You can't put your arm around the referee! That's ungentlemanly conduct.
Some have said that I can accept inadequacies in my players but not in umpires. That completely misses the point. I can't tolerate anyone's mistake.
You will never see players from City surround the referee.
In Italy, everyone is talking about the referee for three days before the game - 'We don't like him. He is no good.'
If you ask any referee before the game - they ask me if I have anything to say, I tell them 'I'm going straight up.' Every time. Every game. And they know that and they say I'm one of the best at it.
I don't like to criticise referees because I believe it is a very complicated job, and what they do is very beneficial for football.
There's no reason for me to go into a big dissertation about why I'm not getting the calls. The refs have to do their jobs as well. I even mentioned it in training camp to the refs when we had our little meeting.
Damn referees, I'll miss them less than anybody.
Football officiating is so subjective - much more subjective than any other sport. But the more I watch - and I watch too many matches - the more impressed I am with referees.
I'll be the first one to admit my first couple of years I was pretty hard on the refs.
I always think we have to be cautious with our attitude to refereeing the professionals and the people in the football family.
I would like to change the refereeing system. The pressure that is put on an official in a match is too large.
