FORMER ARSENAL GOALKEEPER'S SUSPICIONS ON RUSSIAN REFEREES

       EX- GUNNER  PUBLISHES HIS LONG-AWAITED AUTOBIOGRAPHY

                                                       

ARE Russian referees dodgy?

This view still seems to have held currency among some in Germany ever since that controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup Final.

To the outrage of Germans, it was awarded in England’s favour - on the say-so of a ‘Russian’ linesman - even though subsequent footage indicated that Geoff Hurst’s shot may never have crossed the line.

The fact that the linesman,Tofiq Bahramov, actually hailed from Azerbaijan, not Russia, seemed to make no difference to German opinion. After all, wasn’t Azerbaijan a Soviet state and thus a Russian satellite? 

In his excellent  autobiography, The Madness Is On The Pitch, former Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann fast-forwards 40 years to confess his suspicions about the Russian referee, Ivan Ivanov, in the 2006 Champions League semi-final between The Gunners and Villareal.

Without evidence, Lehmann allows the reader to speculate that the Russian official may have awarded a last-minute penalty to the Spanish club as a favour to its president, a wealthy property developer.

As it happened, the incident worked to the goalkeeper’s favour. He saved the spotkick - the match was played in Spain - and the 0-0 draw allowed Arsenal to progress, 1-0 on aggregate, to the final.

Although forthright, Lehmann’s fascinating book is mostly refreshingly free of the petty vindictiveness and settling of old scores that characterises many sports autobiographies.

In his career which also included spells with AC Milan and various German clubs, he was sent off seven times, but he mostly spares referees his scorn, with the exception of Ivanov and a particular Bundesliga official, Wolfgang Stark.

He recalls: “During my last year in Stuttgart, I took extra care to associate well with referees, but in some cases this was difficult thing.

“Alongside really good and relaxed people, there was also Wolfgang Stark, from Bavaria, who was notorious for being terribly arrogant.

“He would brandish yellow cards whenever players called attention to an error in a normal tone of voice.

“The fact that we players did not have any respect for him went without saying. How he was allowed to become a FIFA referee, I will never understand."

By his own admission, Lehmann sometimes had a short fuse - he could be hot-headed, not to say down right bellicose, even with fans.

On one occasion in a match in German, he became so incensed at the flak he had been taking  that he grabbed his tormentor by the scruff of his neck with such vigour that it dislodged the man’s hearing aid.

Years later, following another match, he snatched the spectacles from an abusive supporter who then had to plead to him for their return.

There is much to commend in this informative and highly entertaining account of  what motivates high-achieving footballers and what goes on behind the scenes at top level.

Sometimes Lehmann provides his own interpretation (not necessarily authoritative) of why things go wrong as in  this observation: “Over the course of career, I saw teammates who suddenly cracked completely in pressure situations, who failed to perform during finals, a relegation  battle or a penalty shoot-out.

“Often these were people who came from unstable backgrounds - the parents divorced, the father disappeared, things like that.

“When they were on a knife edge, they would think this is going to go belly up again,”

Later, he adds: “The soft factors - for instance, a player’s wellbeing and his family’s happiness all have a decided impact on his performance.”

Lehmann has little truck with the vanity of some contemporary players who, before games and even at half-time, stand in front of mirror to do their hair, applying gel.

During one match, he took matters into his own hands after convincing himself that Stuttgart colleague Khalid Boulahrouz could not hear what he was shouting because his headband was covering his ears.

“I ripped the piece of material off his head - he was the first player I had ever seen wear such a thing.”

For up-and-coming goalkeepers, some of the insights contained in The Madness is on The Pitch should be particularly valuable.

He writes: “First and foremost, the goalkeeper should be an organiser.

“He must be able to give orders, particularly during risky situations in the box, as often the defenders no longer have a feeling either for the ball or for the opposing players.

“One moment they are watching the ball, the next they are looking for their opponent in the process they lose their view of the whole game.

“This view needs to be preserved by the goalkeeper and translated into pinpoint stage directions, especially if the ball is in motion."

At corners and crosses, most keepers prefer to stay within the goal area for two main reasons - firstly, it reduces the risk of being hurt by an opponent’s foot, knee or elbow and, secondly, it spares the possibility of failing to catch or punch clear the ball.

There is nothing more annoying and embarrassing for any top goalkeeper when watching a TV replay of his match than to hear the commentator exclaim that the keeper has “flapped” at the ball

But, throughout his career, Lehmann was always prepared to take that risk because he saw it as his mission to dominate the penalty area, to give confidence to his teammates and to intimidate his opponents who soon learned that, whenever things turned physical, he could give as he got. 

He writes: “My style involved frequently having to leave the safe harbour of my six-yard box in order to intercept crosses, through balls and ricocheted shots.

“On the line it is easy to look good, Usually, you do not get hurt while you are there, but every excursion away from it can bring pain; the opponent can end up kicking or hitting you, whether on purpose or not.

“You have to leave behind this entirely natural protective reflex.”

Lehmann also emphasises the importance of concentration which, he reckons, is aided by reading.

Among the titles on his shelf, there was one he found particularly helpful - Dr Joseph Murphy’s, Das Erfolgsbuch (Success Book) which describes  the importance of the subconscious in generating positive energy. 

Lehmann  also has some amusing one-liners, such as: “Humiliations are like power plants - ugly things but you draw power from them.”

Here is another: “A team is a community of purpose - it functions like a wolf-pack.”

Among the players she most admired in his career were two Arsenal players, Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera, with the latter described as “a kind of lighthouse on the pitch thanks to his physical presence and fantastic technique”.

Of his longtime Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger he says: “The system made the players successful, not the other way round - conductor Wenger managed to have everyone in his perfect orchestra stand out through synergy with their colleagues.”

Lehmann’s collaborator in the writing of the book was Christof Siemes, and the translator from the German is Ceylan Hussein.

The publishers are highly-rated Liverpool-based deCoubertin Books whose other titles are listed at www.decoubertin.co.uk.

* The Russian Linesman is now available (price £0.99)  as an e-book via Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Russian-Linesman-Bahramov-Azerbaijan-Wembley-Tor-ebook/dp/B01IMF3U4M/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1514461460&sr=1-2&keywords=the+russian+linesman