Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher are arguably the best football pundits around. Their weekly dissection of tactical matters on MNF make for an enjoyable watch every week, but having played the game for so long, you would imagine that they would lay off on the referees a bit.
Because this isn't exactly the case, Sky Sports had a brainwave. Back in April, they sent their top two pundits to St.George's Park with a load of cameras. The objective? To see how hard being a referee at the top level actually is.
After being stung by Neil Swarbrick, Carragher and Neville were put through a dreaded bleep test to prove they can keep up with the Premier League refs - who run on average 12 kilometres per match. One manages to do it, the other not so much:
Since they had them there, Sky also decided to see if the lads would be any use at being an assistant referee. Linesmen probably take more criticism than any official when they make a bad call. Mainly because a wrong decision is crucial to a goal being awarded or one being ruled out.
Each were given five scenarios in which to make marginal calls about offsides. Let's just say that there was a small bit of competition - particularly as the ex-Man United star Neville keeps the flag down for the first four.
The full documentary is on the Sky Player and is well worth a watch. Not least for the insight into how the refs deal with the fallout from an incorrect decision.
