A&H

Robertson & TAA's post match rants

The Referee Store
ChasTutorObserver said:
I observe in games at three levels - Contrib/Supply/local promotion candidates. Newer referees looking for promotion do tend to do something about unacceptable language, and our Supply League has told clubs, players, referees and observers that referees who do nothing will receive a lower mark. This has worked well in its first season.
Once a referee gets to Contributory Level (3) there is a tendency to "not hear"/ignore it, even though everyone else in the ground has. A great shame.
The worst level of language is in local Sunday football, where a full sentence is a rarity and a full sentence without unacceptable language in it is even rarer. Classic last season where a Level 4 coming back from injury refereed a few Sunday morning games for match fitness, and sent off a player for a loud verbal broadside (over a disputed throw on the halfway line!) As he showed the red card the player said very loudly "I didn't f###ing swear at you, you d###head". Enough said!
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What I find really difficult to accept is that its been allowed to happen yet no one accepts responsibility or even public acknowledgment when it's in question. If its been accepted at higher levels (and it clearly has) then don't ignore when questioned about it, don't roll out half baked excuses, just state the truth.

And if that truth is that its accepted and ignored then that's what it is. Dont dress it up, don't participate in half baked campaigns to stop it when you're actively encouraging it by looking the other way. Just state the truth and then everybody knows and can move the debate on from there.
 
RustyRef said:
I would say it was fairly low level behaviour
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I agree, but only because elite referees must be under instruction to ignore it. The rest of us are left exposed by this mandate
Personally, the I would've cautioned the behaviour in the footage for dissent. That said, cautioning an EPL player after the whistle is a complete waste of time because it's hardly a punishment

No other topic of conversation, is more important to refereeing than abuse. If tangible change is to be achieved, spectators need to see elite referees applying the LOTG
 
JamesL said:
Just make sure its in jest and you can pull it off. Comments like that could land you in hot water. :)
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Yeah that wouldn’t have gone down well in that situation hahah although I do know he got a fine though
 
A different angle to consider here. Coote can't react to this behaviour, simply because his EPL colleagues wouldn't either
EPL refs collectively act as one. This has been spoken about by EPL refs at RA meetings
Indeed, the Clubs arguably have as much influence on how the games are reffed as IFAB
 
Big Cat said:
A different angle to consider here. Coote can't react to this behaviour, simply because his EPL colleagues wouldn't either
EPL refs collectively act as one. This has been spoken about by EPL refs at RA meetings
Indeed, the Clubs arguably have as much influence on how the games are reffed as IFAB
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Perhaps there's someone on here who watches American sports closely who could clarify how they deal with such verbal abuse from players? Aren't all players miced up? In the bits of documentaries I've seen, it certainly appears that the audio from on the field can be heard.
 
I ought to retire as a refereeing commentator! Martin Atkinson just sent Benteke off after the final whistle for verbals
:egg:
Wonder if the Liverpool game factored in this
 
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Ben448844 said:
Perhaps there's someone on here who watches American sports closely who could clarify how they deal with such verbal abuse from players? Aren't all players miced up? In the bits of documentaries I've seen, it certainly appears that the audio from on the field can be heard.
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No, I don’t think there is an American sport that mics up all players. Some games have selected players on mics, usually for special occasions. But there are often lots of mics on the field—watch an American football game and you’ll see several mic holders with parabolic mics to capture sound at a distance. How much abuse is permitted varies by sport. In baseball, for example, I think the line is fairly clear that a player manager can use any language to describe/scream about a call, but the same words about the umpire will result in ejection. (I.e., “that call $&#@ing sucked!” Is OK, but “you &$#*ing suck” is a trip to the shower. (There is an exception—very little dissent about balls/strikes is accepted.) I don’t know that American football has much at all in sanctions—maybe along the lines of soccer. But they also benefit in the public eye in that it’s hard to lip read someone wearing a face mask. American basketball doesn’t permit a whole lot-referees will issue technical fouls for abuse, and it’s expected. (While two technical fouls equal an ejection, they are rare as players know the expectations; and while t cynical fouls do accumulate, it takes a lot of them, so suspensions for to many are very rare.) As best I can tell, the tolerance in MLS is very similar to the rest of the soccer world.
 
Big Cat said:
I ought to retire as a refereeing commentator! Martin Atkinson just sent Benteke off after the final whistle for verbals
:egg:
Wonder if the Liverpool game factored in this
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Press have reported that the red card was for a flashpoint with Ezri Konsa, so presumably VC.
 
It's a disgrace. To tolerate it is to condone it and this unacceptable. It's also in the Laws that's it's wrong, so it should be punished appropriately. Appalling example to set to young players to allow it to go on. Does this happen in other sports? Football is making its own problems.
 
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