Footnote 2

The great thing about football is that it is a game of opinions.

There are numerous references in the Laws of the Game to situations where situations are managed "in the opinion of the referee" and so to one which occurred on Sunday and shows why I am still where I am and why my good friend has scaled such dizzy heights - just kidding Bob, it's all a question of age and luck ... age and luck. I'm kidding ok, you are nearly as good as me and your kid :-)

The game is dead at 4-1 to the home side and a ball is played to an attacking home player around 10 yards into the half his team are defending and he is maybe one yard in from the touchline I am patrolling. He passes the ball up the field of play into the half his team are attacking and almost a full second later he is tackled from behind in a manner which I can only describe as intended to hurt him. The referee gives a long hard blast on his whistle and the aforementioned away fans fall silent. I know that a red card is coming out of the referee's pocket, so does the offending player, so do the fans, so do the two teams, then ... the referee takes a long time over getting his book out and he talks to the player ... and talks ... and talks ... and then issues a caution.

Inside I scream "Noooo ..." but make a mental note to ask him afterwards. Back in the changing room I don't get a chance, he asks me and the other assistant what we think. We both tell him it was a red but he then explains how he judged the offence in the context of the tempo of the game, the reaction of the players closest to the offence and finally the reaction he expected if he had dismissed the player - World War III!!!

We talked through it and out of the heat of 90 minutes in a high pressure (for me) game, I could see he had been right. Again, that is why I am where I am and he is where he is. Well done Bob, I'm looking forward to pointing you out on Match of the Day and telling my lad, "I know him, he's my mate".