Keep it buttoned

By Chris Kirwan
February 14 2003

The performance of Jeff Winter in the 2-1 defeat at the Valley led to the portly official being on the receiving end of a David Moyes outburst.

While Winter’s performance was poor and the post match comments of Moyes were amusing, it is a worrying prospect that the Blues may face a backlash from the Premiership’s officials and executives. Moyes is a young manager so as a result has not build up a reputation, unlike many of his more experienced counterparts. It is now of great importance that as he becomes more established he doesn’t gain the reputation of something of a whiner.

Moyes is a young manager, and it was refreshing to hear him accept defeat graciously after the cup exit at Shrewsbury; it wasn’t the pitch, the ref, the ball, or injuries, it was as simple as the better side won. Contrast this to Phil Thompson’s behaviour at Liverpool’s first leg defeat in the League Cup semi-final at Bramall Lane, or Craig Bellamy’s ungracious taunting of the home support after Newcastle’s loss to Wolves.

The fact of the matter is that if a manager is courteous he commands more respect from fellow managers, officials, players, and crucially the media. If a manager builds up a negative reputation it hinders his club. Graeme Souness is a prime example. His tendency to criticise anything that takes his fancy repeatedly works against his side. While a manager may feel aggrieved at certain decisions, it is a severe impediment to lose the manager to the stands; the controlling influence is lacking from the touchline and the manager loses the ability to rapidly adapt to change in the game. The frequency with which Souness criticises officials means that he is banished for offences that most would escape with, and referees are quick to act on his transgressions. Souness suffers the same fate on the touchline as the likes of Alan Smith, Patrick Vieira and Robbie Savage do over it.

However, it is a fine line how vocal a manager should be, and I think Moyes has it about right with his presence on the touchline during the game. He makes his feelings known if a decision goes against his team, but does not go over the top with his remonstrations. While Souness shouting at the officials gives his team the impression that he’s fully behind them, it can also lead to them losing their focus. However, I’d rather this approach than Glen Roeder’s method of simply standing there looking glum.

But what is ideal after the game? I believe that a good compromise is an approach used by Gordon Strachan, and formerly by Peter Reid. When asked their opinion about the officials in the post-match interviews they reply, “Well, I’d better not talk about that, it’ll only get me up before the FA”. Their viewpoint is quite clear, but they avoid the headlines. Similarly, while Wenger is mocked for his obstructed view at Highbury, it does avoid needless confrontation. The realisation is that the post-match questions are only there to create a juicy headline; let the likes of Big Ron and Andy Gray debate the talking points and avoid unnecessary disputes.

To be fair to Moyes it has only been the odd occasion that the officials have been in the firing line rather than his players, but reputations are all too easy to create in football. Moyes has to avoid a ‘boy who cried wolf’ scenario whereby genuine gripes with officials are swept under the carpet due to the regularity of complaints (does anybody pay any attention any longer to Souness bemoaning his sides luck with refs?). In recent years the Blues have consistently been in trouble with the FA for ill discipline on the pitch, the last thing the club needs is action taken for poor behaviour off it.