Saints have reported Mark Clattenburg to the authorities for alleged comments made to Adam Lallana, but is it a case of double standards.

Ever since I can remember referee's have been accused of favouring big clubs and at times i have seen some decisions that would make me agree with that, however i have got to say that 99.99 % of the time I have never thought that the man in black (or whatever they are wearing this season) has done anything other than try to give what he has thought is the right decision.

The problem in today's game though is that television replays make it easy to prove when the ref does get it wrong, don't get me wrong I was as livid as anyone when Mark Clattenberg failed to give us what looked like a cast iron penalty at Goodison Park on Sunday, however almost a year ago when Jay Rodriguez threw himself to the ground at Villa Park to earn a penalty that turned out to be the only goal in a 1-0 win, a result that probably did more than any other in keeping us up, I didnt demand that Saints complain about Mark Halsey nor can I remember Saints players surrounding him to tell him that he had got it wrong and Rodriguez has dived.

Im simple terms over a season things usually even themselves out, referee's are human, they get some things right and some things wrong and yes, its only human nature that if 76,000 people at Old Trafford are screaming at you that its a penalty, it cant help but perhaps sway your thinking sometimes.

So referee's are a much maligned species and I do think retrospective action against players should be taken for diving etc, after all its fine to report Clattenberg retrospectively for his misdemeanor, but not for those divers who get away with it, but that is another story.

However what I dont agree with is reporting referee's when they snap once in a while, again its fine for player's to surround a ref screaming abuse, but the moment one of them snaps back we are running off to teacher and telling tales, Im not just referring to Saints here although more of that later, but players in general, if you are content to give it out then be prepared to take it back.

That's not to say Mark Clattenberg is in the right, he was in the wrong to do so, but if we are going to put Ref's under the spotlight, if they hurl the odd insult here and there then it's not the worst thing they will have done all day, sticks and stones etc.

Of course Clattenberg is an easy target, with a reputation for considering himself a bit of a superstar he is not the most liked offical on the planet, but because he is perhaps obnoxious that is no excuse for singling him out.

So my first point is that this is a man's game and if players want to continue to surround ref's and scream in their faces then they should be big enough to take ity when one of them tells them to "F*ck Off" once in a while.

But my second point is that in the long run we are doing ourselves no good, Referee's are very much a close knit bunch, Adam Lallana is perhaps not known as one of the more volatile and obnoxious players in the Premier league, but their will be plenty of Premier League Ref's who will secretly be saying to Clattenberg, good on you after having suffered themselves a season of abuse from players.

When lub's complain about refs publicly and demand action, we are making a rod for our own back, if I was Adam Lallana I would not go near a ref again all season, he will be a target, he will be seen (wrongly probably as its the club that is demanding action not the player) as the poor little soldier who can give it out but not take it, if he so much looks at a ref now he is likely to be booked and we should remember that foul and abusive language is a sending off offence, yes most refs turn a deaf ear to save themselves sending off 8 players from each side per game, but they wont be so inclined towards Adam now and probably the rest of our team to boot.

To also demand that Clattenberg should not officiate our matches till the situation is sorted is virtually accusing him of being likely to cheat if he did so, I would contend that Clattenberg will be just as angry at Saints after the inquiry, whatever the outcome not just in the run up to it, if he was likely to be biased against us in the run up, he will be even more so afterwards, should he be found the guilty party.

As has been shown in the past, refereeing is very much a case of a good ref running a game by the spirit of them rather than by the letter of the law, but when you have situations like this, they close ranks and say right you want the letter of the law then you are going to get it, if Adam Lallana utters an expletive in front of a ref because someone has trodden on his toe he is liable to be at least booked perhaps even sent off, he has made himself a target.

Sad really because Adam is not the sort to whinge and moan and i would be surprised if it was his decision.

So although I have no problems with Saints whinging about referee's etc to report them to the Professional Game Officials Board is not only going overboard but is creating more problems than it is worth, especially for what is after all no more than players the length and breadth of the Premier League are doing to ref's week in week out.

Don' t get me wrong Im no lover of Mark Clattenberg, I scream and howl at referee's as much as the next man, but what i do see is that they have a hard job to do, not helped at the moment by the prevalent diving, they will always get some decisions wrong, but that should be left to those that monitor them to deal with, they will weed out those that get them wrong on a regular basis, football clubs just need to get on with playing football.

Photo: Action Images

slynch added 11:21 - Jan 3 You say it's a man's game but what about Sharp-Eyed-Shelia? She's a girlie as far as I can tell. How do you think she would react surrounded by angry young men and would you forgive them if they swore and abused her?
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SonicBoom added 11:31 - Jan 3 Or to paraphrase... Shut up and get on with it.
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latviandream added 11:48 - Jan 3 I think it's pretty logical to think that Clattenburg may indeed have some kind of agenda that doesn't favour us given that three of the last four games he's refereed us have been: Everton (a) - Denied 2 saints penalties, 1 definitely clear cut. Arsenal (a) - Gave Arsenal penalty for Fonte shirt tug at corner. Really soft, every corner would result in a penalty if all refs gave these. Norwich (a) '12/13 - Gave Norwich penalty in last minute when Holt decided to back into Shaw and fall over rather than play the ball that was 5 yards away running away from goal.

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halftimeorange added 12:39 - Jan 3 Clattenburg sees himself as a "modern" referee who exchanges banter with the boys. We have no idea what he said to Lallana but Lallana must have complained for it to have got this far. It won't do us any good. This year's crop of PL referees is the worst I can ever remember - even Howard Webb has had a few stinkers and as for Mason, well it defies belief that he's at this level. Worst of all is the lack of proper use of or communication with their assistants and last Wednesday was a prime example with disagreements over throw-ins. I doubt that referees have any agenda. They are assessed on every game. Any outright favouritism would be picked up, also unfair penalising. Having four assistants might help but it won't stop the players using foul language. Only a microphone round the referee's neck will do that!

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IanRC added 12:42 - Jan 3 To some extent agree with you Nick but Clattenberg does seem to have something of an agenda against Saints judging by his performances when refereeing us. I am sure Adam will let his feet speak for him and hopefully there will be no excuse given to book him.
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st_mike added 12:51 - Jan 3 Every week we seem to have referees making the wrong decisions. Here's a simple suggestion that I believe would help. I know people will laugh at this, but I have always felt that football would benefit from having four linesmen, one for each quarter of the pitch. It would help to take away "blind spots," as there would always be a linesman close to any incident. Referees would obviously still be in charge, but should be encouraged to consult with their linesmen when in doubt. I appreciate that most people will say you can't do that, but why not?

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schatfield added 12:51 - Jan 3 agree with you 100% Nick. Lallana best avoid all refs for the rest of the season now, in fact, Saints themselves best turn into true saints on the pitch, if you think we didnt get decisions in the past, we arent going to exactly get more now!
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slynch added 13:18 - Jan 3 I see no mention of this on the Saints' site nor on the FA site. What makes you think this has happened apart from unsubstantiated reports in the papers. Oh! it started in The Daily Mail - it must be true,then - sorry.
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richardmdcooper added 16:01 - Jan 3 One of my few complaints about MoPo (in addition to our lack of goals, his dislike of Cork and his ability to do an interview in English) is that he seems to be a bit of a whiner - every time we don't win, he claims we didn't get what we deserved, he moans about unlucky decisions etc..It wouldn't surprised me if this complaint came from him..I agree with you Nick, this was not a smart move and can really only work against us - there's no upside at all for us and we just seem like we're complaining..

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SaintNick added 16:21 - Jan 3 Story up on Mirror website now which makes it quite clear that Saints did complain and has a statement from the referee's body etc http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/referee-mark-clattenburg-cleared-ove Of course as we have been told nothing is true unless we read about it on the official site someone is distorting the truth
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schatfield added 17:03 - Jan 3 A club statement read: "An official insulting any player, no matter his intentions, is clearly not acceptable behaviour. "For this reason, we do not accept the verdict of the PGMOL in relation to this case, and do not consider the matter to be over. "Under the circumstances, we do not feel it appropriate for Mr Clattenburg to officiate in any of our matches until this matter is properly resolved." The exchange in question is believed to have occurred after Clattenburg had turned down vociferous Southampton appeals for a penalty. The Southampton letter claims Clattenburg said to Lallana: "You are very different now, since you've played for England. You never used to be like this." So, apparently thats all the ref said! Hilarious!!! Lallana is going to get serious stick from away fans at every game from now on!

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stmichael added 18:56 - Jan 3 He is a cheat that favours the big clubs. Why should we tolerate him. Exposé the coont.
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BoondockSaint added 19:38 - Jan 3 There always has been a subliminal pecking order in the refs heads. The shirt tug was called against us because it was against Chelsea at the Bridge. Previously I saw Kompany pull Torres' shirt up so far it was almost over his head in the penalty area and yet there was no call-because City are perceived as out ranking Chelsea. Spurs will get calls against us, but not against ManU. I've never understood why players are allowed to gang up on refs. In the NHL only the captain (or an alternate if the captain is not on ice at the time) is allowed to speak to the ref. A bunch of players yapping in the ref's face is not going to help the team get calls later. I like a ref that tells the players to f**k and get on with it. If we have filed an official whinge, don't expect to get any calls for the rest of the season!

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SaintDownUnder added 02:22 - Jan 4 I agree Nick, as much as I think Clattenburg often has bad days in the office when he officiates our games he'll get far worse 'abuse' then he's given to lallana...... I think the reason we made the complaint is to create a situation where he doesn't officiate our games as much in the future. I read that saints spokesman has said 'It would be inappropriate for him to ref until this matter is resolved'.... don't reckon this will hold up though.

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slynch added 12:19 - Jan 4 Yes I read that STNick too, later. But what I don't understand is if Saints wrote a private letter to the PGMOL how come it immediately ends ups up at the Mirror and responses made before there has been barely time for a meeting to be convened to discuss the matter. And if public statements are released by them and Saints why aren't they publicly available? Cos if they are I can't find them. And as far as I know the PGMOL has no disciplinary body or procedure, in fact Clattenburg is on the board and seems unlikley to convict himself?? Surely, the FA are the disciplinary body to complain to? I don't know the truth of the situation but certain things don't add up and I would like to be put straight on these issue before I can believe something unsubstantiated in a newspaper.

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