I, for one, welcome our new female footballing overlords. Newell's a twat.
Newell's clearly an idiot because he hinges his criticism on the idea that women are going to be inferior officials, which is probably untrue. That said, let me play Devil's Advocate for a minute. You could make an argument that, having by definition never played the game they are calling (Assuming the men's game is substantively different from the women's, which seems fair), they are not as qualified. On the other hand, there are enough bad officials out there that this seems a minor concern. Also, if they are there as tokens, then he's right, and they aren't qualified, but that seems not to be the case. As to the larger issue of women in men's sports, I think that is much more complicated. There's nothing wrong with having certain domains of life set aside for one sex or the other, and if they players and managers generally didn't want female officials, then I would have no problem with it. If this is not the case, as it seems not to be, then Newell should keep his mouth shut.
Bulgaroktonos: None of the FA referees have played the game at a professional level, regardless of their gender. Besides that, as far as I know the rules of women's soccer are identical to those in the men's game. The female officials have all passed the same refereeing exams that the men have, so how can it be tokenism if they're equally as qualified? I posted this because I had no idea people could still be so bigoted in the 21st century. You gotta wonder what Newell would have said if the assistant ref had been black instead of a woman. Like Mr Bismarck, I had a high opinion of him after he dished the dirt on bungs and backhanders, but now he's turned into a complete moron.
Please, for your friends located on the west side of the pond, what is meant by bungs and backhanders. Those words, specifically bungs have a very different conotation in the States. Back on topic; Newell comes across as a total wanker. In the short time I have been watching football I've seen some absoluetly awful calls by male refs. Is this the case of a sport as a whole being officated poorly (think NHL 3 years ago or current MLB homeplate umps)
Ah, the enlightened Europeans.
Bungs and backhanders are essentially the same thing - illegal payments made to football managers. Essentially, a football agent will offer to give a manager an illegal payment if the manager buys the player he is representing. The manager then convinces the chairman or the board of directors to finance the transfer for an artificially high price, inflating the fees for the agents (and thus the manager's slice). So your club buys a crap footballer for 10 million quid and the boss gets a new Mercedes. Last year Newell gave an interview and said this kinda thing is widespread in the Premier League, but refused to name names.
Like the others, I liked Newell and his honesty in the backhanders affair. However, now I think he needs to spend time inside the Celebrity Big Brother House with my compatriot Germaine Greer. That'll learn him.
what an idiot this sort of thing leaves a bad taste in your mouth thats hard to wash away
what an idiot.*
afx237vi Thanks for the bung/backhand clarification. We have a something similar in major league baseball. It's called Scott Boras. ZING! HATER-1 Boras-0.
I know that sounds sexist, but I am sexist, so I am not going to be anything other than that. That sounds like a line right out of spinal tap.
He should not of said what he said even if it was remotely true! Which is not of course! Prejudices in this world suck!
Justgary: There's a joke about his knob going all the way to eleven there somewhere...
We have a problem in this country with political correctness, and bringing women into the game is not the way to improve refereeing and officialdom. That's all true - we do have a problem with political correctness in Britain, and bringing women into the game of football isn't going to improve refereeing - but women haven't been "brought in" to satisfy a need for political correctness (if they had, then they'd be refereeing at a higher level and there would be more of them), and just because their introduction won't necessarily improve the standard of refereeing doesn't mean it will be detrimental to it. He's made hugely offensive comments and then tried to justify them with facts that don't have anything to do with his argument.
He's apologised.
what a jerk
Of course he's apologised. I'm sure his comments went fine when he tossed them off* to his three mates at the pub, but they sound way stupider when they're reprinted in every paper (and sports-themed blog) across the planet. I almost just wish he'd continue to stand defiant. If you're going to be a neanderthal, then fucking represent for neanderthals. *double-entendre totally intended
Wow what An IDiOT
I wonder if he has an opinion about female sports agents?!
this guy is a neomaxizoomdweebie
