Gabriele Marcotti's daily diary: Webb is caught offside

3. Kobi Kuhn is not a managerial genius. He doesn't have a loud personality, doesn't hob-nob with billionaires, doesn't call himself special, doesn't appear in television adverts, doesn't live in a huge house with an indoor pool, doesn't glorify himself in a tabloid newspaper column, doesn't suck up to reporters by inviting them to his bar (in fact, he doesn't own a bar), doesn't own race-horses, doesn't plant his team's flag in the center-circle of his biggest rivals' stadium, doesn't have people talking about how passionate he is, doesn't urge players to kick opponents, doesn't give monosyllabic answers in press conferences, doesn't wear the same grey jumper and white button-down every day, doesn't send emails disrespecting fans of other clubs, doesn't walk out on his team in mid-season and doesn't whinge to the media when other teams want his player.  He was a very good footballer who played sixty-three times for his country.  And he is a manager who punched above his weight, getting Switzerland to Euro 2004 and Germany 2006.  But, most of all, he is a true gentleman.
With Switzerland now out of the competition, next week's clash with Portugal will be his last game ever.  Those who had the pleasure of knowing him, will miss him.  Those who didn't, could have learned something from him.

2.Croatia's win over Germany had far reaching implications (and not just because maybe - just maybe - some Steve McClaren bashers realise that Slaven Bilic's men are actually pretty good).  The best Germany can now do is finish second, which would set-up a mouth-watering quarterfinal clash with Portugal.  Which, in turn, means that one out of the pre-tournament favourites and the most exciting side in the competition will be crashing out early. Aaaah, the magic of knockout competitions.

1. If Howard Webb is the very best referee England can offer, it may be time to divert a few more funds from the Premier League's enormous TV contract to training match officials. The decision to allow Poland's goal against Austria to stand was simply absurd. And no, it's not enough to blame the linesman. The offside was so blatant you would expect a referee at this level to overrule his assistant.

Comments

[Gabriella]

Refs overrule linesmen all the time.

One good example is Sandor Puhl's offside call in the 94 WC final when his linesman didnt flag and the Romario would have been one on one with Gianluca Pagliuca at 0-0.

Replays showed that he made the correct call.

[Roy]

Webb had a good game. He could not be expected to over-rule his assistant form his position on a close call. It was the assistant's fault. The penalty decision was entirely right. The penalty-area wrestling that goes on at free kicks and corners is ridiculous. The only way to stop it is to penalise it. Referees are usually scared to penalise defenders who hold attackers, so congratulations to Howard Webb for doing so. It was a blatant foul.

[Bob]

The Polish goal wasnt offside. There was an Austrian substitute warming up behind the goal and he played everyone onside, or so FIFA tells us.

[luca]

Croatia's win underscores how well Bilic has done ... But it also shows how good England already are and how unlucky they were to have such a relatively unsuitable manager at the time ... Even if Capello had taken over at half-time against Croatia at Wembley, England would be playing in Euro 08 this weekend, because he would not have made those daft substitutions.

[KM]

Matt, why wasn't he "brave" throughout the whole match. Why was he "brave" only in the last minute?
I'm not saying that Poland should win. I am only saying Webb was not consequent, which makes him an unprofessional referee. There were many situations such as this one (fouls by both Austria and Poland, where according to UEFA rules, there should be a penalty kick) BUT he was turning a blind eye.
Yeah, SOOOO brave.

[Kris]

We played dreadfully in the begining but thigs oicked up in the seond half.

The ref's decision regarding the goal is a point for discussion but the penalty was absurd.

[John]

I have watched a LOT of football in my life, and the penalty for austria vs PL I'm stunned. Is this is the best referee from the UK -- I shudder to think what the worst English referee would be like.

And justifying his penalty call by saying that PL's goal was offside... where's the logic? It would only mean he's even WORSE by making TWO TERRIBLE CALLS.
Regards.

[john]

its a linesmans job to call the offside decisions, so of course he shouldnt have overrulled it! and actually i think he is a good ref, he keeps control of the game well and lets it flow, come to spain to see bad refs

[John]

I don't understand why UEFA keep picking English referees for international tournaments when everyone and his dog knows that they are the worst on the planet.

[David Bransby]

Howard is a first class honourable referee. His dedication and fitness is beyond any form of critisism. I'm 100% behind this top, top match official. Congratulations Howard on an excellent career.

[pawel]

Axex - relax, polish media are not denying there was offside. The problem with the penalty is consistency. It was 12 game of the Euro and only one such decision and in 93 minute. Even in this situation there was Austrian pushing and pulling Polish defender, and closer to the ball.

[voodooMadrid]

poland have been one of the more refreshing teams to watch in euro 2008 and the brazilian/polish wow what a player. england or italy does not produce skillfull players of this ilk.

[Chris]

Surely Webb should be praised by Poland for being totally aware of the rules and allowing their goal to stand, when most other people seem to think it was offside?
The penalty was entirely correct..it's just a shame that it seems wrong because so many of these correct decisions are NOT given.

[Gavin]

After watching the penalty award for Romania against Italy, me thinks that the refs in this tournament have been told to crack down on the wrestling in the box. Both were penalties. I wish more refs took the same stand, and maybe we wouldnt have defenders climbing all over attackers at corners and free kicks. Yes off-side, but Assistant is there for that reason, his error not Refs.

[Mike in LA]

I'm a huge fan of Gabriele, but he's just being dopey if he thinks that money for training will prevent poor officiating or missed calls. To get to the level that Webb is at, he has undoubtedly sat through many, many tedious referee training sessions. As a certified intermediate ref, I know I have.

The issue in evaluating a ref is not whether he missed a particular call. It's whether he was in the right position to observe, analyze, and instantly decide what to do, and repeat that throughout the match. Webb is generally excellent at that.

Oh, and he didn't give any of the Polish players three yellow cards. . .

[Peter]

Webb is a poor excuse for a referee. There were 2 goals in this game and both should have been disallowed. 1st goal - scored from an offside position. Penalty kick - you need to be consisnt, you can't start enforcing rules in 93rd minute if you have been ignoring them for the first 92 min.
I have too much respect for British futball to believe that Mr.Webb is the best referee that England can offer.

[Blub]

Van Nistelrooys goal and the Austrian penalty. These two "decisions" that have been so debated in the press, and by alleged "expert commentators" sum up the depths to which football has sunk.

Both were absolutely correct decisions and yet, people are queuing up (after being corrected by those who know the rules) to say "yes, but the ref should have disregarded the laws.....".

Is it any wonder that there is so little integrity left in the game?

[Chris]

Hi Gabrielle. If you want to retain the respect of your audience, stay out of such petty arguments, or at least get it right. The Poland goal call was perfectly justifiable and far from blatant even if it was interpreted offside (and there is a big grey area now). People like you should be above the "he's rubbish because I don't agree with him" brigade.

[Piotr Fedurek-Wroclaw Poland]

Firstly, the first goal was a clear offside and this disastrous decision had a huge impact on the game.

Secondly, the decision about giving a penalty in the last minute of injury time was even more scandalous.Lineker was right saying after the game that had referee been more consistent he should have given a penalty after every corner or set piece (and therefore one would expect on average 10 penalties in every premiere league game once "the Webb rule" is applied). HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT MY ENGLISH FRIENDS?

Thirdly, Poland deserved to lose 4:0.

[Stuart C]

My God the Poles are such bad losers. Their football fans, and politicians by the sounds of things, are even worse losers than the English! You've got to feel sorry for the ref that makes any big decision nowadays.

[Matt]

Marcotti - proves you know nothing about officiating nor about its machinations.

A referee to overrule his assistant at a major tournament?! The suggestion is pure fantasy. It is never done even in domestic leagues - the referees have to be seen in accordance even if the decision is wrong, and there was no way Webb was in a suitable position to see any potential offside. His job was to spot any infringements, etc in the box. He can't possibly be looking for offsides in addition.

And the way the ball was deflected to the Polish forward, it made it especially difficult, even for the assistant.

So no, the offside was not blatant enough to be called by Webb. And no, such an overrule will not happen at these tournaments.

--

"Webb - what a poor performance, what a disgrace! Pro-Austria all game long. And the penalty out of nothing in 93mins for co-host speaks volumes! - Posted by: slawek crake" - BORING.

Blame the referee, the easy way out, despite Poland playing dreadfully and being undeserving of three points. Boring team, loutish fans - and out of the Euros. Polish fans should admit that their goal was clearly offside and that the penalty for Austria was obvious.

[Jim in Virginia]

Both calls were correct, and indeed Webb WAS brave. The foul was blatant and deserved the spot shot.

[Nik]

It was offside - shot or pass from the first polish player, when he made contact with the ball he was interfering with play...or is scoring no longer deemed to be an interferance? Deflection doesnt make a difference, as it was a polish player that kicked it and deflections dont change the pass initiator relating to who kicked the ball or at what point the offside it determined at.

And about time blatently pulling a player down in the box was penalised.

[Axex]

Are the polish football rules different from FIFA rules? Those who argue that the goal was onside clearly have no clue or are brainwashed by partisan polish media.
There is no room for interpretation. This goal was 100% offisde. Arguing against is just plain stupid. Be happy you were awarded this goal and stop being cry-babies.

[RedDevil]

Plainly it was;

1 Offside, and a poor decision, most particularly by the assitant who is there precisely to address that sort of incident, and

2 It was a straightforward foul for the penalty. Stop either blaming the ref for giving it - it wasn't HIM who grabbed hold of an opponents shirt in the last minute of a game, and in his own penalty area at that, or accusing him of being 'brave'. He just did his job.

[bobdabilda]

We have all been advocating referee's taking a stand on the blatant mayhem that goes on in the box,but to do it in added time in such an important match was ludicrous. Shame on you Mr Webb.You could have done it in the first five minutes if you wanted to appear "brave"

[yankee]

if there was really a penalty, why the hell in premier league there aren't 5-8 penalty's per game?

[spod]

I don't think you can say he was blatantly offside. The shot was deflected off a defender, so you could argue that he was played onside.
The penalty's a sound decision too. Just because most defenders get away with tugging opponents, doesn't mean it's legal.

[Ireneusz Ptaszek]

The decision to allow Austria's goal against Poland to stand was even more absurd.

Poland's goal against Austria was OK - Saganowski was shooting at the goal, and not passing the ball to Guerreiro, so the fact that the other was off side is irrelevant.

[Yensei]

Yeah sorry guys, but there was no offside there - Saganowski (the polish attacker) was shooting on goal, which means he wasn't passing to Guerreiro - hence Guerreiro was not offside.

[slawek crake]

Webb - what a poor performance, what a disgrace! Pro-Austria all game long. And the penalty out of nothing in 93mins for co-host speaks volumes!