Betting and the referees (part 7)
I’m looking at foreign referees who we might well see in the remaining Champions League and UEFA Cup games.
ROBERTO ROSETTI. (ITALY).
Roberto is probably the Top Honcho in Italian refereeing circles. However, just think who he has to follow. Easily recognizable, as he is 6ft 3in tall.
Aged 41 he will be around for some time yet.
His home town is Turin. Away from the football field he is a Hospital (Physiotherapist) Director.
He began refereeing in 1983 and gradually made his way up to Serie A in 1996.
He was awarded his FIFA badge in 2002.
He was chosen as a replacement for Massimo de Santis for the 2006 World Cup. de Santis being implicated in the bribery scandal that shook the soccer world. In addition he was amongst the "Chosen" for the Euro 2008. In fact he was the "Man in the Middle for the final. He is also pre-selected for the 2010 World Cup Finals.
It’s no good swearing under your breath, either. He’s fluent also in English and French. Before looking at his "figures" it should be remembered that the Italian League have a larger pool of referees than the Premiership, so the refrees aren’t used as regularly as they are over here.
His 4 year mark-up average wouldn’t be out of place at the top of the Premiership 4 year table. In fact it would be "top of the pile". 31 games 135 yellows 9 reds for a mark-up of 50.8. His yellow card average this season is 5.08 against 5.15 for last season. He is fairly consistent with the red cards averaging a little under 2 cards every 7 games. His "cards per game" in this seasons Champions League stands at 8.1
His reputation for being "firm but fair" is clearly borne-out by his statistics.
FRANK de BLEECKERE. (BELGIUM).
Frank had ambitions to be a professional footballer until, aged 18 he was badly injured. he then decided that he’d do the next best thing.
He was born in 1966 in Oudenaard. His main occupation is that of public Relations Manager. What could be more appropriate?
His hobbies include, golf, tennis, running and squash. So fitness is never a problem for him.
He worked his way up the ladder until making it onto the FIFA List in 1998.
His first International match was a WORLD CUP qualifier in 2001.
Since then he has established himself as one of the top referees in Europe. he had officiated in all the major European tournaments.
He has been preselected for 2010 World Cup.
His style is similar to that of an old favourite of mine, Gordon Hill (’66-’75). Sounds like All our Yesterdays, doesn’t it?
Gordon loved to chat with the players rather than keep using his whistle Of course the players would have things to say to him. So he would wait until the player made a mistake and then he’d really rub bit in. Naturally he was a favourite with the player. Frank has the same outlook
Unfortunately, up-to-date figures are not available. The only stats at hand are 2006 World Cup.
4 games – 19 yellows and 0 reds.
I am going to leave this topic for now and try to find out just who will actually be refereeing the Champions League and UEFA Cup quarter-finals.
Instead I hope this little discourse may be of interest.
During my too many years as a betting shop manager, I came to look forward to the middle of March as it was the time when settling football coupons became decidedly easier. Until this time in the season football coupons were a real chore. You’d check thru’ maybe eight or nine results and just as you were thinking you might have a winner, the loser would pop up. All that work for nothing. It really became a bore when you had forty or more coupons to check.
Then came the change around. Suddenly the loser would pop up within the first three or four selections. When this happened with almost every coupon, it saved a vast amount of time. The reason for this sudden change was the totally unexpected, on recent form, results. There were two this weekend. Fulham and ‘Spurs. I’ll bet they put out some 95% of football bets. The funny thing is it happens every season, yet the punters "miss" it almost every time.
This is the time of the season when you should NOT be backing the teams in the TOP or the BOTTOM six places in the table. Those at the top become a little complacent whilst those at the other end are fighting for their lives to stay up. Stick to the middle of the table were teams are playing with nothing more at stake than a bit of pride.
While it may make selection a little harder, the odds on offer will be a little bigger. Don’t forget, in these circumstances it’s always wise to check the Head-to-Head stats.They will often give you an "edge".
A good place to look is www.h2hstats.com
it’s a good site with plenty to offer.
