Graham Poll, The Official Line: Being the sub is no easy ride

Having to prepare in exactly the same way as if you were refereeing and then standing between the two managers for 90 minutes; being blamed for every possible refereeing error; being abused by the crowd around the technical area; and then having to listen to the two debriefs for the other three match officials.

There are better ways of spending a Saturday afternoon.

However, that's what is in store for Howard Webb, seven days after his superb handling of Arsenal-Manchester United. Not once but twice, at Sunderland today and Bolton tomorrow. What a weekend.

There are 19 professional referees but only 10 Premier League appointments each week, plus three in the Football League, leaving six referees spare if all are fit.

Fourth officials were introduced 16 years ago. They act as a replacement if one of the other three does not arrive for the game or is unable to officiate due to illness or injury. This happens very infrequently so the fourth official is left to assist the referee in whichever way he can.

Typically, this involves all administration, dealing with substitutions and communicating the amount of time that will be added on at the end of each half.

That just leaves the task which baffles me: dealing with people on the bench.

Week after week we witness fourth officials almost pleading with occupants of the technical areas to behave correctly, stop berating their colleagues and get on with the one task that team personnel are permitted to do in Law: convey tactical instructions to their own team.

That is all they are allowed to do and the repeated antics of serial offenders do not 'add to the theatre'.

They merely undermine officials and tarnish the game's image. Fourth officials should be far stronger and not merely act as punch bags.

The final duties of a fourth official are to bring to the attention of the referee any violent conduct which occurs out of the view of his three colleagues — such as Zinedine Zidane's butt in the World Cup Final — and, of course, to inform the referee if he has mistakenly cautioned a player for a second time and not dismissed him.

Now that would be a worthwhile thing to do!