Former Premiership Referee Jeff Winter Responds To Sir Alex’s Claims
Filed under: Refs, Sir Alex Ferguson
Former Premiership referee Jeff Winter has come out guns blazing over Sir Alex Ferguson’s latest rant, expressing frustration over the 67 year old’s “statement about the laws of the game which is completely innacurate”.
Via Guardian
Winter was highlighting Ferguson’s insistence that Jamie Carragher should have been shown a red rather than yellow card for hauling down Michael Owen on the edge of the area during United’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool yesterday.
Another senior refereeing source, still officiating at Premier League matches, agreed with Winter. “Ferguson clearly doesn’t understand the law about the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity,” he said. “The fouled player has to have full control of the ball and has to be moving towards the goal but Michael Owen did not fulfil either condition.
“[Sunday’s match official] Andre Marriner was absolutely right to award a yellow card and a direct free-kick,” he added. “It would have been totally wrong for him to have sent Jamie Carragher off. And Sir Alex should never have said that Andre Marriner was not an experienced referee when he is on the Fifa list and got all the important decisions right on Sunday.”
As a veteran of several run-ins with Ferguson, Winter wonders if United’s manager was merely deflecting attention from a defeat. “I don’t know if Sir Alex Ferguson has got a problem with referees but he has got a problem when Manchester United don’t win and blaming the referee is the easy option,” he said. “His statement about Carragher shows that either he doesn’t know the laws of the game or he’s resorting to mind games again.”
Winter disagrees with suggestions that Ferguson is mellowing with age. “There are signs that his temper is getting worse,” he said. “Some of his touchline antics, when you see the veins standing out on his neck and see him swearing and shouting, are not too good for his own health let alone anyone else’s.
“I don’t know whether it’s age or what but he seems to be getting less tolerant of everybody and everything – especially when Manchester United don’t manage to win. This sort of thing seems to be happening every other week with him now.”
Like others in the refereeing fraternity, Winter is hoping that the FA will punish Ferguson severely for not just yesterday’s comments but his suggestions that Wiley’s fitness was suspect following United’s recent 2-2 home draw against Sunderland.
“If I were the FA I would personally impose a Fifa-style stadium ban on Sir Alex,” said Winter. “I think it’s got to be harsh punishment to teach him and everyone else a lesson. The FA have to take serious action against him. Anything less and the Respect campaign is dead in the water. They’ve got to show Sir Alex and everyone else that behaviour like this will not be tolerated. A fine or, in this case, even a touchline ban won’t be enough.”
A stadium ban would leave Ferguson watching from the stands and barred from any contact with his players before or during a match once they have entered the stadium. In 2005 Chelsea’s then-manager Jose Mourinho received a two-game stadium ban following his comments about Anders Frisk following a Champions League game against Barcelona.
Winter felt Marriner had a “very good” game but acknowledged it was the referee’s first Premier League game involving two top-four teams. “There’s a first time for everything, though,” said Winter. “Andre did well because players from both sides had clearly been told to pressure him and I noticed that his every decision was contested by at least three players.”
Image via MakeAChildSmile
So, according to one former and one current referee, SAF “doesn’t know the rules”? I suppose Winter’s comments don’t really matter as he is no longer refereeing anyway. But the comment by the current (unidentified) referee is more worrying. According to this genius, Ferguson is wrong because “The fouled player has to have full control of the ball…”, and Owen did not. But if one checks the actual written word with FIFA, the laws don’t say that at all. The law itself doesn’t mention this. And the subsequent “Guidelines for Referees” section says one of the things referees must consider is … “the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball”. Note that: Keeping OR GAINING control. Ha! And this guy is a paid, practicing referee? Wow!
Jeff Winter is a joke. I watched him referee many times and he was always wanting to be the centre of attention. This posting is no different. His “players from both sides had clearly been told to pressure him” is disrespectful to both managers and he cannot be based on any facts, just like many of his refereeing decisions. StatesideAussie got it spot on.
ok first off I have read jeff winter’s book and I am personally not a fan. He, like some referees and even more managers, think of themselves bigger than the game.
SAF has lost it. Honestly he needs to put the wine bottle down. Mariner was spot on with the yellow card. Owen was going towards goal but towards the corner. His touch was far ahead of himself so if he didnt catch up to the ball it would have been near the goal line but not near the goal.
While Mariner was shaken at some parts of the match he kept his cool and considering hot tempered people were going off at halftime (both teams) he kept the game together in the second half. I dont care Both teams were asking for the small fouls as liverpool knew a spot kick would create good chances for them (evidence their first real shot on goal). Mariner is a FIFA referee, A FIFA referee, you can’t say he wasnt up for the match!
Number of Defenders, 1. Distance to Goal, 20 yards out. Distance to ball, he touched it away. Direction of play, going more towards corner/goal line than towards goal. It doesnt meet the requirements for a sending off.
SAF needs to receive a harsh penalty for all his non-sense talk about the referees. Its gotten to a ridiculous point and its crap that he gets away with so much. If it had been a Brown, Bruce, McCarthy, or Hart who had gone off on the referees like SAF then there would be hell to pay from the FA. Hell, Hart less cowardice than SAF because he owns up to when his team plays like crap rather than lament it was the referees fitness or the pressure of the game.