s not as complex as it looks.

(He didn’t ask; he explained what was going on at some length – Ed)

This is what happens when Guardiola is given less capable players, either because they’re ageing or because they’re back ups.

He isn’t a manager like Fergie, Mourinho or Klopp who were all well known for making shit players play well above their level.

Pep is a manager who makes world class players…err.. play world class. His world class players are getting old and are still excellent but either not world class now or constantly injured.

Peps a good manager but the fact he struggles when he doesn’t have the very best at his disposal does suggest he’s perhaps lacking in his man management skills because he’s not able to make Darren Fletcher look like he belongs at united. I don’t think Pep could turn Jordan Henderson into a club captain who’s won every trophy. Pep usually just sells those players, and right now he can’t do that.
Lee