Meet The Ref - Man U v Latics - Michael Oliver

The Latics travel to Old Trafford on Saturday to face Manchester United, a ground where we never seem to get a fair crack of the whip from refereeing decisions, so who is in charge of the game this weekend, Michael Oliver that's who

The Northumberland based official had five games in charge of the Latics last season, the 2-2 draw away at Stoke, the goalless home draw against Liverpool, the 2-0 defeat of QPR and the 1-1 draw with West Brom at the DW and the last game of the season when we beat Wolves 3-2 at home, so not too bad a record there

Oliver took charge of his first Premier League game in August 2010 when he refereed the Birmingham v Blackburn early season fixture.

According to a recent interview, Oliver considers the skills needed to be a top class referee are man management and awareness, all sounds very 'The Apprentice' to me, let's hope he is aware and manages to have a good game on Saturday.

Below is an excerpt from that interview:

How did you get introduced to refereeing?

From watching my dad referee locally when I was younger (i.e. 14)

What skills do you think you need to become a referee?

The two main ones I believe are: Man-Management and awareness

Who has been the biggest influence in your career and why?

My Dad, Clive. Perfect coach to have having refereed at the same level. Willing to listen and lend a hand, but not afraid to tell it like it is.

In your opinion who is/was the best referee?

Pierluigi Collina - He had a presence.

Michael Oliver Card Watch 2011/12

Games - 2
Yellows - 1
Reds - 1

Manchester United v Wigan Athletic

Referee: M Oliver
Assistants: S Ledger, M Scholes
Fourth Official: P Dowd

















Latics and Proud



Fancy writing an article about the Latics? Why not get in touch, we are always looking for new contributors, after all we are all Latics fans here and want to get the Latics message to the world, so if you have a favourite match or Latics memory get it jotted down, or whatever you want to say put it into an email and send it to us here at Vital Wigan

To get your article published just click here and we will put it onto the site





Howzat? Your Vital Football Logins are valid on Vital Cricket

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.