Graham Poll

I received this book as a gift, and I was not really sure what to expect. Though I have a few complaints (noted below), I was pleasantly surprised with the book. It's a quick read (one that can be read in a single evening), but is actually rather interesting at times.

Poll, a former referee at the highest levels of competition, takes us through a set of controversial decisions in World Cups, including his own blunder in 2006 - where he issued three yellow cards to a player before sending him off. In trying to understand and evaluate each decision, Poll provides an interesting window into the decision making process for a referee, including how they apply the rules while also trying to fit with the perceived flow of the game.

What's more is that Poll puts a number of persistent myths in the press to bed in this book. Well, he should have put them to bed, but the errors are unceasing. As Poll rightly notes, many commentators talk about the rules in terms of a set of truisms which are not so true (e.g., the distinction between a handball being "ball to hand" or "hand to ball," the requirement that a player be sent off in certain cases, etc.). The rules of the game are rather spartan, and the confusion in the press between what the rules state and what tradition seems to indicate leads to a great deal of unwarranted criticism of the referees. I enjoyed reading Poll's clear descriptions of these errors.

That said, the book is not without its flaws. While one certainly does not come to a work like this with high expectations for stylistic flair, the style can be grating at times. It is written in a conversational style, but this means that there are cases of repetitive phrasings and sentences and musings that don't seem to go anywhere. Further, the book is also padded out a bit. Each chapter closes with a number of pages of short anecdotes and various facts. While some of the anecdotes belong here, many of the "soccer facts" are out of place, sometimes only tangentially connecting to theme of the chapter.

The discussion is also not terribly reflective. In a few places Poll points out that we cannot conclude what the results of a match would have been had a controversial call not been made. Yet, when the occasion suits him, he does write as if one can do this (case in point, his conclusion that his three yellow card blunder did not change the outcome, as it was 2-2 before it, and 2-2 after it). Or, he often talks about cases where it is justified to bend the rules a bit to ensure "natural justice," but without much discussion of what he takes natural justice on the pitch to be.

Despite these shortcomings, if you have an interest in soccer, the rules by which it is played, and the way those rules are applied, this is worth the few hours it will take you to read.… (altro)