Avram Grant’s claim that West Ham have suffered a ten-point penalty this season based on incorrect referring decisions implies that the Upton Park club would be challenging for European qualification instead of Premier League survival with eight games remaining. The accuracy of Grant’s assessment is open for debate but it is clear that the Israeli’s observations were expressed with the intent of relieving the pressure on his West Ham charges.
Last month’s FA Cup encounter with Stoke City riled the former Chelsea manager as referee, Mike Jones, angered both sets of players with some questionable decisions. It is in the League, however, that Grant feels the Hammers have been let down by officials, and last October’s meeting with current survival contenders, Wolves, resulted in the points being shared as Frederic Piquionne’s last minute ‘winner’ was ruled out for a hand-ball that never was.
In lieu of Sir Alex Ferguson’s recent punishment for condemning Martin Atkinson’s appointment for United’s clash with Chelsea exactly one month ago, Grant appeared to defend the Premier League’s current crop of referees, instead seeking to relate the difficult job they do to the changing nature of modern football. “Everybody understands what Alex [Ferguson] said and what he spoke about in the last games,” said Grant. “I think if you look at games even five years ago and now – and I suggest to everybody that they look – the game is much quicker, more players are athletes.”
He has a point. Avram’s judgment is one shared by several managers and pundits, the only crime being the majority of referees have failed to progress at an equivalent rate to their playing counterparts. A new campaign inspired by Richard Scudamore will be introduced next season in an attempt to curb criticism of referees – sound familiar? The Respect campaign pioneered in 2008 was a similar knee-jerk reaction to a spate of referee haranguing and has achieved next to nothing since its inception.
The FA would do well to acknowledge Grant’s grievances and design a scheme which aims to bring the current set of refs, and the younger generation who will eventually succeed them, up to scratch, rather than announcing wildly ambitious and ineffectual incentives for managers to stay silent. Clearly it is of greater necessity for the Premier League, and football in general, to boast a League of physically fit and mentally adept referees who could provide a beacon for the rest of Europe. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit in flaunting a League full of world-class talent when offset with a collection of physically incompetent referees and regularly fuming managers.
To an extent, Grant may be right that his team, over the course of thirty games, have squandered up to ten points due to inept refereeing. But I would suggest that every manager in the League feels similarly whether at the top or bottom. Referees are human and are therefore naturally inclined to make mistakes and I hope for their sake the FA eventually recognise the urgent need to re-train them to the required standard. I don’t believe Grant is deluded in thinking his side could be facing a competition for European qualification rather than Premier League survival at this stage of the season, but his sentiments will certainly alleviate the pressure on his side going in to the final phase of their campaign as much as it should increase the pressure on the FA to redress the quality of referees.
