I, Referee

Martin Atkinson has consistently shown himself as one of the worst referees in the Premiership. He is much too quick with the yellow and reds and affects games, which in my mind has always been what officials should do their best not to do. After the numerous fiascos in the 2010 World Cup and some very questionable calls in the Champions League last year (lest we forget the absurd second yellow for Van Persie) together with all the bad calls in the Premiership (with many going against Arsenal, I can't help but mention), isn't it really time to do somethings about the refs who too often influence matches: 


1. Institute some kind of technology to deal with goal line decisions (poor old England and the goal that never was against Germany stands out), 
2. Tell refs to err on the side of caution (not giving cards unless a game is out of hand) -- this was clearly not the case in what was shaping up as a good darby between Everton and Liverpool. Everton was in fact playing very positive football before Rodwell was given a red for a ball he won and where Suarez seemed to overact the aftereffect of. The replay made it clear it probably wasn't even a yellow. Arsenal has had a draw and loss (to Newcastle and Liverpool) that were heavily influenced by reds. 
3. I really think technology should be used on off-sides. Too many bad offsides calls affect games. Arsenal has had several important goals disallowed in the past two campaigns and one could argue that both Liverpool goals were offsides in week 2. 
4. Referees should talk to their assistants before they make huge calls. I saw this recently in a Champions League game and it led to the right decision. Once the red card is out, or the penalty spot pointed to, it's too late to do anything but piss off the team and fans who get screwed. Liverpool won the game 2-0 and maybe would have won anyway, but we will never know. Again these bad calls too often come in the biggest matches and that is exactly what should be avoided. 

P.S. Well, I just watched parts of the Newcastle Wolves match and again the refs had a lot to say about the result. There was what looked like a penalty right before halftime turned into a free kick right outside the box and then a disallowed goal that looked like it should have counted.  
P.P.S. The first goal for Tottenham was close yesterday, but it did look a lot like Van der Vaart used his hand (or upper arm) to control the ball. And when we add this to all the bad calls Arsenal has been getting over the past several seasons, if really does call into question why everyone in the world seems to be against this team (the media, the refs, ex-players, other clubs and even their own former stars). A good analysis showed that Arsenal would have finished second in the league but for all the wrong calls last year: Ideal Table (and another more detailed analysis of some games is here - Bleacher Report). Really if we pinpoint two huge errors, I think it is reasonable to argue the absurd red card against Van Persie and the bad calls in the Newcastle comeback played an equally big role as the Carling Cup loss in leading to our late season collapse and the ultimate dismantling of the team. Not that any of this matters really, but I do think it's time to try to do something about bad refereeing. It really is a problem and decides far too many games.