Premier League myth exposed as Howard Webb appearance shows new reality we must all get used to
Football supporters desperate to understand why referees make certain calls may have been satifised this week when Howard Webb appeared on The Overlap. The referees chief appeared alongside Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney, Ian Wright and Jill Scott to discuss the latest developments in Premier League officiating.
But it was a podcast that wasn't well received by all.
For some, referees should be seen and not heard. Indeed, plenty of football fans are unhappy with the high profile of referees in the top flight and the exposure given to many former officials. But is that fair? Our ECHO panel have their say on Webb's appearance.
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Ian Doyle
One of the great footballing myths is that, in the old days, referees used to operate under the radar and didn't command the spotlight as they do now.
It's utter nonsense. Ever since the dawn of regular televised football - and we're going back more than 60 years since Match of the Day first aired - the identity of referees, and the scrutiny of their performances, has become ingrained as part of the game.
The very nature of the job suggests the most high-profile officials are the ones handed the biggest games and are therefore liable to make the most infamous errors. Every era has their villains, whether it be Pierluigi Collina, Graham Poll or Clive Thomas - and that's just among Everton supporters.
From the moment referees were able to wear different colours in the Premier League and became full-time professionals - no more working as a teacher during the week, for example - the crossover into the public eye was complete.
Indeed, those who want referees to keep a low profile are probably the same people who would prefer the officials were held accountable for their actions and be made to explain them. Well, you can't have it both ways.
The advent of the fourth official and then the VAR and his assistant has led to more referees being exposed to the limelight although, curiously, you'd be hard pressed to find a supporter who can correctly identify the name of more than one of the many assistant referees running the touchline.
The issue, perhaps, is how these officials court their publicity. Howard Webb becoming a referees chief is fair enough, but should Mark Clattenburg really have cosied up to Nottingham Forest? And what to make of Mike Dean, Dermot Gallagher and Peter Walton stepping into the world of television analysis of their former brethren?
Football can't exist without referees and, it must be said, they all know what they are letting themselves in for when they sign up for the job. As in every industry, the odd few can make it more difficult for everyone else. But referees as celebrities? That boat sailed years ago.
Joe Rimmer
We're all sick to death of referees. Whether it's decisions on the field, VAR, Mic'd Up or now The Overlap, you won't find many football fans who enjoy the exposure officials now get throughout all parts of the game.
And let's be clear, VAR has been one of the worst things to happen to modern football. It has only heightened tensions between supporters of different clubs and fuelled the fire for never ending debates on television, in the pub and on social media. Never has there been more anger or abuse directed at officials.
So surely, then, we can't criticise them for wanting to explain themselves? They are human beings, after all, and when they are getting it from all angles, they have every right to hit back. How many times in the past were referees criticised for not having to explain key decisions while managers and players fronted up?
Quite often their explanations do make sense, even if we don't agree with them. See Howard Webb's take on the reason Dominik Szoboszlai wasn't booked for kicking the ball away in a recent Liverpool match.
Do I wish we saw less of them? Yes. But with VAR and the mounting pressure on officials, it just wouldn't be fair for them never to be able to have their say. This is an era when they are instantly recognisable and they can't hide from their spotlight like in the past.
Nobody is ever going to be fully satisfied by their explanations, but at least they are trying to give people an idea of why decisions or mistakes are made.
And yeah, it can be annoying to hear some of the referees who are very matey with the players or some of the takes they give on big calls or games - see Mark Clattenburg for that. But again, they are only human and just like some pundits are preferable to others, we should expect the same for refs.
Never mind the 'celebrification' of referees, the real issue is the demonization of officials, and if we understand them a little more, perhaps respect will follow.
Paul Wheelock
For years there were calls for officials to front up for the decisions and mistakes they made after matches. To an extent we now have that with the 'Match Officials Mic'd Up' show or the in-game updates from the Premier League Match Centre to explain VAR calls. So we can't have it both ways.
And let's face it, very much like the dreaded VAR itself, referee as celebrities are here to stay.
Not that I like it, mind, it's just more a grudging acceptance that regularly hearing the thoughts of Howard Webb, Dermot Gallagher, Mike Dean and Co are now are very much part of the 24-7 narrative that surrounds Premier League football and often overshadows the actual football.
And, I can't be a hypocrite here, I work for a publication and website that regularly publishes stories containing the thoughts of some of those aforementioned former officials. And, lifting the curtain up, those stories are well read.
There is an audience for them, rightly or wrongly, and if that was not the case you would not have Michael Owen joining Webb on 'Mic'd Up' or the latter being asked on as a guest on The Overlap, as has happened this week.
That's the reality we live in now.
Let's not forget, what referees do or don't do has always been big news. It's just in today's digital age, with the demand for more and more content, and more and more analysis, referees fill one of those voids. They're not going off your screen anytime soon. You may not like it - I don't myself - but get used to it.