I've been appointed to an U16 match at the weekend that has me slightly worried.
The home manager takes it upon himself to complain and make things difficult. Before every game, he makes a point of telling his team to be careful because I'm a "jobsworth" who's "out to get them"; this isn't a case of me overhearing, he always does it at a point where I'm guaranteed to hear, such as when I'm checking the nets. Furthermore, he has apparently been telling other managers how much he dislikes me. One of my neighbours happens to be the chairman of a local club, who overheard him telling an opposition manager that "at least he's not that Matthew ****, he's a w****r".
I just don't get it. I think it stems back to me calling a game off a few years ago when the pitch was waterlogged, something that he disagreed with. Other than that, I've reffed them five or six times and nothing unusual has happened.
Obviously, I won't referee his team differently to any other, but I'm not sure how to approach the coach or the game in general. If he carries on with the usual pre-match nonsense, do I say anything?
The home manager takes it upon himself to complain and make things difficult. Before every game, he makes a point of telling his team to be careful because I'm a "jobsworth" who's "out to get them"; this isn't a case of me overhearing, he always does it at a point where I'm guaranteed to hear, such as when I'm checking the nets. Furthermore, he has apparently been telling other managers how much he dislikes me. One of my neighbours happens to be the chairman of a local club, who overheard him telling an opposition manager that "at least he's not that Matthew ****, he's a w****r".
I just don't get it. I think it stems back to me calling a game off a few years ago when the pitch was waterlogged, something that he disagreed with. Other than that, I've reffed them five or six times and nothing unusual has happened.
Obviously, I won't referee his team differently to any other, but I'm not sure how to approach the coach or the game in general. If he carries on with the usual pre-match nonsense, do I say anything?