Ref-ER-EE

“The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game.” “In the box”, the penalty box is where the vast majority of football matches are won or lost. Once the passage of play moves into this distinctive area it raises the adrenaline levels or increases the palpitations of football fans around the world depending on which side of the coin you are on. One man (and now one technology) can decide the fate of a game, your levels of joy or despair, the ref. Pielugi Collina bears a certain resemblance to one of the characters in Se7en . One of the great football Managers of all time, Shankly , said he would not argue with referees. He realised after taking the advice of his brothers that it is a waste of time. The referee, he wrote, always wins in the end. Advice I should have taken when the “red mist” descended in a FAI U18 Quarter Final , outlined in this week’s Rogue-grams. Trying to comprehend the madness of this season’s FPL has been discuss...