Bluewatch: Fergie must take responsibility over referees

May 1 2008

PFA chairman Chris Powell’s speech at the Player of the Year Awards, addressing the conduct of his members and their attitudes towards referees, was all very noble and proper.

However, even he must know that there is no chance whatsoever that his proposal to have points deducted from clubs whose players offend will never be adopted by the game’s ruling bodies.

For a start, the worst offenders are the teams at the top and they carry the most clout. There’s no way the likes of Manchester United or Chelsea would willingly sign up to a rule that could put something like the present, evenly poised title race into the hands of the FA.

And given that organisation’s poor track record dealing with comparatively simple matters such as red cards and bans, you’d have to agree with them to a certain extent.

Ultimately, the only people who can realistically change the way players behave towards officials are the managers who, more often than not, pay lip service to the idea of showing more respect but whose actions set an awful example. Already this season Roy Keane has raised an eyebrow at Sir Alex Ferguson’s suggestions that players need to behave themselves.

The truth of the matter is, if on Sunday at Stamford Bridge the Manchester United players had known that kicking walls or stewards or whatever would end up with them receiving the ‘hairdryer treatment’ from their manager then they would have been far less likely to have done it. The man at the top sets the tone, and if a man like Ferguson is willing to accept the plaudits for that when his side show the character that they did against Barcelona then he should also be ashamed and take responsibility when they act like petulant children as they did at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, summer’s approaching and the rumour mill has starts to lazily crank into action. Apart from Everton being linked with every rangy African midfielder in France and the usual Mikel Arteta to Atletico Madrid stories, the latest round of transfer gossip also has Newcastle interested in Goodison’s own Leighton Baines.

You certainly couldn’t blame Kevin Keegan if he did have an eye on the local full-back, but it is nigh on unthinkable that Everton would even dream of letting him go. David Moyes has been at pains in the last week or so to reiterate that he sees a big future at the club for the player he brought from Wigan Athletic for £6million last summer, and even given the limited opportunities he’s had this season, most Evertonians have seen enough to expect Baines to be the club’s first choice left-back for as long as he wants to be. He’s clearly been unlucky with injuries and the form of both Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka has also been on obstacle for him. However, the expectation is that Moyes will bring in some taller players in the coming months, particularly in midfield, and that will make it easier for him to resist the temptation to play Lescott at left-back for the added physical presence that comes from having three centre-halves in the side. That was almost certainly why Baines missed out against Villa, with the irony being that it was Lescott whom John Carew out-muscled for the equaliser.

It’s been a tough season for Baines but he is a regular England player in the making, without a doubt, and we want to see more of his ilk coming to Goodison, not leaving.

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