Poll and Halsey's Childish Row Should Be Beneath Us All

Reasoned debate is often quite hard to find on the Internet, especially when it comes to football. Polite discussion is rare, cogent arguments are not often allowed to be formed and exchanges of views frequently become slanging matches that contain more insults than salient points.

We've all seen our share of undignified rows on the Internet, on TV, in print or on the radio, but the discussion around football may well have reached a new low on Tuesday.

If you were fortunate enough to miss it, former referee-turned-pundit Graham Poll was on the radio station talkSPORT, where he criticised former referee-turned-pundit Mark Halsey over assorted claims made in the latter's book.

Poll said:

"

He is 100 per cent betraying what paid him a living, which he would never have earned as the warehouse manager he was or the taxi driver he was. The refereeing fraternity are absolutely appalled at what he is doing. He hasn’t thought it through

I think it is absolutely appalling. Mark has got to take a long, hard look at himself. He won’t. I know the guy. I have known him for years. He is that type of character I’m afraid. I would never buy the book and I hope lots of people don’t as well.

"

Poll wasn't done there either; not satisfied with calling his erstwhile colleague out for actions after his refereeing career ended, he chose to bring up actions before he'd hung up his whistle.

"

The sensible thing would be to ignore him. It is what people did at the referees’ camp for a long time when he used to turn up with his Bolton kit to train rather than the kit that we all had on.

He had a squad number at Bolton and we were told what to wear to train as a group, and he ignored that and was on his own. Maybe he is getting back at people.

"

Childish barely covers it. Alas, when one irritated ex-official calls out another, the slighted one felt the need to reply.

Halsey, also on talkSPORT  but reported here by The Guardian, said:

"

I've not let the profession down. If anybody is letting the profession down, some of his comments over the years have been atrocious.

I found that 'unfitting' from him what he's come out with. But that's Graham. We don't get on and I don't like the way he's done things over the years.

"

One could trawl through Poll's old columns for The Daily Mail to find similar examples of when he has criticised members of his profession. One could provide a sensible argument about Halsey's conduct and that the contents of the autobiography are perhaps not ideal, or unwise, or indeed offensive. But to do so would be a colossal waste of time and expend more energy than this petty squabble deserves.

talkSPORT  listeners were invited to vote on who they thought had 'won' this exchange of views. But unfortunately, they were only given options to vote for either 'Halsey' or 'Poll', rather than 'Nobody' or 'Don't be so ridiculous' or 'We all lose in this utterly sorry episode.'

The fact that referees are even pundits is a profoundly depressing thing, as is the notion that a man employed to ensure the rules of football are adhered to is apparently worthy of an autobiography; but when two retired officials air their own petty grievances in public, and we are supposed to care and/or take sides is doubly so.

It is often said of referees that if they are doing their job properly on the pitch then we should not notice them. How much more true that is of those who are no longer referees.