What Really Grinds My Gears...

Is the quality of our indoor soccer matches these days, to be more specific the poor refereeing. I try not to bitch and moan about the referees decisions too often, during the game I may yell stuff out but I don’t sit there and stew on the decisions made after, its is after all only just a game. But after last nights Usual Suspects match I think I’ve finally cracked it with the inability of the refs to make any decisions.

Understandably they can’t get every call right or see everything that happens on the field (they are only human after all) but there’s a difference between that and nearly losing control of the entire game. Last night was one of the most appalling efforts to ref a match I have ever come across. Last night we played a team (La La Land) who we decimated 15–0 last time we played them, so understandably they decided to change their game plan. They decided to not use skill to try and beat us, they would just push us around (both during and behind play), act like wankers by threatening us and generally not show us any of the respect I believe we deserve.

In the first 5 minutes or so both Matt (got taken out from behind) and I (kicked in the knee) had to sub off for a brief period because these guys were not playing at the ball they were playing at us. This was just the beginning, Trav was basically levelled while they ball was up the other end of the field, I was threatened sever times, they were continuously attacking savagely from behind and simply just pushing us around. It was disgraceful! Although some of obvious attempts to hurt us were called, many weren’t and probably the thing that annoys me most is there was only one warning handed out. The ref basically lost control of the game because he neglected to make those tough decisions, he didn’t enforce any sort of authority.

We ended up winning the match based on our skills and perseverance (karma may also have come into play) so I’m happy about that. I don’t remember the score line and honestly I don’t really care, we beat them because we deserved it. I’m just glad match is over because it was such a poor game.

So all you soccer refs or any refs as a matter of fact who may stumble upon this blog (unlikely I know, but you never know) here’s my advice: Don’t be afraid to make the tough decisions, in the end it’s better than making no decision at all as you will just lose control of the game and perhaps more importantly the respect of the players.