English Full Time Refs

[Parahandy]

Just watched West Ham v Spurs. Smashing game but for the umpteenth time Mike Reilly was woeful. This guy is the worst referee I've ever seen in a major league.

When Robbie Keane took the ball over the keeper only to be brought down - no penalty given - was unbelievable. Keane would have walked the ball into an empty net if he hadn't been fouled.

Refs like this idiot could cost a club millions with decisions like that. If ever there was an advert for bringing in the use of technology in the way of camera replays, this was surely it.

I'm sure somebody's told him at half time he'd cocked it up big time, hence the penalty he gave Spurs at the death. Another very poor decision, though nothing could have been as bad as the first one.

[ONEDUNME]

I never, ever understood the argument for full time paid refs. The logic hs never made any sense at all to me. Yes we've come a long way from overweight lard asses chugging themselves around pitches 50 yards behind the play but at the time that they became full time, nearly all refs were fit, so the extra money couldn't have been to relieve them of work commitments to get even fitter.

So how exactly does paying refs improve them?

Are we saying that they'll suddenly read the rules properly once they know they're being paid for it?

Are we saying they'll have an extra eye implanted to make sure they never miss anything?

Refs, as everyone else, are human and make mistakes whether they're getting paid 20 quid, 30 quid or 300 grand a year.