Mark Clattenburg back in action as union warns over growing criticism

Posted Wednesday, March 09, 2011 by theguardian.com

• High-profile decisions have led to public criticism of officials
• Clattenburg at the centre of controversy in consecutive games

Mark Clattenburg back in action as union warns over growing criticism
Mark Clattenburg's failed to send off Wayne Rooney for an apparent use of his elbow against Wigan.

Mark Clattenburg returns to the spotlight on Thursday night when he takes charge of the Europa League round of 16 tie between FC Twente and Zenit St Petersburg in the Netherlands amid a warning from the head of the referees' union that constant criticism of officials will ultimately drive them out of the game.

Clattenburg's performances have come under scrutiny after controversial decisions on consecutive weekends, prompting reports that he will take a month's break from Premier League action to escape the opprobrium. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case, although there is only one round of Premier League games between his last match, at Craven Cottage on Saturday, and the start of April because of the FA Cup quarter-finals and international matches taking place this month.

Professional Game Match Officials Limited will confirm their appointments for the Premier League games on 19-20 March on Monday and have given no indication at this stage that Clattenburg will not be considered. The 35-year-old is, however, one of 16 select group officials that take charge of Premier League games and, as a result, it is entirely possible his name will be omitted from the next set of league fixtures to give him some respite.

Having come under fire for failing to punish Wayne Rooney for elbowing Wigan Athletic's James McCarthy 11 days ago, Clattenburg was once again the centre of attention last weekend, after he gave Fulham a contentious late penalty against Blackburn Rovers. With Mark Halsey enduring a difficult afternoon at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday and Sir Alex Ferguson's attack on Martin Atkinson still fresh in the mind, there is a feeling that officials have taken more than their fair share of flak in recent weeks.

Alan Leighton, head of the referees' union, Prospect, is concerned that relentless criticism will lead to officials quitting. "There is a feeling of being beleaguered [among the officials]," said Leighton. "These are people who are used to pressure day in and day out – it's not like they're some kind of weaklings who can't take it. But at this time of the season, we're getting to a stage where it becomes very difficult for anybody to sensibly do a job. I think more and more referees will get to a stage of thinking: "Do I really want to put up with this?'"

Leighton did, however, take some encouragement from a few managerial comments on the weekend. "There were a couple of signs that people had seen what Ferguson had done [with his criticism of Atkinson] and thought: 'Actually, I'm going to moderate this.' Steve Kean [the Blackburn manager] and [the Wolves manager] Mick McCarthy, who felt they were on the wrong end of decisions, managed to conduct themselves in a way that said: 'Look, the referee's a got a difficult job', I thought that was quite telling."

Leighton, though, remains disappointed with Ferguson's remarks at Chelsea last week as well as Arsène Wenger's comments after Arsenal's goalless draw against Sunderland on Saturday.

"It would be nice if some managers recognise when they slag off a referee for having missed something, that they actually benefited from things that weren't seen in a previous game," he said.

"Both Arsène Wenger and Ferguson totally missed the point that while they were slagging off the referees for something they've supposedly missed, there were incidents in their previous games that they could be considered to have benefitted from. In the Arsenal versus Birmingham game [in the Carling cup final], the Arsenal goalkeeper could have been sent off after two minutes."