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.