My First red

[Robin]

I had an U18 game today and it was a bit feisty to say the least but both managers gave me 90 out of 100 and said I handled the game well but at the end of the game I didn't enjoy it and thought I could have handled the situation a little better but I will explain what happened.

Whites number 5 was moaning all game so i had lots of issues with him all game, he was yellow carded first thing in the second half for delaying the restart by complaining about a decision I gave against him so I cautioned for delaying the restart as he would not get out of the way when a free kick was taken and he was fine about it so all good. 15 mins before the end he came flying in for a really bad tackle so I gave his a second yellow for the bad tackle and then subsequent sending off, he went off and everything was fine so no complaints there.

However Whites number 8 came flying in and hardly got the ball and injured blue number 10 (who did stay on but needed treatment), it was a sending off in my opinion but I only gave him a yellow card cos it was his first challenge and he was fine all game, another reason I also didn't give him a straight red is I had just sent off one his team mates for exactly the same thing as a second yellow so in my head I thought it also has to be a yellow card cos of what happened and didn't think that sending off a player straight after sending off another player cos it doesn't look good in my opinion.

Did I do the right thing by only cautioning him and not red carding him cos of the previous situation?

Any tips and advice would be great cos I didn't enjoy my first red card but it was an obvious one anyway.

 

[Aled]

Just cause it's a first tackle is irrelevant, if it's worthy of a sending off you give them a red card. Remember! You have to be consistent in your decisions, caution for one you caution for all of them so that is a very risky tactic, I've been caught out with that 'it's his first tackle' yellow card.

 

[SM]

First (and most important) of all, don't feel bad about this, get a feeling from your post that you are giving yourself a bit of a hard time over it. You got through the game, learn from it and move on.

You answered your own question: if it is a red card challenge it earns a red card. All the reasons you gave for not giving the straight red are sadly cop outs mate. If you think it earns a red no other considerations come into it . First challenge of the game? Red. Just sent off his dad? Still a red. He has a cup final he will miss? Oh shame, that'll still be a red. Handing out red cards never feels good, but it has it be done.

Unless you have a time machine handy though, it's over. Chalk it up to experience.

Ps, I think that first caution sounds more like a caution for dissent rather than delay. And you seem to imply that white 5 also should have been shown a straight red?

 

[Robin]

The reason I gave a yellow for the first one is that he was already on a yellow so it made my job alot easier to just send him off for a second yellow hence the reason I had to give a yellow card to the second player cos it was an identical challenge so thats why I gave a yellow card.

Thanks for the advice and tips everyone. I feel as though there every game that I do I am learning something which is great, however alot of the time I think I should have done this and should have done that but the game is done so its time to move on from the game cos there is nothing I can do considering the game is finished.

 

[micky2001]

Would you not be better cautioning for failing to respect distance at free kick as opposed to delaying the restart?

 

[Robin]

It deserved a caution either way for not moving away from the free kick

 

[HullRef]

The reason I gave a yellow for the first one is that he was already on a yellow so it made my job alot easier to just send him off for a second yellow hence the reason I had to give a yellow card to the second player cos it was an identical challenge so thats why I gave a yellow card.

Firstly mate well done for getting through it and for the managers to give you 90 put of 100 you must have done well

This is the bit where I am going to be quite harsh but hopefully you will learn from it.
1.) The first yellow could've gone down as failing to respect the required distance or delaying the restart or dissent but it doesn't matter because he deserved a caution and that's that, as long as you can justify what you put it down as it is fine (which you can do in all 3 caution codes for this).

2.) After you have given this card you need to forget that you have given it (not literally *cough* Graham Poll) but you mustn't let it effect your decision making for the rest of the game, if the same player does something that you would give him his first caution for the you give him his second for it as well.

3.) For the players second challenge if you thought it was worthy of a red card then give him a straight red, it might mean that you have to fill out more paper work and that it takes a while to explain what you are giving but you must give him a straight red because if you don't you let your 'standards' for each card drop.

4.) You should never worry about sending off two players at any time, if they have done something worthy of a red then they should be off no matter what the circumstances.

5.) Don't think that because you have given one tackle as a yellow then a similar tackle can't be a red, if you think that it is a red, again send him off. You will always get one or two players coming up saying " well that foul there was only a yellow so why is that red?" and to that you just have to elaborate the truth a bit (e.g. " his studs were up this time" or "it was much more dangerous/cynical" etc) most players will accept this short answer and walk away.
The only time that I would say "I've given that as a yellow so this must be one too" is when I am borderline, caution/stern warning because if you caution for something then 2 minutes later caution for the same thing again, even the dumbest players will soon start to realise that you don't like that.

I have been a bit harsh on you here to say that you are quite new to refing but don't keep dwelling on it, learn from the incident and let it make you become a better referee.