Fine Times at Sligo

[sligoman]

‘To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing’, so says US author Elbert Hubbard. With this in mind the recent decision by the powers that be to fine Sligo Rovers manager Sean Connor €1200 sets a dangerous precedent in Irish football. Connor's ‘crime’ was to criticise a referee who sent off one of his players in a pre-season friendly. The reality in football is that nobody is beyond criticism including referees, players, managers, administrators, the FAI, the eircom League and the PFAI.

We are all responsible for our actions and if somebody disagrees with what we say or do then they have the right to reply or redress, be it in the media or a court of law. The fostering of a non-critical environment within Irish football by fining players, managers and officials can only be detrimental to the growth of the domestic game.

Irish society has many examples were the punishment of criticism or questioning the actions of persons in authority, has led to major scandals in the pillars of our society such as the church, health services, politics and the financial sector. As the domestic game evolves from semi professionalism to full time professionalism the decisions made by all concerned can have a telling effect on a player’s career or deny a club of much needed income.

The lack of support for Connor from his managerial colleagues is worrying and may be explained by two issues. The first is the lack of a cohesive managers' association and the other is their fear of also being fined if they in turn speak out. The pressures on the modern day eircom League manager are immense and a better understanding by the authorities of the role they play in domestic football would be more welcome than the current slap in the face.

http://www.pfai.ie/index.php?mod=one...9bf13ce5eb042a

[CharlesThompson]

The lack of support for Connor from his managerial colleagues is worrying and may be explained by two issues. The first is the lack of a cohesive managers' association and the other is their fear of also being fined if they in turn speak out.
http://www.pfai.ie/index.php?mod=one...9bf13ce5eb042a

This is an important issue and we came up against last season when Garreth Farrelly 'went out' against the standard of refereeing in general in the league, lack of protection of players etc. What followed was nothing short of a disgrace, although not fined there appeared to be a concerted effort by referees to penalise his team at any given opportunity, the little protection of some of our players that was there i.e. the equivalent to any side in the country, completely disappeared and we ended up with several players getting crocked without penalty to the offenders.

The sooner the referees refereeing in this jurisdiction are answerable for their actions the better things will be for everybody.

[SligoBrewer]

hear! hear!

[marktis]

Is the answer full-time professional referees trained to a higher standard?

[garykelly]

dont think full-time refs is possible - just think some refs need to have a personality and talk to players. some refs think being a good ref involves being a zero tolerance facist dictator for 90 mins which isnt the case. maybe the refs shud visit other refs associations in the likes of the UK or further afield to learn more in the off season.

there are good refs in the league. i think on the whole refs arent showing a combined level of consistency and their communcation at games is often poor. leaving even players confused. also the FAI currently employ a double standard method for referee allocation to games. A ref from dublin can ref any game involving a dublin team yet i believe the likes of Alan Kelly cant ref a cork game ? granted the majority of refs are from dublin but still same rule should apply across the board or not at all.

[Redzer]

This has nothing to do with refs or the standard of refereeing. It is about whether a manager can or can not make a negetive comment about a refereeing decision.
Its a gagging order by the FAI.