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Alan Wiley, the official accused by Sir Alex Ferguson of not being fit enough to referee, ran farther than all but four Manchester United players during the 94 minutes of the game against Sunderland.
The FA has written to Ferguson asking him to explain his comments about Wiley by next Tuesday. The United manager could yet be charged with improper conduct.
Before he composes his reply, the Scot may want to consider that Wiley, The Times has learnt, outdistanced the average player in the 2-2 draw on Saturday by 205.8 metres. Refereeing officials believe that Wiley’s official ProZone statistics from the match at Old Trafford “100 per cent” disprove Ferguson’s claims that the Staffordshire referee “just wasn’t fit enough”.
Wiley covered 11,039.1 metres, the eighth farthest of any individual on the pitch. “Eighth is entirely credible,” a refereeing source said yesterday. “He had a bloody good game.”
ProZone shows that only four United players and three from Sunderland ran farther than Wiley, 49. His average distance from the ball was 17.7 metres. Elite referees in England are allowed an average of up to 20 metres.
Concern is growing among the close-knit refereeing fraternity about the long-term effects of constant criticism from managers, especially Ferguson. Several leading referees, including Graham Poll and Mike Riley, have retired in recent years in part because of the persistent sniping.
“They’re getting sick of it,” a senior refereeing source said last night. “Ferguson is the past master. It deflects any criticism from his team and players and he succeeds every time. Why doesn’t he just talk to the match delegate?”
The Times has also discovered that Wiley’s fitness was assessed more recently than most of his colleagues in the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) select group of referees. The officials take a challenging test of their fitness twice a year and if they fail either they are not permitted to referee.
Wiley was on holiday in July and was not tested until August. Since he passed, his level of fitness is, in theory, less questionable than those of younger referees, despite the fact that he is the oldest of the group.
Wiley had been “very upset” at first, according to Dermot Gallagher, the former referee who was his mentor when he joined the select group in 1999. “He is the most competitive guy that I have ever met in my life,” Gallagher said. “I used to think that I was one of the fittest Premier League referees and if he thought I could run a yard more than him in training it would break his heart.
“He really is the consummate professional. Of all the referees that someone could lay this criticism at, it really is the wrong one. It is a massive sting to your pride, especially for someone who really does pride himself on looking after himself.
“I thought he had a fantastic game, I really did. I really do think it was a comment that can’t be substantiated.”
Expert evidence confirms the referees’ opinion. “Ferguson is creating a doubt in people’s minds over the fitness of Alan Wiley where none probably existed,” Dr Martin Roderick, a member of the sport, health and policy research group at the University of Durham and a former Kettering Town midfield player, said.
“One of the only givens we have about the body is that it does deteriorate with time; there is a well-understood age at which referees know their time is running out. But I don’t think there was anything in what Ferguson was saying.
“The game ebbs and flows and everybody on the pitch will be more or less exhausted at various times. Alan Wiley, like an older player such as Teddy Sheringham, will have learnt to play the game his way, to understand the patterns of the game — where they can take a breather and when he really needs to keep up. A younger, less experienced referee will tend to run more.”
Roderick’s view is supported by a study undertaken in 2008 by PGMOL and sport scientists in Italy and Switzerland, using data on the performance of 22 referees aged between 31 and 48 in 778 Premier League matches over four seasons.
The findings suggested that older referees were able to use experience to cover for the loss of a yard or so of pace. Despite covering less ground and performing fewer sprints, referees in the 43-48 age group were able to maintain an average distance from fouls that was comparable to that recorded by the youngest referees.
Wiley has to pass the same strenuous pre and mid-season tests as Stuart Attwell, 26, the youngest of the elite referees. Stamina is tested by a 3,000-metre run that must be completed in less than 12 minutes.
Capacity for coping with change of pace is assessed by a test in which referees alternately run 150 metres and walk 50 metres, repeating the sequence 20 times. The 150-metre runs must be completed in 30 seconds, with 35 seconds allowed for the 50-metre walk.
Six 40-metre sprints must be completed in less than 6.20sec each — assistant referees have only 6.00, with only a minute’s rest between sprints. Referees can repeat one sprint if they fail to complete it within the time, but only one.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article6862416.ece
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Interesting reading !
The FA has written to Ferguson asking him to explain his comments about Wiley by next Tuesday. The United manager could yet be charged with improper conduct.
Before he composes his reply, the Scot may want to consider that Wiley, The Times has learnt, outdistanced the average player in the 2-2 draw on Saturday by 205.8 metres. Refereeing officials believe that Wiley’s official ProZone statistics from the match at Old Trafford “100 per cent” disprove Ferguson’s claims that the Staffordshire referee “just wasn’t fit enough”.
Wiley covered 11,039.1 metres, the eighth farthest of any individual on the pitch. “Eighth is entirely credible,” a refereeing source said yesterday. “He had a bloody good game.”
ProZone shows that only four United players and three from Sunderland ran farther than Wiley, 49. His average distance from the ball was 17.7 metres. Elite referees in England are allowed an average of up to 20 metres.
Concern is growing among the close-knit refereeing fraternity about the long-term effects of constant criticism from managers, especially Ferguson. Several leading referees, including Graham Poll and Mike Riley, have retired in recent years in part because of the persistent sniping.
“They’re getting sick of it,” a senior refereeing source said last night. “Ferguson is the past master. It deflects any criticism from his team and players and he succeeds every time. Why doesn’t he just talk to the match delegate?”
The Times has also discovered that Wiley’s fitness was assessed more recently than most of his colleagues in the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) select group of referees. The officials take a challenging test of their fitness twice a year and if they fail either they are not permitted to referee.
Wiley was on holiday in July and was not tested until August. Since he passed, his level of fitness is, in theory, less questionable than those of younger referees, despite the fact that he is the oldest of the group.
Wiley had been “very upset” at first, according to Dermot Gallagher, the former referee who was his mentor when he joined the select group in 1999. “He is the most competitive guy that I have ever met in my life,” Gallagher said. “I used to think that I was one of the fittest Premier League referees and if he thought I could run a yard more than him in training it would break his heart.
“He really is the consummate professional. Of all the referees that someone could lay this criticism at, it really is the wrong one. It is a massive sting to your pride, especially for someone who really does pride himself on looking after himself.
“I thought he had a fantastic game, I really did. I really do think it was a comment that can’t be substantiated.”
Expert evidence confirms the referees’ opinion. “Ferguson is creating a doubt in people’s minds over the fitness of Alan Wiley where none probably existed,” Dr Martin Roderick, a member of the sport, health and policy research group at the University of Durham and a former Kettering Town midfield player, said.
“One of the only givens we have about the body is that it does deteriorate with time; there is a well-understood age at which referees know their time is running out. But I don’t think there was anything in what Ferguson was saying.
“The game ebbs and flows and everybody on the pitch will be more or less exhausted at various times. Alan Wiley, like an older player such as Teddy Sheringham, will have learnt to play the game his way, to understand the patterns of the game — where they can take a breather and when he really needs to keep up. A younger, less experienced referee will tend to run more.”
Roderick’s view is supported by a study undertaken in 2008 by PGMOL and sport scientists in Italy and Switzerland, using data on the performance of 22 referees aged between 31 and 48 in 778 Premier League matches over four seasons.
The findings suggested that older referees were able to use experience to cover for the loss of a yard or so of pace. Despite covering less ground and performing fewer sprints, referees in the 43-48 age group were able to maintain an average distance from fouls that was comparable to that recorded by the youngest referees.
Wiley has to pass the same strenuous pre and mid-season tests as Stuart Attwell, 26, the youngest of the elite referees. Stamina is tested by a 3,000-metre run that must be completed in less than 12 minutes.
Capacity for coping with change of pace is assessed by a test in which referees alternately run 150 metres and walk 50 metres, repeating the sequence 20 times. The 150-metre runs must be completed in 30 seconds, with 35 seconds allowed for the 50-metre walk.
Six 40-metre sprints must be completed in less than 6.20sec each — assistant referees have only 6.00, with only a minute’s rest between sprints. Referees can repeat one sprint if they fail to complete it within the time, but only one.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article6862416.ece
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Interesting reading !
