What a joke.So the players can intimidate referees by gathering around them en-mass & in an aggressive manner but when a referee gets utterly pissed off with their playground behaviour & shows his frustration, like anyone would do, & lets something slip; these overpaid school kids throw their teddies out of the cot & go running to their managers, police & FA throwing the very same racism card which is blighting English/UK society.
Simple solution. Ban the players from gathering around match officials unless accompanied by their team captains. Any player caught talking off hand to a referee is either sent off, sin binned or picks up penalty points & is fined. Microphone the referees so that all conversations are recorded throughout a game. Stop pampering these clowns that are supposed to be role models to kids. Lets face it a lot of them have the intellect of 12 year old's. The vocabulary skills of a chav, the manners of sewer rats(gobbing all over the pitch which is repulsive) & the egos of a tyrant. And if these players can't have the backbone & integrity to stand up to a moron(s) who does use abusive or racist language on the field or from the terraces when they are getting paid ludicrous amounts of money then they need to take a long hard look at themselves & their attitudes.
"Sticks & stones may hurt my bones but calling me names won't hurt me". Unless your an overpaid professional football player.
"If you don't have conditioning it doesn't matter how big your muscles are they ain't gonna reach their full potential!"
21st century Takism
"wyrd bið ful aræd" Destiny is Everything