Rules are rules but some referees are just w**k**s....

Going back to the OP.

Probert had no choice but to book the player, as bad as it seems.

Blame the rules, not the ref. The look on his face when the player runs past him taking his shirt off shows that he really didn’t want to.

Had he not, though, he would have been severely marked down by his bosses and potentially lost future premier league games.

Touch decision, but it’s his job to enforce the rules, whether he agrees with them or not.

 

I think he might have had some slack cut if he’d overlooked that particular one.

It’s not his fault but he could have decided not to do it. The ref does have scope for some common sense.

Deliberate handball is a yellow card. Has to be. Paolo di Canio didn’t get booked when he caught the ball against Everton that time when Paul Gerrard was down and hurt.

Common sense prevailed. It might have done here with a more confident ref.

All that said I don’t blame him as such. He doesn’t write the laws of the game.

 

Probert did his job correctly as it's outlined to him. Bending the rules by making an exception could have cost him bigger games. Don't get why goal celebrations involve taking shirts off anyway. No need for it. Just lIft your shirt and you don't get booked. You can still show a message but you've technically not taken the shirt off.

 

People need to use a bit of common sense about this. People like Piers Morgan telling 6 million on twitter that Probert was a disgrace for booking him is bang out of order. The poor blokes got an incredibly difficult job as it is never mind having idiots like Morgan ensuring he gets abuse every game he goes to.

The problem you’ve got is if Gray gets away with not been booked then what about all the other players who’ve been booked & missed massive games because they’ve had messages on their shirt? If a players dad dies & he’s got ‘RIP Dad’ on his shirt & he gets booked & Gray doesn’t are we saying that his life is less worthy than the Leicester owner?.

It opens up a massive can of worms. It’s not a simple situation.

At the end of the day the player made a conscious decision & decided that if he scored it was worth a yellow card, he’s a winger who doesn’t start every game & is unlikely to get 5 bookings in 38 games so what’s the issue? ‘Referee does his job shocker’

 

So you are saying someone lifting a shirt to reveal a non-political or non- controversial message, "opens up a whole can of worms" Really??

Strewth!!

 

Well it has done hasn’t it?

 

No, he’s saying (I think) that being selective in the moment about what rules to enforce opens a can of worms.

 

It isn't rocket science. The rule needs reviewing.
If the message is a) racist, mysoginistic,advertising etc b) political in any way or c) Controversial then it is a booking. If it is personal message (like the example he gave i.e. R.I.P dad) or something personal that all those attending/viewing can relate to like the particular incident in this case then it should be deemed harmless. IF a referee, who is trained to make immediate decisions, cannot distinguish between those two choices given that he has several seconds (a luxury he doesn't have in live play) in a dead ball situation post goal, then, frankly, he shouldn't be refereeing .

As daft as EUFAs original 'poppy' ruling for internationals. Total lack of common sense and empathy. No one wants politics etc to encroach on the game but this was different and displayed the human side of football as demonstrated by both sets of fans and players being united.
Common sense should apply albeit backed up by the rules.

 

I agree he shouldn't have got a yellow card. I don't agree that the referee shouldn't have given him one.

 

You are then opening up a debate about judging what applies .
It’s not black and white or as simple as you think .
Refs interpret rules of the game differently from each other now so god knows what would be banned one game and not another by different refs .
Rules are there ,if they are broken the ref must take the appropriate action not judge what is ok and what isn’t.
Otherwise each rule would be like a vegetable root

 

Yes it is simple. Give me a couple of slogans on tee shirts that could be open to interpretation. If you find any, based on the simple rules outlined in my post I will agree with you and yield.

 

I’m not debating what slogans are ok or not and neither should a ref if slogans are banned they are banned and rules apply .
Nobodies arguing it was offensive or obscene.just that a rule was broken no matter what message.
If you get caught smoking in a non smoking area no amount of pleading how stressed you’ve been will stop the stewards throw you out .