SEEING RED Paperback – 2 Jun. 2008

Poll gives a great insight into the small world of elite referees. He brings all the issues, pressures, highs and lows on board but also lets us the fans, the players, and the others understand that every referee is also "a human". Its a well written book that should inspire those thinking of becoming referees in the future. All Premier League fans should read it too so they can be better informed about the various refereeing "mistakes".

I have to admit that I feel my opinion of Graham Poll was somewhat coloured by the media before reading this book. He has always been portrayed as being an arrogant so and so who consistently wanted the cameras to be on him. While after reading this book I'm not going to say he is completely adverse to the publicity he has got during the course of his career, I do have a new found respect for him. Throughout this book Graham recounts on various interactions with players, managers and members of the media. It is extremely interesting reading at times and gives the reader a real persepective into how challenging the job of being a referee at the highest level can be. One really interesting story for me was about when Graham was an assistant referee in which Pierluigi Collina, the legendary italian referee was 'in the middle'. Graham spoke of a pre match meeting where Collina spoke about the various tactics both teams would use, what would happen if one team went a goal up etc etc. Graham said that all of these predictions as to tactics etc were accurate as the game unfolded.Graham Poll is no wall flower. He does sound like he liked the attention of his job, but why not? Overall a really good book.

I was left with mixed feelings after reading Mr Poll's little effort. I was left feeling a little disappointed with Poll's version of what happened in Germany 2006. I may be totally wrong but there does appear to be vital bits of information missing.If you believe what's in the book; what happened should never have happened, but it did, and the reasons given as to why it all went wrong, for me, do not hang together if you get what I mean. The book also gives considerable coverage to the Poll/John Terry incident which seemed to go on and on. However, it does give you an insight into the life of a Referee and if you can ignore that the writer is clearly 'up himself' then it's worth reading.

Very seemingly honest account of his career. As a sports official myself, I especially liked the depth that he went into regarding the climb to the top and the various factors that need to go your way, including luck. I am not a football referee and football is not my no.1 sport, but a good book for any sports official to read as it reflects the mental aspects of being involved in high level, high pressure competition.

When I first started watching football the referee was the man in black who blew the whistle. He wasn't a celebrity and we often didn't even know his name. Those days are well behind us with Messrs Ellerary, Winter and Poll all treating us to tales from the middle. I am like many football fans, totally biased to my own team and quick to blame the ref for the team's shortcomings. Therefore I was interested to read "Pollie's" story and initially had a degree of sympathy for him as he seemed to be unfairly maligned by one camp or the other for anything which contributed to a team's downfall. However, I felt he milked the mistake at the World Cup and had in mind the phrase "get over it". No one died and ultimately it made no material difference to the outcome of the match and the only reason I could discern for Mr Poll's misery was that he clearly believed he was destined to referee the final. Egotistical, arrogant, self-important - yes probably a little of all but don't pretend you didn't enjoy the fame/notoriety which went with it, Graham. For all that I quite enjoyed the book as it gave a different view of life in the beautiful game.

Honest and at times a touch of arrogance to the chapters but also revealing the intense pressure at the top. As an ex referee i understand the long trek through the parks to get to the standard that one can attain.Excellent record in europe and extremelyt unlucky t to get a world cup final.Excellent read.

As an experienced top flight referee, Graham Poll has clearly had a unique insight into the world of football. Pleasingly, he does not become bogged down in grinding through his career chronologically, rather darting from recollection to recollection as links appear. You do get the impression that he is attempting to exonerate himself from any blame in most situations, although it is refreshing to hear a less well publicised version of events. Referees are in the minority, and it is good to read about an official who is at ease representing this band of brave footballing folk, and who did not duck out of making correct decisions, just to avoid the resultant media fallout. Some stories may just make you think a little differently about certain present day footballing idols too!

I buy and read a lot of books from Amazon and to my shame rarely find time to write a review (good or bad). But I feel that as a service to my fellow readers I am duty-bound to add one on this book.I pride myself on my ability to read with an open mind, and did so when opening this book. But rarely have a formed such a low opinion of a writer when reading - why does he spend so interminably long navel-gazing one single decision which (in my opinion) he blows out of all proportion ?The most mind-numbingly boring book I have read in years. Quite why I stuck it out to the end I do not know.If you are looking for an insight into the world of professional refereeing - avoid. If you are a chronic insomniac - then this is the book for you.