Should football fans have a little more sympathy towards them?

David Moyes was spot on in his assessment that Martin Atkinson had spoiled what was building up to be a scintillating Merseyside derby. No one is suggesting he did this deliberately. Whilst his decision to send of Jack Rodwell, for a supposedly reckless tackle favoured Liverpool , Atkinson’s last red card in this fixture (the dismissal of Sotirios Kyrgiakos) favoured Everton .

People will no doubt point to the fact that the Greek defender’s dismissal was justified, which it certainly was. However, Atkinson neglected to send off Fellani for his two-footed lunge in the same tackle.

The main issue is that Martin Atkinson made a mistake. What has been debated since last Saturday is should he have been made to come out and explain his decision to red card Rodwell; to explain what it was he saw at Goodison Park that no one else in the stadium or at home could see. After all, numerous replays proved that Atkinson had a completely unobstructed view of the incident. Admittedly, the theatrics of Suarez didn’t help the situation, but the referee is expected to judge the challenge in itself.

Moyes’ criticism, whilst fully justified here will have come as no surprise. In general, managers, it must be said are quick to scape-goat refs. If their star striker misses a hatful of chances, but the ref fails to give a throw-in on the halfway line they’ll always blame the ref.

If Arsene Wenger was a sitcom character his catchphrase would be ‘I didn’t see it’. But this only applies to misdemeanours committed by his own side. I recall a game a few years ago at Anfield where he claimed Liverpool’s equaliser came from a corner that shouldn’t have been given (despite repeated replays proving inconclusive).

Referees exist in a one-shot world. They have seconds to make a decision and they must always make it correctly. When they don’t, the fans and the media converge on them. We’re all armchair pundits who have screamed for a penalty, then accused the referee of bias against ‘us’ only for a replay to prove there was no offence. Referees don’t have that luxury.

Just why anyone would want to be a referee anyway is beyond me. Every week there are tales of abuse and, particularly in the amateur leagues of violence against the match officials. Even at children’s levels the abuse from parents borders on criminal.

The men, women and occasionally teenagers who referee these matches get paid around £50 a match. Hardly worth it for what they put up with. In 2009 assaults on referees occurred over 300 times.

Football at the elite level is now a billion pound industry where errors cost points and relegation costs tens of millions. The sport is also far quicker than it was, requiring referees to be capable of certain levels of fitness. One recalls Sir Alex Ferguson questioning the fitness of Alan Wiley after a game with Sunderland. Ferguson scoffed: ‘He was not fit enough for a game of that standard…it is an indictment of our game.’ Prozone stats showed that Wiley had run nearly 12km during the game, more than all bar seven of the players on the pitch.

The pace of the game is important when considering the decisions referees have to make. Thanks to Sky the armchair fan is used to seeing the same incident in super slow motion from five or six different angles. After all this analysis they will then make their assessment on whether the decision was correct.

The referees have none of that. They make their decision based on one viewing at normal time and have to make it in a matter of seconds. It is inevitable that they will make mistakes.

Managerial pressure is another aspect of the game that referees have to deal with. Alex Ferguson has made a career out of questioning the official’s decisions but, in the case of Martin Atkinson (him again) he actually questioned the official himself: ‘You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway… when I saw who the referee was I feared it. I feared the worst.’ But Fergie is by no means the only one. As stated earlier Wenger has been hyper-critical over the years, and in the short space of time Kenny Dalglish has been back in the Anfield dugout he has complained about the reds’ treatment, especially this season.

The FA has tried to instil a respect for referees. Managers are no longer able to question the men with the whistle, although they can still criticise the decision. In 2008 they announced a scheme which would see them pump in £44million a year into grass roots schemes, one of which was the retention of referees. There has also been the much-maligned ‘Respect’ campaign.

But sometimes it is undeniable that referees have only themselves to blame. I recall in 2008 Javier Mascherano being sent off at Old Trafford. His offence was to continue his complaints at the referee, Steve Bennett even after being instructed to move away. Despite team mates and his manager trying to get him to end his protestations, he carried them on until Bennett showed a second yellow card. At the time I agreed with the decision.