A referee's integrity. What's it worth?

Does it matter if we call referees liars and cheats? If managers can verbally assault them and accuse them of being dishonest? And then maybe apologise in private after the match and say it was all said in the "heat of the moment." After all, we all hate refs don't we? They exist to be abused don't they? They're geeky, wannabee footballers who clearly favour the opposite teams.
It never surprises a ref to hear that point of view expressed by ignorant people. It saddens but does not surprise. These are the people who have lost sight of football. It's why so much football reporting these days is barren, concentrating on the "controversial" incidents during a match. This is one of the early warning signals that a football writer should quit and get themselves a job on a lads' mag. They're clearly bored with the football on offer because they write very little about it, concentrating instead on real or - more frequently - perceived mistakes by the referee.
This ref was, however, surprised and saddened to see Paul Kelso and Kevin McCarra slagging off Graham Poll on Pages 2 and 3 of the Guardian's sports pages today. Oddly enough, it's pretty well known in football that players like Poll. So what's he done? He's stepped out of line and dared to speak up. So for saying the England captain should have received more than an inconsequential fine for lying and questioning Poll's honesty, Poll is suddenly "self aggrandising" and even the Guardian subs can join in with a humdinger of a headline slagging off Poll that bears little resemblance to McCarra's story about Poll's comments.
I've taken the Guardian for 30 years. Its cricket, rugby and athletics writing is second to none but I'm afraid the sneering tone that appears to be de rigeur among its football writers displays an arrogance that other broadsheets try hard to avoid. The Guardian seems to actively encourage it.