A&H

I had a bad game

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farrell

New Member
I've only been reffing a season and I've bad decisions but never really had a bad game until now. This was under 10s. First I wrote the home side as away and away side as home so I asked the wrong team for the match ball which was a bad start. Then I gave a penalty for handball, the defender's (red team) arm was raised a fair bit (not deliberately) and he blocked a shot. I thought it was harsh but justified so that decision wasn't too bad. Then there was a blatant pass back by red team and my mind went blank and I couldn't remember if under 10s played pass backs so I left it. I should've warned the keeper but I didn't. Then I didn't give a foul and a player (white team) moaned saying it was a foul and I said he got the ball. Then under his breath the player said even though the ball wan't there. Normally I would warn him about backchat to me when they're so young but I left it.

Finally a player (white team) was through on goal when the keeper came out and made a great sliding tackle and won the ball. The white player fell on the keeper and while they were both falling and on the floor, the white player elbowed the keeper in the face. At the time I thought it was instinctive as he was falling to put his arm out and he accidently caught the keeper. The linesman (a parent of red team) said it was deliberate but I didn't do anything. After the game the red team manager said I should've talked to the player who elbowed the keeper and that he was an animal. He didn't say he was unhappy with me but I'm pretty sure he was.

What do you think about the above?
How often do you have bad games?
How do you recover?
 
The Referee Store
Bad games come and go.
Best thing to do is to learn from it. Don't let it linger in your head for too long & just go out there next game and enjoy it how you would any game.
As for recovery my best way is to sit down with a beer and a book.
 
We all have bad games now and again, just try not to dwell on it too much.

As Phillip says, look back at the game and learn from the mistakes that you made and then put it out of your mind. Just remember that having one bad game DOES NOT make you a bad referee!

I terms of recovery, I tend to sit down in front of the TV and relax and then try to get back out on to the pitch ASAP!

:)

ps. As i've found to my cost, the backpass rule and its enforcement varies by league in mini soccer. Try to get in touch with your referee's secretary or a league official to clarify what their rules are.
 
We all have them once in a while - but if it was under 10s I wouldn't sweat it too much.

There is a lot of 'clumsy' stuff in those games, and I find a quiet 'Be careful' or 'watch the elbows' helps a lot. I am surprised at the dissent though, but at that age the parents and coaches have a lot to answer for.

Get out again and enjoy it, put this game behind you but keep the lessons learnt.
 
Farrel it happens to all of us, and at this time of the year more often too. Tiredness (mental in particular after all the potponements) plays a part.

Last week I made a massive mistake, that trashed my confidence. Still not fully up to where it ought to be because I am still annoyed at myself.

Cautioned a player in the first half for persistent fouling. Deep down I suspected I would end up binning him. No problems.

Five minutes into second half he comes charging into a player right in front of me. Player goes down with a shout. Immediately I'm in there telling the fouler that's the end of it. I'm being proactive, usign common sense, trying to make life easier for myself here, because one of two things will happen:

1: He'll foul again and nobody (except him) will complain when I caution him again and bin him.
2: He won't make a foul again, and I'll keep 22 players on.

Sound logic for both yes? Here comes the zinger.

1: I'm on the blindside of the challenge when it happens. Position is poor, but recoverable, if I do what I normally do. (can you see where this is going?). It looks like a charge, nothing more. Except it is more.

2: Fouled player is still on the floor so I call the physio on. "Are you all right?" he says to the player. "No, I think it's ligaments"
I've messed this one up. Quick look and lo and behold four big stud marks on the knee, and it's going purple already. This "charge" is actually a very high challenge, worthy of a red for SFP, but because I'm blindside I miss it AND I've already "dealt" with the player. I can't go back now.

3: What I normally do in this situation is try and assess the injury first. I can call the trainer on if needs be and then deal with the fouler. This works whether I am blindside or the right side. Instead I charged in to fix the situation and aggravated it.

4: Even if I had only cautioned him, I'd have got away with it as the player would have gone. There may have been the odd "How was that a yellow?" but the injured player would more likely ask "Did he send him?" and that would be the end of it.

My next game was a few days later, and I wasn't 100% on that either, because I was so worried about making another serious mistake that I let things slide. When people tell you to forget about mistakes, this is why. If you keep letting it bother you, it will negatively impact your next game.

My confidence is rock bottom at the moment, but I have another middle tonight. It's time to climb out of the hole.

I'm sure you an do the same.
 
Always difficult, and can be very tempting to punish the result of a challenge rather than the challenge itself. Tealeaf, if you didn''t see a studs up high challenge, then you can't really punish it. If both players went down, the stud-marks and injury could simply have been a stumble over each other in which case you called it correctly.

Much of what we do is 'gut instinct' and the end result is that an idiot who was dangerous got sent off - job done I feel.

It is difficult to pick yourself up though after a bad game/poor decision but if we learn from it then we can only get better.
 
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