Johm Helm column: Respect? Manchester United and Chelsea just don’t get it!

May 13 2009 by Peter Barrow, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

THE word respect has always meant a lot to me.

It was drilled into me by my father at a very early age – probably when I tried to pinch my elder brother’s duck in the bath.

It’s a word that football has been trying to instil this season – with a notable lack of success.

Asking for managers and players to respect referees is like asking MPs to be honest in claiming allowances.

They just don’t get it.

The antics of Chelsea and Manchester United players last week highlighted yet again what charmless clubs they have become.

That is not a knee-jerk comment, it is a view I have held for a long time, and let me say immediately they are the only two clubs to whom I would apply that tag.

When Liverpool and Arsenal were at the top of the English game they retained humility and class – something sadly lacking at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge these days.

It’s not worth going over old ground so far as Didier Drogba is concerned. The man is a waste of space!

Hugely talented but the ranting and raving that comes with him guarantees a nomadic career.

What on earth were the club thinking about though allowing Frank Lampard and John Terry to stand up on his behalf?

His foul mouthed tirade into the lens of a live camera was indefensible.

Then we had Messrs Ronaldo and Tevez.

The Portuguese may be the best player in the world right now, but he is also the most petulant and Sir Alex Ferguson might ultimately be glad to pack him off to Real Madrid.

Tevez deserves some sympathy because he has been made to feel unwanted at United, but he should let his goals do the talking rather than two fingers.

The Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo was dreadful at Stamford Bridge last week – though I don’t agree with those who claim he should never have been appointed.

He has handled dozens of top games without a murmur of protest, but however provoked and frustrated players feel they simply cannot react in the way Chelsea's players did.

It reminded me of the incident at Middlesbrough when Roy Keane, Japp Stam et al surrounded the referee who, it transpired, had made a perfectly good call.