Ring of Truth

Many sport stars are given an unfair reputation for being slightly thick at times. There are actually plenty of bright and intelligent athletes and players but make no mistake, there are loads of muppets. A classic example today. Florent Malouda took around three minutes to remove his wedding ring in the first half of the game and had to stay off the pitch until he could get it off. Had Everton scored during that period and I was Carlo Ancelotti, I would have been absolutely furious with Malouda. Rules prohibiting jewellery on the football pitch are hardly new – heck I remember it being one of the first things I was told when I was a junior. As you can see in the picture, front row second from the left, no sign of any rings or necklaces on junior Bobby….just a goofy Everton sweatband.

It also reminded me of one of the funniest comments I have heard while working on a Champions League game. On the morning of all matches in UEFA competitions, an organisational meeting is held between officials and team representatives. One of the instructions from the referee is to ask the representatives to remind their players that jewellery on the pitch is forbidden. The referee at one particular game asked the club representatives to tell the players to just think of it as going to a nightclub and that should help them remember to take their rings off!

I have mentioned in a previous blog that I would hate to be a referee and I have absolute respect for those that do it. I have met a fair few referees and I have yet to come across a bad guy. Seeing them after the games is a real eye opener in that they are physically and mentally more drained than the players. I love having a degree of intensity and pressure in my daily life, but every decision they make is under huge scrutiny and they are only human after all….despite what people say. Knowing you are going to have a coach hammering you after the match, fans screaming obscenities at you during the game, and if you read the newspapers or the internet, you may well be the headline act….that cannot be easy. What does not help is players blatantly trying to cheat, being disrespectful and vehemently complaining about things when so many times they are in the wrong. I would have loved to have seen what would have happened had Everton scored when Malouda was off the pitch and he would have had nobody to blame other than himself.