In defence of Jon Moss

On the 12th February, Bournemouth AFC asked the FA to launch an investigation against Premier League Referee, Jon Moss, over his conduct during their game at Sheffield United a week ago.

Cherries midfielder Dan Gosling says that Moss “Showed zero respect” with “sarky comments” and was a “disgrace” throughout the game. According to Gosling, Moss kept reiterating that his team were “one of those games” and would tell players that Bournemouth “are still in the relegation zone”. Gosling finished his statement by saying “The Officials talk about respect at the start of the season there was zero from Jon Moss on Sunday. I think he should really come out and apologise because I thought he was a disgrace."

And this is where I have a big problem with this whole shenanigan. Throughout the footballing world it is more than clear, that being a Referee is not the most enjoyable job, you get stick and a lot of it, from pundits and fans alike but mostly from the players around the referee. You go to nearly any game in England and I’m pretty confident that on at least one occasion during the game the Referee will be swarmed by played and you’ll be able to hear more than one verbal f*** off. The majority of Referees get verbally attacked week in week out and that’s my point, there’s barely a single Premier League footballer that has a leg to stand on when it comes to all out respect towards a Referee.

I don’t know if Gosling’s allegations are true and I do understand that Referees are held at a high esteem in terms of professionalism so if true, then I understand that he shouldn’t have said anything, but when you’re bombarded with expletives and have 11 athletes screaming at you over a period of 90 minutes, I can understand a slip up. I do hope this case will push football towards a more Rugby style in terms of officiating, where the Referees are to be talked to with respect or you’re off, because we all know that the way Officials are treated in Football is basically the dark ages.

So yeah, Gosling’s right, if his allegations are true, Moss should apologise, when Gosling apologises to every Referee he’s screamed at and verbally attacked.