Get some glasses, ref!

Bad decisions by referees are in the news again following a sending off in the Newcastle/Wigan match at the weekend which possibly cost Wigan the points - certainly that was the view of their manager. Of course, theoretically referees cannot make bad decisions - they are the sole judges of fact, and if they say it's a penalty, or a corner, or a goal, or whatever, then that's what it is. The problem arises because what started out as just a game has become a big (and I do mean BIG) money business, and referees are making decisions on which small fortunes may depend. Not surprisingly in these circumstances, players and managers are less likely to simply accept decisions with which they disagree. What's to be done? I don't know, but maybe we have to start thinking about a different way of policing the game, certainly at the top professional level. American football, for example, uses no less than seven "referees", each with a specific area of responsibility, and perhaps we could use that as a template. Another radical idea would be to referee the game away from the pitch, using TV pictures, or perhaps have a TV referee with a radio feed to the ref on the pitch. The discussion will continue, I'm sure.