http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Top-soccer-ref-Howard-Webb-reveals-how-he-endures-9983270.php
So here's my story from today's interview with Howard Webb that I did over the phone this morning. He was absolutely charming and wished me well with my Level 5. Couldn't be further from my last chat with a top English ref, Graham Poll, who couldn't resist taking the mickey out of my weight when I spoke to him at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Well Mr Poll, the joke's on you!! You showed three yellows and I'm still reffing!!
Below are some of the quotes from Webb that I didn't use in my AP story. Interesting thoughts on how you make decisions.
"It's really refreshing to hear that
some refs suffer from a lack of confidence. You have peaks and troughs of
confidence throughout your career. They last less long the more experienced you become.
"Sometimes you see the ball so
clearly it's easy to make a decision but sometimes you're going with instinct.
"Some of the very best decisions
come from your instinct not from what you see. If you only relied solely on what
yousaw you'd miss too many decisions to be a top ref.
"Mark Clattemburg, in his first premier league game, in
the first minute, liverpool-arsenal; he made a big decision to penalise Robin van Persie after he lobbed the outrushing Pepe Reyna for handling the ball. He felt something wasn't
right
"Sometimes you have to go with a gut
feeling. It's not guessing, it's following your experience and judgment.
"The best refs are those who are judged by their gut feeling
being accurate
1 comment:
He's a thoughtful bloke - much prefer him to either Poll or Halsey, whose respective autobiographies were both self-serving and unedifying. So I'll look forward to reading his book. The quote above about becoming more confident the longer you ref is very true, and re-assuring for younger refs who suffer sporadic crises of confidence after a rough game.
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