Your opinions.....

[AWK]

Not sure if I should post this here but what the heck.

 

Today Luton lost at home to QPR, running the line was Amy Rayner, who was poor and somehow managed to miss two blatant penalties. Mike Newell though came out with the following statement:

 

Newell said: "She should not be here. I know that sounds sexist, but I am sexist, so I am not going to be anything other than that.

 

"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.

 

"It is absolutely beyond belief. When do we reach a stage when all officials are women, because then we are in trouble?

 

"It is bad enough with the incapable referees and linesmen we have, but if you start bringing in women, you have big problems.

 

"This is Championship football. This is not park football, so what are women doing here? It is tokenism, for the politically-correct idiots.''

 

Mike has been a great manager for us but he needs to concentrate on turning Luton around and not deflecting the blame, I have a feeling his latest comments are going to get him in a lot of trouble for which he has only himself to blame.

[HTFCew]

Think he may be over-reacting a tad there. I've heard bad reports of Ms Rayner before, but not of any other female officials.

What percentage of officials are women? Think I've seen only one in the past 5 years at Hertford, so it might take a few more years before we take over the game completely.

Why didn't the ref spot the 2 blatant pens? Was "he" not keeping up with play?

[AWK]

Because the ref was Andy D'Urso who is the most useless ref on the planet.

[Rhodes]

Quote:

AWK said:
I have a feeling his latest comments are going to get him in a lot of trouble for which he has only himself to blame.

Er where have I heard that before. A lot of people speak in the heat of the moment and this sounds like one of those occasions, he probably had a microphone thrust under his nose at 4.50 when he was at his most vulnerable and as you say he'll be regretting those comments this morning.

[AWK]

Apparently he made the comments at 6pm, obviously still hadn't calmed down by then.

 

Mike normally shots from the hip, and a lot of what he says is right but still can get him in trouble but I can't agree with him on this, yes the "assistant referee" was poor and a woman, but she wasn't poor because she was a woman. She wasn't even the worst oficial on the pitch!!

[Lato]

I saw one of the penalty decisions on the Championship. It looked a bit iffy but I've seen them given for less than that. Perhaps more questionable was the decision to award a corner from which QPR equalised. However the defending forthe second and third QPR goals should perhaps be of more concern to Mr Newell.

[AWK]

All three goals conceeded were from our inability to defend set peices, it has been happening all season yet still nothing has been done about it. We lost the match from our own failings not that of the officials.

 

Even if it wasn't a corner for the equaliser, officals do make mistakes but you have to deal with the situation rather than deflect the blame.

[Rhodes]

AWK - I see that the topic is all over the sports news like a rash today and was subject for discussion on '606' although why they have that DJ Spooney or whatever his name is hosting it I don't know, what has he got to do with the beautiful game.

[AWK]

I'm not surprised, it was a daft thing to say and I also hear that the FA are looking into it <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Rhodes]

AWK - What's the score with Mike Newell now, is he definitely keeping his job. I think it was very much a case of the board giving him a slap on the wrist in public and in the press but behind closed Kenilworth Road doors he got a pat on the back for simply saying what everyone else was thinking.

[HTFCew]

I think he was called in to see the board due to the comments he made about his chairman.

 

You seem to agree with what he said judging by your last comment.

[AWK]

As HTFCew rightly points out Newell also made some remarks against the Luton chairman as well so I doubt if he would have had much of a pat on the back.

 

Basically the board distanced themselves from Mike's comments (on women in football) and gave him a rollocking and a warning over his future conduct.

 

They also issued a statement saying that Mike has apologised and thanks the board for their continued support and backing, but it wasn't the board he had a go at, just the Chairman who he doesn't like.

 

Just a normal week in the mad world of Luton Town, remind me to tell you of the story of John Gurney one day!!!!

[HTFCew]

I saw a documentary about Luton Town a few years ago - I'm sure Mr Gurney featured in it!

[AWK]

Yes there was a documentary which involved Gurney, he had a vision of building us two football grounds, one of which would be on stilts and have a formula one track underneath it.

 

He wanted to merge us with MK Dons and call us London Luton Town FC.

[Rhodes]

Quote:

HTFCew said:
You seem to agree with what he said judging by your last comment.

HTFCew - Well doesn't everyone.

[Lato]

Quote:

Rhodes said:

Quote:

HTFCew said:
You seem to agree with what he said judging by your last comment.

HTFCew - Well doesn't everyone.

So Rhodes are you saying you agree with Mr Newell's views on female officials then?

[Rhodes]

Lato - Don't you!

[HTFCew]

That's 2 direct questions you have answered with questions instead of answers.

 

 

Is this all you could come up with in your night time ramblings - trying to stir it with Alfie / PBT, and attempted humour on here?

[Rhodes]

HTFCew - You have clearly got out of bed the wrong side again, in answer to the original question I do agree with Mike Newell's view as it happens, not so much about Women Referee's as they are more than welcome in the beautiful game but, in my opinion, not at that level where the stakes are enormous and they will always be open to scrutiny, ridicule and abuse in what is still an old fashioned 'male environment' at the end of the day.

[Lato]

I think the quality of the decison making capability of the official is what is important..not the gender. Its a very easy thing to criticise a female official because of the fact she is a woman which effectively what Mr Newell was doing. As I said previously he should concentrate more on the chronic defending of his team as that had more to do with the goals they conceded in the said match.