Mark Brailsford on referees, Watford & more
Who needs flair when you’ve got true grit? That was what was required to get the points at Vicarage Road in a hard fought scrap against Watford. It was hard to discern the tiki-taka football credentials of both managers in this quintessential Championship battle but there were flashes of quality in the passing of the Albion midfield and the movement of the freshly imported Italian contingent of The Hornets. It could have been a tussle between Italy and Spain such were the nationalities on show. But the stand-out performer had to be Kuszczak. His decision making and cross taking were exemplary, and even though he had few saves to make, his command of his area and organisation of his defence meant that Watford were frustrated even when they deigned to get a shot on target.
El Abd and Greer, with exceptional tackles, made Albion look so much more robust than last season. The other impressive aspect of the defence was the attacking prowess of the full backs. Bruno and Bridge may sound like a children’s TV double act but they are tough competitors with added flair and will give Gus’s mate, Gianfranco Zola, nightmares when he has to face them again at The Amex in the return.
Their obduracy and predilection for attacking were key and the defensive performance whilst benefiting from one or two lucky decisions from a terrible referee, warranted at least a point. That Albion came away with all three, unlike last season when they lost too easily, was down to a fantastic defensive display from the whole team.
“More former professional players should be trained to referee”
On the subject of the referee, that both sets of supporters were in agreement about how awful the ref was is indicative of the standard of referees at the moment. Yes, we know, it’s a hard job and they have a heavy workload of regulations to manage, but why are they so inconsistent? I think the explanation lies in the current management culture of the age: the target driven, uniform approach to rules. The most respected referees in the past were no nonsense individuals. I’m thinking of the likes of Jack Taylor who refereed the 1974 World Cup Final; “Gentleman” George Courtney, and Pierluigi “The Scream” Collina, one of the finest international referees of his generation. Their decisions went against the precise interpretation of the rules, something now frowned upon by the current crop of referees.
More former professional players should be trained to be referees, it works very well in cricket with umpires. Everyone in Vicarage Road last Tuesday night would have agreed on one thing: the performance of the referee deserved a red card regardless of the fact that Albion came away with the points; it goes against us too often to go unnoticed.
Photo: copyright – Paul Hazlewood
