A&H

Advising game being observed

T

Twinblade

Member
I'm not on the promotion trail this season but should be next. However, I was out this weekend assisting a referee who was and the game we were doing was to be observed. On the way he gets a call from the home team manager returning his missed call.

He advised that he was just calling to advise that this game was being observed as part of his promotion and therefore to speed things up and make life easier when he arrives at the ground could he ensure that all his players had the appropriate colour tape, under armour on and that all jewellery was removed. Also, to remind all his players that because it was being observed any inappropriate language or other comments would be punished with cards, irrespective of what they were used to with other referees. He finished off by advising that he had already informed the away team manager and they were on board with it.

My question, is this allowed? Are you allowed to contact teams to advise them beforehand you are being assessed and essentially warn them and at the same time advise them so you hopefully get an easier ride?
 
The Referee Store
Personally, I would say no, why can't he carry out these instructions/checks at the ground during is pre-match chat? Regardless of whether he is being observed or not he shouldn't be changing how he referees. This to me stinks of someone who is everyone's mate and doesn't sanction/report things to make his life easier. I would ask your county secretary if this is appropriate behaviour I suspect not, I would also like to see the county FA sending a secret assessor to watch him when he doesn't know it's happening to see if he refs differently!
 
Telling teams you are being assessed is a sure fire way to have a bad game.

Players arent your mates so if they know you are being observed and they dont agree with it theyll want the observer to know about it.

You should never change your game for observation. That includes any pre -match rituals you may or may not go through.

Observations are key to your development as a referee and to do things differently when being observed is counter intuitive and makes the observation obsolete as it doesnt give you any hints and tips about how to improve your actual game as a referee.
 
i guess there would not be an issue if, in your usual weekly routine, you address these issues when you confirm your fixture with the club secretary (or whoever it may be you have contact with from the club during the week ) ... the issue is mentioning the observation, right? What i mean to say is, is there any problem per se with telling a club that you will be doing things in such and such a manner, when you arent being observed?
 
At this stage of the (promotion) season, it sounds like a referee trying to protect his average and lacking a little bit of self confidence.
I've always found that the biggest benefit can be found by having observations in 'challenging' games. Getting it right in a challenging game will get you a higher mark than getting it right in a 'normal' game.

Correct me if I'm wrong but for supply league and above, aren't observers noted on MOAS and can't the teams see all that information? Any lower than that, I see no reason to give notice of an observation. The laws don't change just because the likes of @Brian Hamilton are standing on the sideline.
 
David Sutton said:
At this stage of the (promotion) season, it sounds like a referee trying to protect his average and lacking a little bit of self confidence.
I've always found that the biggest benefit can be found by having observations in 'challenging' games. Getting it right in a challenging game will get you a higher mark than getting it right in a 'normal' game.

Correct me if I'm wrong but for supply league and above, aren't observers noted on MOAS and can't the teams see all that information? Any lower than that, I see no reason to give notice of an observation. The laws don't change just because the likes of @Brian Hamilton are standing on the sideline.
Click to expand...

Sadly, for many referees, they do.

It's quite obvious when a referee is changing their game because I am stood there with my clipboard......

As for telling teams that you will be doing things differently because an observer is there......just making a rod for your own back.....you will get accused of "you're only doing that because you're being assessed" etc etc.

As @James Long says....the players and managers will soon let an observer know when they aren't happy with a decision.....which is why I generally stay as far away from the benches as I can when observing.
 
It is very risky telling the teams, you are effectively gambling that players will change their behaviour because you are being assessed. Whereas from my experience of being an observer, the players are more likely to be asking the observer about every decision the referee makes and it could well backfire massively. Players and managers like to blame the observers at grass roots level - the number of times I've heard the likes of "he's only being like this because you're here with that @&%$£" clipboard" ..!

Certainly telling them you will referee differently would be very silly. All you could possibly do is have a quiet word with someone who is perhaps getting a bit loud and say something like "can't let you get away with that today mate with him sitting / standing over there, so tone it down please". If he doesn't listed and gobs off then you've set him up for a fall, and if he behaves perfectly from that point on the better observers might give you credit for that quiet word and preventative refereeing.
 
It is a very bad plan to change your refereeing style observer in on the touchline at local level. At L4 & above, the clubs and player know that there will be an observer at 50% of the games so are prepared.

As @RustyRef says, players will say "he's only doing this because an observer is there" or to the observer "the referee's ruined this game because of you, he wasn't like this two weeks ago". The clubs will recognise the observers and talk to them about you.

Hopefully the experience observers will note that this is not his normal style and comment accordingly. At the L6 - L5 & L7 - L6 levels, yes you can try this. At L4 changing your style weekly will catch you out. Also at some L4 matches and above, if the observers feel this is happening - they will come unannounced to watch you and see you at the end of the game. We have our ways.....

Back to the OP @Twinblade - your mate thinks he is being clever and fooling us - not a chance, he should do the job properly for every game. His promotion can just as easily be ruined by a league official noticing the wrong sock tape, etc and reporting him to the CFA for not correctly applying law.
 
Surely the assessor, if arrived early, might note down that no equipment checks have been done? Or what happens if the manager isn't exactly the nicest, and decides to tell players to wear different coloured tape, and the referee doesnt check assuming the equipment is fine? Be the last thing I would do.
 
not a good thing for a referee to be doing, seems like he was changing things because the man/woman with the book and pen will be there
 
I told teams on my very first assessment and it certainly didn't make my life easier. I got exactly the comment other have mentioned: "You wouldn't have given that if you weren't being watched ref!".

I've since been told that Essex FA at least absolutely does not like us telling players we're being watched. And to be perfectly honest, I think that's better for the players (who will just play their normal game), the ref (who won't get these comments) and probably the observer too (I guess they won't get blamed on the sideline like a 4th official if teams don't know what they're doing there?)
 
Thanks all, I thought this would be the response and many of the comments about the players probably making life harder makes perfect sense.
 
Whats an assesor!. Not assesessed during my 5 games despite notifying RDO for every game. Not assessed since. Got some good feed back from an appointed AR when I did a county game, he had been reffing longer than me so I asked for his feedback. Had a retired assessor turn up for last Sundays game but that is for a different thread, any way I would love to be assessed with out being notified myself as you are more likely to be your "normal" ref self. I would never tell a team it is just asking for trouble.
 
I've said this a number of times - getting assessed and getting feedback on your performances is one of the best reasons to get yourself on the promotion trail, even if you don't have major ambitions to climb high up the ranks. Not every assessor is going to be fantastic, but you should get observed at least 3 times a season if you're chasing promotion and you'll usually get good feedback from at least a few of them.
 
I am not going for promotion just that in my first badged up season you would think somebody might think better see if he is doing OK. I think my age goes against me as they might be more proactive with younger refs with a lot less life experience. Thats what I tell my self anyway!
 
martin avis said:
I am not going for promotion just that in my first badged up season you would think somebody might think better see if he is doing OK. I think my age goes against me as they might be more proactive with younger refs with a lot less life experience. Thats what I tell my self anyway!
Click to expand...
I think you're right unfortunately, I do recall being left relatively alone and having to contact my own mentor just to get seen early on. It's why I'd advise doing promotion if you want the feedback, even if you're not actually that bothered about getting the next levels.
 
martin avis said:
Whats an assesor!. Not assesessed during my 5 games despite notifying RDO for every game. Not assessed since. Got some good feed back from an appointed AR when I did a county game, he had been reffing longer than me so I asked for his feedback. Had a retired assessor turn up for last Sundays game but that is for a different thread, any way I would love to be assessed with out being notified myself as you are more likely to be your "normal" ref self. I would never tell a team it is just asking for trouble.
Click to expand...

No wonder you haven't seen an assessor, we are now OBSERVERS...
 
OK wrong term used but the point is still valid. Thinking about it I didn't get assigned a mentor either. On the plus side I have had not had a phone call from my RDO asking about one of my games yet so I can assume that the teams I have reffed have not had any issues or complaints, apart from pens not given, wrong offsides, no foul, no hand ball etc etc! Thats a good idea it would be nice to get some observations and feed back but I have a feeling the observers are not many and there are a lot of refs kicking around and if there are issues being reported they would have to observe those refs first .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top