Dein: Goal-line technology a must
TEAMtalk.com
Latest
Dein: Time to join the IT crowd
Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein insists there is too much at stake in football to hold back on the introduction of technology.
|
|
Costly and questionable refereeing decisions have prompted hot debate on the issue over recent years, most prominently on whether technology could be used to decide whether a ball has crossed the goal-line.
Speaking during a presentation at Soccerex 08 which focused on the current state of the game, Dein called for goal-line technology to be brought in, adding that expanding the use beyond that should remain open to discussion.
"The game has moved on," he said. "We are logging mistakes that a club pays for in cash.
"A mistake where a club does not qualify for the Champions League and loses £10million, a mistake where a club gets relegated and costs a lot more than that and the club may never get back in the Premiership again.
"I believe that referees are an endangered species. Nobody ever says 'the referee had a great game', they always say the opposite. It's always something that the referee hasn't done. So I believe that they need help.
"Things are not always what they seem. Refs can miss something because they're not looking directly at it. It's easy to miss something you're not looking at."
Dein, who left the Gunners in April last year, claimed it was unfair on managers and players to continue to shun the available technology.
"We're not trying to sanitise the game, one might say it's about technology, particularly about goal-line technology," he said.
"That's what everybody works hard for, the coaches are working six days a week for the big game, so that they can get the ball over the other team's goal-line.
"There is technology today, it's been introduced in tennis and they can't tell me technology is not there.
"Forty years ago, America put a man on the moon. So the technology is there.
"I know that FIFA are looking at it, there's talk in UEFA too about putting maybe another two assistants, maybe two men behind the goal to check, but can they actually beat the cameras that can see from various angles?"
Dein added: "What we're looking for here is to use technology for the benefit of the game to help the referees make the right decision.
"We're not trying to talk about whether it was offside or not, there has to be a start somewhere and this has to start with the goal-line."
Another debate that has raged in English football of late is whether a sporting director is a help or hindrance to a modern Premier League club.
Tottenham are one club that went down that route with Damien Comolli, who was subsequently sacked, and the failure of the structure also led to the downfall of former manager Juande Ramos last month.
But Dein insisted that there was no right way for clubs to go, provided the route taken delivered positive results.
He added: "Whatever works to be successful (is best), whether it's with a sporting director or without one.
"I have to say when I was working with Arsene (Wenger, Arsenal manager) for 10 years, we didn't have a sporting director, there was just a special chemistry there that brought success.
"Spurs tried it recently but have now abolished it I understand. In effect, you don't want to have too many cooks. I believe that a manager has to manage. A manager has to choose the players he wants to buy, he has to choose the players he want to sell.
"He is solely in charge when it comes to his selection process. Any interference from outside is dangerous.
"So a sporting director may be like a glorified scout, who recommends players to the manager, but in the end it has to be the manager's final decision."
warringtonred : "...Well well well. A European Super league. Who would have thought it eh? Only The Glazers, Hicks and Gillett, Roman, Lerner and Usmanov. They haven't taken control of some of the biggest Clubs in Europe for a hobby. Do you..." view full comment
Paper Talk: Hitman Crouch in demand
Tottenham and Sunderland are chasing Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch, while Everton are hoping to lure Paul Scholes away from Old Trafford.
More from today's press
United taking the Michael
TEAMtalk reflects on Manchester United's signing of Michael Owen - and believes few signings will raise as many eyebrows this summer.
Read today's Column
ronaldo2k8 (Manchester United) : "...I was speaking to Davide Pettruci from the Man Utd reserves last night on facebook and he slipped out that Man Utd are going to try and hijack Man Citys bid for Etoo. The Cameroon striker knows that Barcelona are trying to cash in on him because he h..." view full rumour
Related Links
Related Team Pages
Don't miss these
| LATEST PHOTOS | TT COLUMN | LIVE UPDATES |
 |
|
|
| Go to the Gallery | Owen handed one final shot at glory | Twitter explained! |
Free Bet | Casino | Poker | Bingo
More Stories
Your Comments
Harry_D_Gunner (Arsenal fan)
"Well said harri7495, thats another point of view we share!! Every Class player that ever came to Arsenal under Wenger Dein played a major role in it. Rumour has it that he was in advanced negotations to bring Ribery to Arsenal before he was ousted, maybe thats 1 of the reasons he went to kreonke for outside investment. Players contracts are another factor here, look at the work he put in to get Thierry to sign up in 2006, yet in the summer we had Adebayor prostituting himself around europe lookin for a pay rise!! I don't have much time for this guy anymore but any other team in the England, let alone the top 4, who has a striker whose on £35,00-£40,000 and just scored 30 goals would be tryin to nail him down with a new improved contract. £35,000-40,000 is peanuts in the Premiership!! Adebayor's agent would'nt be doing his job if he did'nt tell him he could get a better deal than that. But no the Arsenal board have to bury their head in the sand when it comes to money and let a player spend the summer traipsing around ebarrassin the Club and fans just to get his a fair deal. Dein would've seen that coming a mile away unlike that Dinosaur Hill-Wood. We'll see if this new man is up to the job, he'll never have what Dein and Wenger have, the most successful partnership our club has ever and ever will have. It'll probably only ever fully be appreciated when we're long gone....."
harri7495 (Arsenal fan)
"what have we achieved post dein? nothing! we need this guy to go out and get star at the right price for us! vierea henry pires campbell lehmen! first job for dein would be a world class goalie! Buffon or coupet! sack almunia the clown! let arsene concentrate on the team and have dein doing all the hard yards in the world of negotations! dein and wenger best paring in world football bar none! hill wood should be on his hands and knees begging for forgivness from dein! no trophies since 05 is too long! cesc toure ade nasri will leave for silverware else where if we don't step it up! arsene did the best magic of the smmer by adding a reliable silvestre but can't do it by himself he needs dein to keep the club going forward rather than standing still like at the present time! only the champions league can be won now and thats just pure luck if you win it! league is by the far the most important 2nd 3rd and 4th is not good enough! 1st please!"
Harry_D_Gunner (Arsenal fan)
""Time to bring this man back" I've been rantin to any1 that will listen about how spineless the Arsenal board are. Usually Hill-Wood cant keep his big trap shut other than to stick a big fat cigar in it. Have'nt heard a word from any of da board in defence of Wenger. This is the same board, Keith Edelman in particular, that stripped Dein of his mobile and marched him out the door of Arsenal for havin the foresight to see the predictament we now find ourselves in coming. Since they threw Dein out we have'nt had a proper Chief Exc. Edelman was'nt up to the job or his heart was'nt in it so he could'nt very well walk away from the job and stay with Arsenal so he just walked away from Arsenal in the summer. This is the very man who took exception to Dein for tryin to bring some outside investment to Arsenal rather than see Wenger hampered. And what was the end result? Dein out, Kreonke, whose everybodys best friend all of a sudden, now has a seat on the board, Edelman walks away from Deins old job leavin Wenger high and dry. Whatever Dein did he always had Arsenal and Wenger's best interests at heart and he'd be the last man to undermine him and the 1st 1 to defend him. In fact he came out only a week ago and said Wenger was the best man for the job, yet we hear nothing from the Arsenal board in defence of Wenger as he's hung out to dry in the media. This would never have happened in Dein's time, all we ever hear from the Arsenal board is the odd soundbyte about how Wenger has money to spend just to cover their own asses. Well if thats the case how come Dein had to look outside of Arsenal for investment so we would'nt find ourselves where we are today. These continous leaks coming out of Arsenal about all the money we have to spend miracously started when they sacked Dein yet we have'nt seen a penny of it and not suprisingly the amount keeps getting smaller and smaller!!"
All comments on this story