Managing Drop Ball

[zarathustra]

So, the League 1 season kicked off yesterday, and that meant I was on my way from Gillingham to Accrington Stanley ( who the heck are they?).

The majority of the game was fine and I think the team of officials did well.

However in the second half play was stopped on the halfway line just in front of the benches for a head injury.

Player gets sorted and the ref goes to restart with a dropped ball, all good so far. Now I couldn’t hear what was said but it was pretty obvious he was telling the Gillingham player to kick the ball back to the Accrington goal keeper. Already a bit dodgy as he is obviously managing the drop ball.

Anyway, he drops the ball, it touches the floor and one of the Accrington players kicks the ball to his team mate obviously trying to pull a quick counter attack.

Now, does the referee let play go on? No, he actually stopped the game and it was obvious he stopped it because the Accrington players didn’t let the Gillingham player kick it back to their (Accrington’s) keeper.

Have I missed a change in the laws for this season where we can manage dropped balls? I got picked up on an assessment last season because I dropped the infront of one of the keepers (she’d had it in her hand when ply was stopped) and there were no opposition players there to challenge for it. I hadn’t told them not to, they just didn’t come over.

 

[BCMilan]

No change as far as i'm aware. I did notice in the World Cup the refs seemed to be managing them quite a lot, though. It doesn't help the rest of us as players will think this is in the LOTG.

 

[JamesL]

So, the League 1 season kicked off yesterday, and that meant I was on my way from Gillingham to Accrington Stanley ( who the heck are they?).

The majority of the game was fine and I think the team of officials did well.

However in the second half play was stopped on the halfway line just in front of the benches for a head injury.

Player gets sorted and the ref goes to restart with a dropped ball, all good so far. Now I couldn’t hear what was said but it was pretty obvious he was telling the Gillingham player to kick the ball back to the Accrington goal keeper. Already a bit dodgy as he is obviously managing the drop ball.

Anyway, he drops the ball, it touches the floor and one of the Accrington players kicks the ball to his team mate obviously trying to pull a quick counter attack.

Now, does the referee let play go on? No, he actually stopped the game and it was obvious he stopped it because the Accrington players didn’t let the Gillingham player kick it back to their (Accrington’s) keeper.

Have I missed a change in the laws for this season where we can manage dropped balls? I got picked up on an assessment last season because I dropped the infront of one of the keepers (she’d had it in her hand when ply was stopped) and there were no opposition players there to challenge for it. I hadn’t told them not to, they just didn’t come over.

In which case you were wrong to be picked up on it. By not challenging for it they gave their inference they were happy for the keeper to be the only player to "contest" it; providing you dropped it in the right place of course.
Dropped ball may be contested by any number of players, be that 1 or 22.
The way I get around it is to establish both teams intent before the dropped ball. That way the referee is not manufacturing the outcome, the teams are.

In your game sounds dodgy. Only way he can stop play is if there has been an infringement of the dropped ball procedure.

Again, this is why it is important to ascertain intent. If they say yes we'll play it back and then don't there is nothing you can do really. Well there is, you can get mega card happy and do them for every tiny little infringement and as severe punishment as you can.

If they say no we aren't going to play it back then you can tell the other team so and they can decide if they want to contest it or not.

 

[Sheffields Finest]

Easily managed if this happens, you jump on the whistle for a retake as you didn’t drop it on the right spot.... they won’t fall for any ruse again!

 

[BCMilan]

James. Out of interest, how do you get their intent without describing what they can do ? ie what are they saying "yes" to ?

 

[JamesL]

James. Out of interest, how do you get their intent without describing what they can do ? ie what are they saying "yes" to ?

Easy. You explain its a dropped ball. Then you ask both teams (closest players in attendance) what are you doing with it?
99/100 one team will offer to play it back to the other.

 

[Nalbi]

James. Out of interest, how do you get their intent without describing what they can do ? ie what are they saying "yes" to ?

Usually when you say it’s andropped ball most teams (if you stopped it for an injury) will say will kick it back ref or sth of that sort. I had this yesterday, most of the team said they’ll kick it back except for the captain who said we go for it. Not a happy bunch the opposition were for the next 10 mins or so

 

[BCMilan]

Usually when you say it’s andropped ball most teams (if you stopped it for an injury) will say will kick it back ref or sth of that sort. I had this yesterday, most of the team said they’ll kick it back except for the captain who said we go for it. Not a happy bunch the opposition were for the next 10 mins or so

..and yet again they name the most unsporting player as their skipper (but that's a topic for another day !)

 

[BCMilan]

Easy. You explain its a dropped ball. Then you ask both teams (closest players in attendance) what are you doing with it?
99/100 one team will offer to play it back to the other.

Nice line. But isn't asking what they are "doing with it" implying they could kick it back, hence managing the situation ? (Only playing devils advocate for future reference)

 

[JamesL]

Nice line. But isn't asking what they are "doing with it" implying they could kick it back, hence managing the situation ? (Only playing devils advocate for future reference)

Managing and manufacturing are two very different things.
In the OP it appears the referee has manufactured the outcome i.e. he has decided who may contest it and the outcome.

This contradicts the laws of the game:

"the referee cannot decide who may contest a dropped ball or its outcome."

In my way of dealing I am not opposing the lotg as I am not making the decision. I am allowing the teams to come to an agreement, or not. If no agreement then its a shrug of the shoulders and a, more than likely, contested drop ball.

 

[cwyeary]

In the strict reading of the LOTG the referee shouldn't have stopped the game.

In the spirit reading of the LOTG "oops I dropped the ball in the wrong spot".

 

[RustyRef]

Take your pick between common sense and spirit of the game. Remember that manufacturing the outcome is a lot different to managing the situation. The former might be "guys, you are kicking it back", the latter might be "what are you going to do guys, you OK to kick it back"?

 

[zarathustra]

Take your pick between common sense and spirit of the game. Remember that manufacturing the outcome is a lot different to managing the situation. The former might be "guys, you are kicking it back", the latter might be "what are you going to do guys, you OK to kick it back"?

This very much appeared to be the former.

I don’t think the highlights show it, but from where we were stood it looked like the referee had told the players that the gills player would kick it back to the Stanley keeper.

This was re-enforced by the referees handsignals when he stopped play and re did the dropped ball.

 

[RustyRef]

This very much appeared to be the former.

I don’t think the highlights show it, but from where we were stood it looked like the referee had told the players that the gills player would kick it back to the Stanley keeper.

This was re-enforced by the referees handsignals when he stopped play and re did the dropped ball.

You don't know what has been said though. He may have asked if they want to kick it back, or indeed they may have already told him they will.

 

[GraemeS]

You don't know what has been said though. He may have asked if they want to kick it back, or indeed they may have already told him they will.

Agreed. If he's asked what they're going to do and then communicated that decision to the other team in order to prepare them, that's fine by me.

 

[zarathustra]

You don't know what has been said though. He may have asked if they want to kick it back, or indeed they may have already told him they will.

True, but his body language and hand signals, and the fact he pulled it back when the Stanley player kicked it, certainly made it look like he’d told them to kick it back, rather than he’d asked and they said they would.

Of course it’s likely that we’ll never know exactly what happened, but it certainly looked a bit suspect.

It just goes to show, as with my case where I got picked up simply because I didn’t tell one of the away players to come in for the dropped ball, it’s not just about doing the right thing, you must also be seen/make it obvious to those around you that you are doing the right thing.

 

[kronell]

Sometimes our instinct never lies but we can't always use it to prove our stance. Whatever happens, the rules should win, well in most cases.

 

[Iain]

Players prefer to be told what to do in a drop ball situation. Why did LOTG stop refs from doing the right thing in drop ball situations.

 

[one]

Players prefer to be told what to do in a drop ball situation. Why did LOTG stop refs from doing the right thing in drop ball situations.

It only included what they should have been doing ever since dropped ball started. It got included because too many referees were wrongly telling player what to do. The referee were never meant to dictate to players what to do at a restart, including a dropped ball.

If a team kicks the ball out for an injury, you should never tell the other team to throw it back to the ones who kicked it out, even if its not in the LOTG.

 

[Peter Grove]

Players prefer to be told what to do in a drop ball situation. Why did LOTG stop refs from doing the right thing in drop ball situations.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean - the Laws of the Game have never, ever said (or even implied) that referees should be allowed to tell players what to do with the ball when it is in play.

Any referee that was giving explicit instructions to players in this way was always treading on thin ice as far as the law goes. Asking the players what they are going to do or hinting as to what they might want to do could be seen as acceptable for me - but not actually telling them what they have to do.