By
Gary Neville
Last updated at
9:08 PM on 30th October 2011
I
spent the first 10 years of my career being a right pain to referees.
I
was always in their ear, challenging their decisions, niggling them if they had
missed something earlier in the game.
It was part of the football culture back then. At Manchester United, we had Roy
Keane, Paul Ince and Steve Bruce.
In your face: But
the bullying tactic used against D'Urso is counter-productive
Arsenal had the likes of Martin Keown, Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira doing the
same thing.
Both teams would hunt the ref down, surround him to make a decision for us, most
notoriously for United in a game against Middlesbrough when referee Andy D'Urso
was intimidated (I wasn't playing in that one by the way!).
Then, something happened that completely changed my outlook.
The top referee of his day, Graham Poll, came to Old Trafford to meet the full
United squad before the start of the season.
He told us quite candidly that if he'd had a run-in with a player or a manager,
he'd remember it in future and would be less likely to make a decision in their
favour.
You could have heard a pin drop, the silence interrupted by Teddy Sheringham
blurting out in disbelief: 'You what?!'
When you think about it, it's common sense.
Referees are human beings, and human beings are influenced by how people behave
towards them or what they say.
It's why you can't sit on a jury if you've read about the case beforehand.
Nonetheless, this was startling news to us United players. We had assumed we
could behave how we wanted and the next game would be a blank sheet.
Poll told us otherwise.
Contempt: Neil
Warnock is sent off by referee Graham Poll
As I approached 30, I consciously changed my attitude. Instead of shouting
'disgrace' at referees, I talked to them on a human level.
My manner changed, it was no longer antagonistic. And, you know what, it worked.
I am sure I got better results personally.
Maybe that's why I wasn't sent off last season against Stoke and West Brom. I
should definitely have gone.
These days, most of the dissent towards referees comes from managers rather than
players.
There has been a huge improvement in player-referee relationships since the
Respect campaign.
Instead, most of the dissent these days comes from managers after the games.
Dictating:
Villas-Boas said Foy's decisions were unacceptable
But the result is still the same - it could end up doing them more harm than
good. I covered the QPR-Chelsea game for Sky Sports last Sunday.
Referee Chris Foy got three big decisions right in my eyes yet was condemned as
'unacceptable' by Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas, who was unhappy at the two
red cards and seven yellows that led to his club admitting an FA charge of
failing to control their players.
I'm not having a go at the Chelsea manager in isolation.
Kenny Dalglish, David Moyes and Neil Warnock, among others, have all criticised
referees this season as well.
Does it work?:
Wenger makes a point to referee Mike Dean
Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have been accused of doing
the same thing in the past.
My big question is whether it works.
Some weaker referees might be intimidated next time around but I think largely I
go with what Poll told me, that officials are more likely to go the other way
and not give clubs that have given them a hard time the benefit of the doubt.
The best referees, like Pierluigi Collina, are so confident in their ability,
they don't care who says what about them, but they are in a minority.
Will Chris Foy be more or less likely to give Villas-Boas a decision next time
Chelsea play?
Less likely, I'd wager.
Unflappable:
Pierluigi Collina the best in the business
For the first time this season, I have been out of the Manchester United bubble
and seen every team play in the Premier League.
And I see how difficult things are for referees with the speed of today's game.
I
hadn't properly noticed before what managers say about the referees, much of it
negative.
There have been a number of times I've thought the referee has got it wrong,
only to see he was correct after watching a replay.
Having been in the dressing room on the end of bad decisions, I understand how
tough it is for managers and players to restrain themselves in talking honestly.
However, it is better for them to bite their lip.
Otherwise they may be creating future heartache down the line.