They used to be known as friendly matches, those warm-up games before the season starts aimed at testing the fitness and match readiness of players around the country who have enjoyed a couple of months of lazing around. Now they're pre-season games and the word "friendly" has disappeared from the footballing lexicon.
Now why might that be?
Because even footballing authorities realised the ridiculous irony of players slugging it out in pre-season "friendlies" that could not be farther from the meaning of the word if they tried.
In Holland tonight we were treated to the sight of Steven Gerrard and his Liverpool crew desperate for a full-scale brawl with a Feyenoord team that was only marginally less violent.
One problem is that referees have either been nobbled or have nobbled themselves by agreeing to referee these games under a different set of rules. Yellow cards are dished out with abandon but it doesn't matter because they don't count when the real season begins. Red cards seem to have been left in the referee's black bag in the changing room.
Now who agreed to this change in the laws? There's been no message from Fifa or the FA to all referees saying; " don't worry about pre-season behaviour lads. They'll all behave themselves when the season starts." What concerns me most is that someone appears to have had a quiet word in the referee's ear. This is the first step on the road to lawlessness and the complete collapse of the referee's role in the game.
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