A&H

Managers think you were born yesterday !

H

Hartlepool_ref

Active Member
I've had a couple of experiences this weekend whereby managers have tried to carefully con me...
I should first explain that, of course, the weather has been quite bad over the last couple of weeks and my games have been borderline playable but most teams in my leagues are okay and just want to play football: cue the d**kheads...
The first happened two weeks ago, the pitch was borderline again, I was happy to play the home manager was in the mind that it shouldn't be played but the away manager INSISTED (and I mean insisted). In the end I went with my Decision and played to the mutterings of home manager.

Away team who insisted we play were 8-0 with about 15 mins to go and they were atrocious (in terms of football, the game was going well). it then starts to rain a little...
The away manager then decided to whine and say that the game should be abandoned, again he seemed quite sure that he was right and it should be abandoned !
I calmly approached him and said "you chewed and chewed to play this game, there's just over 10 mins to play, We're going to finish. You can't decide to cancel a game just because you're loosing"
He wasn't happy "players safety blah blah blah" I just told him he didn't care about safety when he thought he had a chance of winning this morning !

The second was similar except u13's. the manager told me before the game that if he thought it was too cold for the lads he would inform me so I could abandon...
I quickly informed him that the game would be going ahead (it wasn't cold at all, the sun was out/no wind) and I wasn't going to entertain the notion of abandoning the game because of cold, however I imagine that only happens when your team are getting beat.
The face like a Rabbit caught in the headlights seems to suggest I'd figured him out !

Has anyone else had anything similar or is it just the tossers in my legues !?
 
The Referee Store
You always get knackers like this wherever you go. Players/managers/parents, you name it, you'll get it. I remember being told I was going to be reported to the FA by a manager for a red card when a player had called me a cheating t**t amongst other things. Generally they're all clueless idiots who are only upset at the prospect of being beaten.
 
The other one "watch their tackling ref" which really means "our tackling is worse"!
 
Had a county cup game the other week, u13. Away team are in the car park and the pitch is over the otherside of the field. The away manager starts talking to me that looks like it'll be called off, pitch is water logged. He even suggests I dont bother going over there as he's already been to look it over and its terrible. He looked surprised when I said I'll go and check as cant just take his word for it. As we're walking over and chatting to him it comes out more and more than his team have only played 4 league games this season and still top as they are in great form. If this one is called off he's got a home game organised for his team over in Upminster (about a 40 minute drive from where we are) and he's happy to pay me a bit extra to come over and ref that one so they can get the game on. Turns out the pitch is awesome, flat as a pancake and in the middle of nowhere so the wind has left it wonderfully dry. When I tell them the game is going ahead the away manager is literally straight on his mobile cancelling the match they had arranged at their home ground. Ridiculous.

On a positive note I've had the last few games played on terrible pitches, borderline called off, and both sets of managers and players have been massively keen to go ahead which is a really helpful attitude.
 
So if one manager want to play, and the other thinks the pitch is unfit, we pay regardless - I;d expect to have the backing of both managers to go with the game if the pitch was borderline, with the understanding that if we start, we finish, or we abandon. But surely if there is the chance that we need to abandon due to weather we shouldnt be starting in the first place, no?

Manager says its too cold for his kid - we overrule on child welfare so the other team can play, and as we don't think it's that cold. When did we start taking a clubs decision for child welfare? Don't fancy explaining myself to parents or CFA if something happens.

I don't think the pitch will last the game - game off. Wether forecast to come in and will make the pitch unplayable by the end of the math - speak to both teams.

If one team don't want to play it for whatever reason, it's off.

For the record I've had 3 games that I've refused to start due to the pitch, in 4 years.
 
HRW said:
Manager says its too cold for his kid - we overrule on child welfare so the other team can play, and as we don't think it's that cold. When did we start taking a clubs decision for child welfare? Don't fancy explaining myself to parents or CFA if something happens.
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Doesn't matter if either manager thinks it is ok or not ok, it boils down to whether WE think it is ok. One manager thinking it isn't suitable doesn't make us any more or less liable for something going wrong, thankfully. In terms of explaining ourselves, again, there's little to worry about, as long as you have done a thorough pitch inspection and deemed it safe to play then we are covered.

The issue would be if we've done an inspection and failed to spot something that is dangerous, e.g a frozen patch of ground. I imagine that would open a big old can of worms.

Edit: if one team doesn't want to play then surely they would forfeit for not fufilling a fixture, and not the game being replayed because of unsuitable conditions? Unless of course you genuinely think the pitch is unsuitable anyway.
 
pitch playable or not is strictly the referees decision no one else, and the managers coaches should be no where near you when you are making that decision.
 
In terms of fitness of a field, the referee usually has the final decision. Exception might be where a local authority has closed down all its fields

Regarding it being too cold to play, please bear in mind that there are child welfare considerations to take into account.

If you declare the field is fit and one team refuses to play, you report the facts to the competition organisers and let them decide what to do.
 
I won't be getting into arguments about how "cold" it is, everyone is different, but it doesn't take a genius to work out when teams don't want to play for tactical reasons (e.g. Only bringing 9 players) or want a get out of jail free card if times get tough...
I judge every pitch inspection by my own merit and 99/100 the managers will let me get on with it and/or are eager to play. But with too many people out there being dishonest, I dismiss even the most genuine of concerns about pitch/temperature
 
I had this today pitch was bogey in patches and there few pot holes but there was nothing bad about them at all and the away team forfeited it
 
I've yet to have a team point blank refuse to play on a pitch.
I once had a manager who only brought 10 players and spent half an hour walking up and down the pitch till he found the tiniest puddle of water and claimed we couldn't play on it... Needless to say he was quickly told that I wasn't born yesterday and the game would be going ahead. That's half an hour of his life he wouldn't be getting back. Ironically his team won 3-1.
 
HRW said:
So if one manager want to play, and the other thinks the pitch is unfit, we pay regardless - I;d expect to have the backing of both managers to go with the game if the pitch was borderline, with the understanding that if we start, we finish, or we abandon. But surely if there is the chance that we need to abandon due to weather we shouldnt be starting in the first place, no?

Manager says its too cold for his kid - we overrule on child welfare so the other team can play, and as we don't think it's that cold. When did we start taking a clubs decision for child welfare? Don't fancy explaining myself to parents or CFA if something happens.

I don't think the pitch will last the game - game off. Wether forecast to come in and will make the pitch unplayable by the end of the math - speak to both teams.

If one team don't want to play it for whatever reason, it's off.

For the record I've had 3 games that I've refused to start due to the pitch, in 4 years.
Click to expand...

The decision of whether the pitch is playable and whether or not the game goes ahead is yours and yours alone and the managers have nothing to do with it !
 
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