How do we get better decisions from the officials? Or better officials?

[First Wazzock 706]

Where do we start?

Some people think that cameras will be the answer, that may be OK for seeing if the ball has crossed the line, but everything else comes down to a matter of opinion.

What if there were cameras following the handball incident at yesterdays game and the ''fourth official'' watching the TV coverage agreed with the Ref? There would have still been a feeling of anger and the ''wrong'' would not have been righted.

Would the FA or the Refs themselves like being undermined by someone elses opinion (albeit one of their own)? The crowd and players reaction to a Ref who has had a major decision in a game overturned would be one of ridicule, he would have lost all credibility.

Some people have suggested using ex-professional footballers. Not a goer for me, nearly all of them don''t know the rules anyhow.

I think the thing that angers most football fans is the cloak of secrecy that surrounds the officials. The officials are observed at every game, so why is there not more openess about their assessments? I would have thought yesterday''s assessor would have been highly embarassed by Kevin Friend''s performance. So now what happens to the Ref? If the answer is nothing (as I very much suspect) the FA are failing clubs, managers, players and all of the fans.

I do not think the cameras route is the way to go, but we do need more consistancy from the officials. Better training from the FA, and, for the FA to assess the performances of the officials more thoroughly and take stronger action (seriously demote) those who are not up to the job.

If the FA continue to allow these poor performers to continue they are bringing their own game into disrepute.

[Trent Canary 0]

While refs can sometimes do the most ridiculous things they arent helped. You get players diving around, biased managers, biased fans etc. Ive seen referees put in accurate performances, but the fans and manager of the team who lost will moan about it anyway. Just take pretty much any  decision in any match, the fans of the team who the decision went against will moan regardless of whether it was the right decision or not. Unfortunaetly the culture inherent in football is to blame the referee, that wont change in my view.Although a tough route to implement, id back referees to have the power to ask a player if they were fouled/if the ball came off them last/if they handballed etc. This can be noted down, and if in the replay of the game it shows the player was lying they can be banned. For example in the Tranmere match for their third goal, the referee should have the power to ask their player if he handled the ball; if he tells the truth the goal is chalked off, if he lies the TV evidence shows this clearly and the FA could go and ban him. Very tough to implement I know, and it wont ever happen.I guess my issue is that I cant remember a thread on here, or a managers interview, praising a referees performance (Especially if they have lost). While this persists you will never get accurate assessment.