Ex-Fifa official lambasts governing body after ‘supercharged’ Liverpool news
Liverpool and the rest of the Premier League should not be fooled by the PGMOL’s new Elite Referee Development Plan, according to Keith Hackett.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Premier League and Fifa referee and former head of the PGMOL claimed the plan is “reinventing the wheel”.
Simon Jones, who has been working with the PGMOL on the new plan, revealed via LinkedIn last week (1 Juky) new details.
He revealed it includes the “supercharging” of coaching to build a roster of coaches to help maintain the Premier League’s status as the best league in the world.
Asked for his response to the new details, Hackett told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley: “I smile at it.
“The reason I raise it is, this is what we were doing. There’s nothing new here.
“First of all, let’s look back. I introduced sports science with Professor Matt Weston, we covered aspects of a lifestyle change. We commissioned Loughborough University to create a nutrition book that was referee specific.
“I brought in sports psychology to look at body language, how you could reduce pressure, improve interaction.
“A vision scientist, to look at peripheral vision and depth of vision. Then we had a sprint coach to improve the sprinting.
“Those of the things we introduced alongside the feed-in from biomechanics. We used modern technology, we used ProZone which was used by all the big clubs.
“We then had a group of qualified coaches coaching the referees. On those regular meeting we would analyse decisions and discuss those decisions. If need be, we would use experts, the ones that I’ve mentioned, in that discussion to come to conclusion.
“We were that good that we had referees from Australia and New Zealand come across and they went on to become World Cup referees.
“What have they done in recent years to not maintain that? The worst thing they did was get rid of seven absolutely top-quality coaches. Mike Riley dumped them and that was his biggest mistake. It wasn’t even handled well in terms of how he got rid of him.
“They are going back to zero, they are reinventing the wheel.”
In other news, a Liverpool 21-year-old has agreed terms with a Premier League club.