Howard Webb has said he wants more openness about decision-making after taking over as chief referee in the Premier League.
Webb, a former Premier League official who took charge of the 2010 World Cup Final, left his role at Major League Soccer’s Professional Refereeing Organization to return to England, taking over as director of refereeing at PGMOL from from December 1st.
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“My biggest role is to take some of the learning from my time away from the English game, apply some of that in terms of mentoring and training and try to change the perception a little bit and be more transparent, more open,” he said. Webb said. “Not everything we did in Major League Soccer will work here, it’s a different environment, but some things will.
“We want to engage with people and manage expectations a little better than I think could have been done before and be receptive to feedback.”
Webb added, “As it stands at the moment, there’s clearly a sense that the perception could be better and the level of transparency could be better.”
The audio between the VAR and the referee is released by MLS every week, and while it won’t happen right away in the Premier League, it’s something Webb is working on.
“Hopefully we get to the point where we can share some of the audio,” Webb said. “Even if people don’t necessarily agree with the final decision, people can understand the process and logic and be much more accepting of the decision.
“We’re not going to satisfy and please everyone, some decisions divide opinion. You have clearly right decisions and clearly wrong decisions, and then this gray zone of subjectivity where people form an opinion.”
Webb replaces Mike Riley as part of an overhaul of PGMOL, the governing body of refereeing in England. A new leadership group also includes Danielle Every (Director of Operations), Dr. Steve McNally (Director of Performance Support) and former Bristol City, Swindon Town and Tranmere Rovers striker Dr. Wayne Allison (Coaching Director), who will implement the elite referee development plan to improve standards.
Former rugby league referee and video officer Phil Bentham was also appointed VAR manager for the Premier League.
Webb hopes the changes he is implementing will give referees the confidence to stand by their decision on VAR review when necessary. The Premier League said that of VAR’s 48 interventions this season, six were incorrect; this could have been avoided if the referee had rejected the review on monitor.
“I saw the benefits of Phil coming to really work on his communication,” Webb said. “We’ll probably be in a world at some point where that communication will be made available, no problem, as we have nothing to hide. And the level of professionalism and the way they communicate is already very good.
“My job is to get as much information out there to make sure we have the most consistency around the question VARs are being asked to ask themselves: Was it clearly wrong. They’ll get that opinion right more often than not, but occasionally they might put it down. bad and that’s why the referee has to have the right when he gets to the screen to say ‘thank you, I appreciate the opportunity but in my opinion I didn’t make a clear and obvious mistake’ So that’s where we have to do a lot of the management. “
Webb also said that PGMOL is looking forward to creating a better path for former players to become referees; two current Premier League managers started out as professional players before switching to refereeing, Simon Hooper (Swindon) and Darren England (Barnsley).
“It’s a great way to stay involved in the game and we have to see how we get people into the refereeing,” explained Webb. “We always strive to involve former players. I’m sure someone will want to be a trailblazer, someone who has played in the Football League.
“I don’t expect players who have played at the highest level and have other opportunities to come into it. But someone who has had a decent career and has a good knowledge of the game. Maybe in their late 20s, suffering from injury or whatever, I think. that there’s an opportunity for someone to really break through and we’ll welcome them wholeheartedly, with the skills they’ve picked up in their playing career, as long as they have the other skills needed to become successful.
“You can’t ignore the base experience you need, but you can credit what they already have in experience in the game, playing or whatever their role is, and build on that as quickly as possible and get them there as quickly as possible. as possible. as possible, and that will attract people.”
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