UK Sport

The FA’s ‘Respect Campaign’ didn’t get off to a great start.

No sooner had the idea of behaving decently towards officials been launched than Ashley Cole - loveable little scamp that he is - launched an appalling tackle at Tottenham Hotspur’s Allan Hutton before turning his back on referee Mike Riley and acting like a four-year-old.

Javier Mascherano waited for the weekend before he started acting like a fool. The Argentinain did Liverpool any favours against arch-enemies Manchester United by berating referee Steve Bennett throughout the first half, until finally a second yellow for dissent sent him back to the dressing room.

There has been much debate about that yellow (little about Cole’s - other than noting it probably should have been a straight red for a flying and dangerous tackle) and now Steve Bennett is in the frame again for his officiating in the game that saw Manchester United claim their latest title.

I watched the game and agree that some of Bennett’s decisions are worth questioning by fans and pundits. I can see the Rio Ferdinand ‘hand ball’ as a penalty it would have been easy to give. On first viewing I thought Paul Scholes should have been sent off for a foul on Wilson Palacios. However, on seeing it from another angle the Wigan man appeared to go down very easily, but, once Bennett had given a free-kick for what must be seen as deliberate foul play everyone (including Scholes) seemed to expect a booking. He later failed to give a penalty for a blatant foul on Rooney in the box.

All good fun and fine for discussion by those not involved in the game. But, I think the time has come for managers to butt out on commenting on referees, and journalists from spinning their quotes into ‘condemnations’ and accusations of cheating.

Avram Grant is the latest, and the assumption is he is indulging in that most tedious of playground diversions, the Sir Alex Ferguson trademarked Mind Game.

Grant said: “I think in England there are some very good referees, but there are some, a few of them, you can influence, like you saw. Look at the Wigan game. The referee? He was, as expected, good for one team.

“I will not say more than this. I think that the game we played against United at Old Trafford, the referee, he changed the result for sure. We know that. The red card for Mikel was not a red card, the red card that wasn’t for Scholes on Sunday should have been. Then there was the penalty.

“I do not think the world is against Chelsea, or English football, but in this case there were some coincidences for Manchester United. What happened is what I expected, but again I congratulate them.”

In post-match interviews eye-rolling managers often make a great show of the ‘I’d better not say too much or I’ll be in trouble’ pose. Yet, in the cold light of day Grant can come up with something like this.

By saying Bennett was ‘good for one team’, he implies cheating on the official’s behalf.

Perhaps he will get a misconduct charge for his troubles but I’m starting to think that managers should go further into their ‘I might get into trouble’ shell and simply agree to not comment on refereeing decisions at all.

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