Customer Reviews

Seeing Red

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This book was a great read, couldn't hardly put it down and when I did I was anxiously awaiting a moment to get back to it. I have gained a whole bunch of respect for referees after reading this, didn't realize how much pressure they are under to be at top form. I have also learned so much about the game after reading this book. No doubt this is a must read for football (soccer) fans old and new.

It took me the better part of a year to finish this book because I kept getting annoyed and putting it down. This is not a how-to-be-a-referee book. It is a very personal biography by a top-flight professional soccer referee. Mr Poll has been a controversial figure in English soccer for many years. He has earned much of the controversy by his own attitude, which has been described by some as arrogant. This book does not dispel that claim (although he tries). What annoyed me to no end was this attempt to portray himself as a man who strives for excellence and is made to suffer for it by an unfeeling, unappreciative, and less-than-perfect world.

Having played and coached in a large metropolitan competitive league when I was a younger man, there are two things I can state with absolute certainty: (1) Regardless of what players and coaches may say or how they may act, in the end they are both grateful for and appreciative of competent and dedicated referees; (2) I have no recollection of any player or coach (including junior league) every voicing a desire to become a referee. Having said that, I can only admire Mr Poll's drive and dedication to be the best at a thankless but absolutely necessary job.

This book opens and closes with Mr Poll's most notorious career episode: the 3 yellow cards issued to the same player in the same World Cup match. I think a fair person would agree that to define a referee's career which spans more than two decades by one unfortunate event is patently unfair and disproportionately distorting. In addition, the error was of no real consequence to the tournament outcome, or the game outcome for that matter. So why is Mr Poll curled up in the fetal position and crying his eyes out? Why do so many people take such great pleasure in his misery?

For much of the book, Mr Poll builds a case for himself as a man who has trained mentally and physically to become the very best at his profession, all the while maintaining a grounded and humble attitude. He must absorb cruel and unfair treatment from fans, the press, players, managers, club owners, the league, and even treachery from his own referee brethren in order to achieve the holy grail: referee a World Cup final game. His can-do attitude and solid work ethic will propel him forward regardless of these obstacles. However, by the end, it is apparent that he does not possess the thick skin to weather the storm. He is, in fact, a very sensitive and high-strung man who suffers greatly and easily. I believe that much of the excess criticism directed towards him is brought about by that same reaction people have whenever a starched-shirt slips and falls at a formal event and soils his clothes. We look forward to a good laugh at his expense.

None of this is meant to discount his great contribution to the sport. He was a great referee. Think for a minute about how difficult it must be to work for decades at a profession which brings no glory. While all the players around you are tallying up wins, goals, shutouts, pennants, titles, cups... What do you have to show? Another game in which you committed no errors in judgment? According to whom? Certainly not the fans or players or coaches or owners or .... Truly a thankless job. So I can't blame him for taking pride for his accomplishments.

I think this is a well-written book by an important participant in a great sport. I commend Mr Poll for his service and for deciding to share his perspective with us. I especially found the appendix where he answers the top 10 FAQs very interesting and worthy of another book. However, for trying to pass himself off as merely a humble servant of the game who is misunderstood.... yellow card.

This was a good and entertaining read about the life a professional referee. You always hear about the players, managers, and media sides of the stories but never really the referee's perspective. Poll offers insight into the FIFA referee selection process and training regime, how he became a ref, how he quickly moved through the ranks, and the obvious personal toll on high profile sports officials. He claims he's not an arrogant, attention-seeker but I got the sense that deep down he really enjoys the spotlight. Highlights for me include the banter with the players and the 2006 World Cup.

I received this book and it's a great read. The transaction went well, the book is in good condition, and I'm very happy getting this book to read. Thanks alot...

Enter the English club game and international fixtures through the eyes of Graham Poll. A nice journey of his career with stories from hotels, referee dressing rooms, stadium tunnels and of course the field. Football fans will find this book interesting in the different view presented by Poll compared to footballer books. Referees are often the forgotten men but now I understand they are just as prone to pressures footballers feel from the media, fans, officials, and players. If you are a fan of the English game you will be reminded of various famous incidents, it was a nice trip down memory lane through the ups and downs of his career. He also explains his most memorable act, 3 yellows in the world cup, but after reading about what happened one will likely sympathize with him.

Sidenote: The book is actually shorter than advertised around 15% in the end are his stats as a referee.

Easy and interesting read. Unlike a couple of other reviewers, I had no issues with the flow of the book. Anecdotes and text were well written, and I was only disappointed that there weren't more stories of player interaction included in the book. Still, Pollie confirmed what we all suspected already... John Terry is a wanker!

Brilliant look into the world of modern refereeing. Lots of details and honesty. The Euro and World Cup sections were particularly good.

This is from the perspective of an American who has played soccer since the 60s but never really became a regular spectator until the past couple of years, when English Premier League games have become available weekly on TV here. Before this book I knew of Poll only from the headlines of his 2006 World Cup gaffe and the ridicule to which he was subjected in one of the final anecdotes in Chuck Culpepper's book Bloody Confused: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer (a gem of a book, by the way - I'll have to write a review of it very soon).
As has been mentioned by an earlier reviewer, the most impressive part of this book is the description of the degree to which soccer refereeing is a very serious calling that requires quite a high level of cardiovascular fitness as well as the mental aspect of making judgments, knowing the game itself and its rules, and maintaining a subtle, qualitative sense of the personalities and the changing emotional state of the players during a game. My two strongest reactions were: 1.) Top-level officials are people, too ("Duh!") and 2.) I would love to see baseball umpires as closely and constantly evaluated and (especially!) assigned to the most prominent games and series on a largely meritocratic basis, as Poll describes for English and international soccer. (Yes, he also describes cases in which politics or personalities were a consideration, but that seems really to be a relatively minor issue.)
Since reading this book I now fairly regularly read his column on the Daily Mail web site, which partly just rehashes some of the points made here but includes many new and insightful comments as well. (The typical responses also show how much a certain segment of the English public seem never to tire of putting down the substance of anything he says with the shopworn witticism "You can't even count to two." Gee, maybe Americans don't have a complete monopoly on boorish and self-righteous comments about sports and the people involved in them!)
Also as mentioned by an earlier reviewer, the flow of the book is a bit disorienting, since a large part of it is chronologically arranged, but a large part is not. This is a fairly minor quibble, however. I learned a lot from this book as a whole, and it was nearly always enjoyable page-by-page as well.

The book is very interesting but not gripping. It provides a nice insight into how the refs interact with the EPL and International Soccer. I never realized the scrutiny the top refs are under nor the level of dedication they are required to have to earn an appointment to a World Cup match.

Graham Poll tells some very interesting stories and really allows the reader to go behind the scenes of a top FIFA and Premier League ref. However, the timeline get a bit confusing as the author jumps around a bit too much. Overall, a good read for anyone interested in soccer and top referees.