Umpire Critisism - Yes or No?

[Gointocarlton]

Just saw a presser where Ernie Merrick absolutely smashed the referees performance. The penalties to the other mob were a disgrace and influenced the game 100%. Should coaches be allowed to speak their mind?

[flyboy77]

hewent hard, didn't he. It was a terrible decision - the hand ball penalty - as was the earlier offside call (that cost them a goal).

[crashlander]

I can understand why umpires are protected: it is difficult enough to get any umpires at the best of times, without them being criticized for every misstep. However, they must also be accountable: almost every other job is. When umpires make mistakes, they should admit to it. Again, I understand why they do not: we are a society where litigation is commonplace and sometimes over the top. But decisions are made the change the fate of games. That cannot be ignored.

[mateinone]

I think there should be an avenue for a coach and club to say they aer raising a concern over the umpire as they think the match was poorly refereed, but it has to be 100% respectful.

Poor behaviour by top level coaches just encourages coaches at lower levels. They are not going to change a result by bitching to the media about it, so really it is just meeting their own desire to get steam off and protect against pressure from a result.

Allow the media to ask about a decision, state that you think they got it wrong and yes you will be raising it with the relevant bodies and then move on. Never get personal, never imply that a ref/umpire lacks integrity.

[northernblue]

I think there should be an avenue for a coach and club to say they aer raising a concern over the umpire as they think the match was poorly refereed, but it has to be 100% respectful.

Poor behaviour by top level coaches just encourages coaches at lower levels. They are not going to change a result by bitching to the media about it, so really it is just meeting their own desire to get steam off and protect against pressure from a result.

Allow the media to ask about a decision, state that you think they got it wrong and yes you will be raising it with the relevant bodies and then move on. Never get personal, never imply that a ref/umpire lacks integrity.

It can’t be public.
“There are decisions we will seek clarification on” should be all that is allowed publicly, and if that comment is not followed up by the club by making a formal complaint they should be penalised.
There should be a public explanation as a result of such complaints/investigations, maybe not every case, but enough to cover most situations...

Players and umpires will always make mistakes... all we can do is ensure the integrity of the errors (honest mistakes and not corruption or vendetta)
Largely I believe umpiring mistakes are like picking up an oval footy, just part of the game.

[LP]

Weak as piss from coaches, coaches potting umpires should be suspended!

It's up to the FA to be strong, they need to be seen to discipline poor umpiring by relegation to lower leagues.

Coaches and players need to keep their mouth shut!

[mateinone]

It can’t be public.
“There are decisions we will seek clarification on” should be all that is allowed publicly, and if that comment is not followed up by the club by making a formal complaint they should be penalised.
There should be a public explanation as a result of such complaints/investigations, maybe not every case, but enough to cover most situations...

Players and umpires will always make mistakes... all we can do is ensure the integrity of the errors (honest mistakes and not corruption or vendetta)
Largely I believe umpiring mistakes are like picking up an oval footy, just part of the game.

See I see the point of why you say that, but I still think a little differently...

Let's take soccer and there is a contentious red card.
A bad decision in that sport to send a player off will more often than not cost a team the game.
So it is a major talking point afterwards.
There is nothing wrong imo with a coach answering a question honestly when asked.. Do you think the referee got that right?
If you say "No, I thought it was wrong, I don't think there was contact"
I don't think anybody gets hurt by that.
If you say.. look, that referee is corrupt.. he likes to be the big show himself instead of just doing his job.
Well then you are lacking respect for the position and need to be penalised.

But i think we try way too hard to sterilize all of our environments and it isn't even the 'human' way. We have opinions, we have a society that encourage free speech in a respectful manner and I don't see sports situations as being any different.

I don't think players or coaches should ever be able to "tee off" on a referee or a coach. But you should be able to say that you don't think a decision or multiple decisions went your way.
The nauseating response of "I can't answer that" is just ridiculous in my opinion.

[northernblue]

I also see your point, but imagine the Scott brothers having free rein ? ????
10 mins after the game isn’t conducive to calm and rational thinking, so to allow discussion of any issues at that point is too dangerous imho.

[DJC]

Just saw a presser where Ernie Merrick absolutely smashed the referees performance. The penalties to the other mob were a disgrace and influenced the game 100%. Should coaches be allowed to speak their mind?

Merrick has to front up tomorrow morning and will probably cop a hefty fine.

Blaming the referees/umpires is a bad look.

[jeza]

I always hated how in soccer they treats their refs.

Alex Ferguson was the worst at it. The league kept giving him little fines which he wouldn't even miss. His opponents on far lower salaries couldn't say the same so he had free reign to make refs think twice about awarding penalties against Man U. I thought it actually had a big influence.

He should have been fined suspended for at least a month and premiership points taken away for the persistent unchanging behaviour. Particularly when he called one of the refs fat. The suck holes running the premier league simply didn't have the balls to stand up to him.

That filtered down to the lowest league's in England and here. Many refs give it up because of the foul abuse they cop every weekend both from the coaches and the fans.

It is pathetic. You cop some good and bad decisions. Suck it up.