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ECFC to plan refereeing protest system

26/02/07 - 0 comments

After another weekend of refereeing scrutiny, ECFC are set to design their own referee protest procedure.

Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough mouthed off to the press about the referee in charge of their 3-0 defeat by ECFC after 2 penalties were awarded against them.

Interestingly, Nigel's father Brian Clough "the best manager England never had" always made a point of ensuring his players never argued with the ref. And he won the European Cup twice in two years.

The ECFC board are set to analyse the recent Lille vs Man U game, where after having their goal disallowed and then conceding from a free-kick before their wall had been set up, the Lille players immediately booted the ball off the pitch and went to the sidelines to demonstrate with the fourth official.

In what has risen to a formal dispute, Alex Ferguson was quoted after the match as saying "I have never seen that before in all my years in football. That is a disgrace and Uefa have to do something about that because it was pure intimidation of the referee. The Lille staff encouraged their players to come off, Uefa will have to come down on it".

However, the Lille President responded by saying "It was not an attempt to get the game abandoned - it was an emotional moment," a view which was backed up by the manager who said "I don't know how that man Ferguson can allow himself to comment like that about this. He should have said nothing. The team wished to make a complaint about the goal and didn't want to leave the field. They were just making a protest.

In France the tradition is to make a protest at the first pause in the game and then after the match. I don't understand. We could not express a formal complaint as we could not find a Uefa delegate."

Of course, the Man U form of protest at Old Trafford which includes surrounding and barracking the ref, has worked wonders over the years which can be observed in opposition strikers having to be victims of assault and battery before a penalty against the home side is considered.

ECFC advisors are also set to look at the recent Wigan vs Arsenal match where the Wigan manager Paul Jewell blew a gasket after the final whistle which is likely to land him in hot water with the FA. Jewell went mad when Heskey was felled for what looked like a penalty - although an offside goal which was wrongly ruled out for Arsenal escaped his outrage against the officials.

It seems the only constant which applies to having a go at the officials is hypocrisy - it's a funny old game.