Howard Webb returns to England after heading up MLS to sort out Premier League referees as Mike Riley replacement
HOWARD WEBB wants to bring a touch of American spirit to English football.
After six years in charge of MLS refs in the States, the former Premier League official has been tasked with fixing the problems back home.
Webb, who took charge of the 2010 World Cup final, will oversee the top four tiers as the first ever chief refereeing officer at PGMOL, the body which manages officials in English football.
He is stepping into the role later this year after managing director Mike Riley steps down.
Webb, speaking in America, laid out how he wants to bring some of MLS’ transparency and open-mindedness across the pond.
The 51-year-old said: “The successes we’ve had in most cases here is about being able to communicate a bit more.
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“In terms of the way officials are coached, it looks pretty similar all over the world.
“It’s just then how you are able to engage with the other stakeholders. That’s when you need to do what you can to show what happens.”
PGMOL have already started to pull back the curtain, with VAR official Mike Dean being allowed a weekly newspaper column and Prem ref Anthony Taylor interviewed on a podcast last season.
Webb said: “When you see these referees you see these are professional people who care about the game. They are desperate to be a positive influence.
“The more you draw the curtain back and humanise officials, the better.”
It would not necessarily mean seeing referees quizzed after every game, however.
Webb added: “It’s quite a tricky balance sometimes to know when to speak publicly about a situation.”
In America, Webb’s organisation reviews and uploads some incidents to their website, including recordings of discussions between refs and assistants, for all to see and hear.
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English referees are considered some of the best in the world from Webb’s vantage point in the USA, but back home, their reputation is in the gutter.
Things have become so bad that Bristol City boss Nigel Pearson claimed recently that he has considered quitting due to the standard of officiating, which he said was at an “all time low’. Webb does not want to rip things up and start again but acknowledges he will be expected to improve things.
He said: “I need time to evaluate it. But of course, the reason you bring somebody in is to secure improvement on what already happens.”
The Yorkshireman is a strong advocate for VAR and will explore the use of semi-automated offside technology, which is to be trailed in the Champions League and at the Qatar World Cup this year.
While the ex-police officer is a fan of VAR, there is frustration when it gets too picky.
He said: “One of the things that we found at the very start is that the VARs were wanting to get too involved.
“We had to do intensive training to sort of say, ‘No, just come back a little bit’.”
He feels there should not be a heavy reliance on VAR.
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Webb said: “Don’t get too hung up about VAR, good officiating starts in the field.”
One thing which has aided Webb’s work in MLS is the more open-minded approach to changing parts of the game.
There has been great success Stateside in increasing the amount of time the ball is in play and he is not afraid to challenge the stuffy nature of English football.
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Webb said: “I would think the biggest conversation we have at the moment in MLS is around effective match time.
“There’s a range of options on the table, including 60- minute games with a countdown clock. Why not?”