The Ref Stop

Showing the wrong card

The Bstard

The Bstard

Active Member
So, first Sunday League game of the season today produced my first red cards of the season to boot.

The first was simple, a yellow for calling me a pr*ck, a second for a deliberate trip to break a promising rampage down the left. Irritatingly the bloke stumbled and stayed on his feet - in my head I was askinghim to fall so I could sell the (obvious) decision more!

Second was interesting. 10 man team are 3-2 up, when a player pulls someone back on the edge of the box. He slams the ball into the ground, and so I book him for dissent. When I ask his name, I mishear the first name as a female name, and I ask it back quizzically - he goes ape, I tell him to calm down, that I just misheard him, leave him muttering. As I count out the wall (which he's in) I clearly hear him say to his mate 'I just ****ing want to plant one on that bitch.' Nice easy straight red decision. But... I showed him a yellow first - I got my cards confused - before the red. He said some more lovely things about my parentage and what I should do to myself as he left, and I let the captain (very angry by now) know that it was in fact a straight red, but not him. I wasn't causing myself undue stress!

Silly, but hopefully right!
 
The Ref Stop
Don't worry, on my course the tutor told a story of a referee who produced a yellow for dogso (odd) and then the player walked (v odd). Post match he tutor asked the ref what was going on, turned out the ref had stuck the yellow and red together so he wouldn't forget which pocket was which card! Old ref well known in the league apparently!
 
The Bstard said:
The first was simple, a yellow for calling me a pr*ck, a second for a deliberate trip to break a promising rampage down the left. Irritatingly the bloke stumbled and stayed on his feet - in my head I was askinghim to fall so I could sell the (obvious) decision more
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Mr ******* .......A mere yellow card for someone calling you a "***** " I thought I was rather tolerant but that would be an instant red for me .
 
All I can think is Sunday league, first red you could of left. Sound's like you wanted the red card more than both teams or the game needed it.

2nd sounds weird, doesn't sound like you managed the first caution well which left him pi$$ed off.
 
Jacko said:
All I can think is Sunday league, first red you could of left. Sound's like you wanted the red card more than both teams or the game needed it.

2nd sounds weird, doesn't sound like you managed the first caution well which left him pi$$ed off.
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Pretty harsh accusation Jacko. Were you there?
Personal dissent and a clear tactical foul, 2 yellows.
And what precisely do you think was done wrong on the first caution? Let's keept it constructive please.

deusex said:
I'm trying to be constructive but am struggling.....
Forget EVERYTHING else that happened in this match.
The above was your biggest error and you have let your fellow refs on that league down sir.
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Are you saying it should have been a red for that?
Very over the top reaction in your post too. What's in the air on your side of the pond this evening????
 
If needs be include the fact that you showed the wrong card in your report.

In a similar vein on a cup semi-final middle once I had a player leave before I could card him. The culprit was caught late, but turned and grabbed the other player around the throat and lifted him off the ground. Whistle immediately and everybody's on their way - as you would expect. Player in question however rips of his shirt, throws it on the floor and says, "You can f-- send me off I don't f-- care" and storms away. No card shown - what's the point here?

My report said exactly that - The player left the field before I could show him the red card. A lengthy ban followed.

The key here is that I covered my back against any - he never showed me a card argument. The card is merely a visual communication tool. The act of sending someone off is in essence a verbal one.

Make it clear to the relevant authority what happened and why.

As an aside everybody's favourite Hertfordshire referee made a similar mistake at a World Cup, but got away with it because of what happened to him later in the tournament. He went to second yellow a player (Togolese I think if memory serves correctly) and showed red then yellow.
 
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Jacko said:
All I can think is Sunday league, first red you could of left. Sound's like you wanted the red card more than both teams or the game needed it.

2nd sounds weird, doesn't sound like you managed the first caution well which left him pi$$ed off.
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Nope, dissent, a foul which was borderline yellow, followed by a clear tactical. The level doesn't affect.

deusex said:
I'm trying to be constructive but am struggling.....
Forget EVERYTHING else that happened in this match.
The above was your biggest error and you have let your fellow refs on that league down sir.
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My level of dissent here is that the way it was said was not worthy of a red... Particularly with match temperature at this point (20 mins in) and the fact that I had told him to 'shut up' (which I shouldn't have and was a mistake, and that raised his temperature)
 
The Bstard said:
Particularly with match temperature at this point (20 mins in) and the fact that I had told him to 'shut up' (which I shouldn't have and was a mistake, and that raised his temperature)
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Ooooo I hate when my mouth fails me and i tell a player to shut up (very, very rare, but I still kick myself for not having quicker wits and letting my frustrations get the better of me if it does happen) so I can completely understand your reasoning for going caution for the players reaction in this circumstance.
 
Keep your cards separate , I keep my red in my back pocket used for straight reds, and only yellow in my notebook that way I can't get them mixed up. I do have a b+d flip card in my other pocket for second yellows, show the yellow sides with the left hand and then after I've turned it into the red card hold it up with right.stops getting cards stuck etc. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Referee-Cards-Flip-Book/dp/B001A9IBC4
 
Richard Silverwood did that in a rugby league game this season. He laughed but Zak Hardacre didnt haha
 
So what about the game? Does the manner in which the player says it, the why and wherefore, not affect the colour of the card?

If a player is frustrated at s decision and snap-turns with an 'oh fck off', that's a chat to me. A player in the game I was assistant on today said to me 'do your job you ginger c.nt' when the ball didn't go out of play and was crossed in. I wanted red, but was talked down by the man in the middle based on the 90th minute, the team being four down, the temperature of the game, the fact it was a snap comment, not hurled at me. I sort of kind of agree with him, from common sense, and I'm not sure I should, letter of law wise.

In the original post situation I had (inadvertently) invited the players ire through my own mistake - telling him to shut up. His comment, while meant for me, was with back turned and running away, not shouted across the pitch. The temperature of the game was (at that point) low. These things make a difference...
 
The Bstard said:
These things make a difference...
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Yes certain comments do depend on these factors.
However, calling me a pr*ck/c*nt is a red card if it's the 158th minute, last game of the season, unders8s, last match in the clubs history as the apocolpse is the day after AND the team is 13-0 down AND I've just given the worst decison in the history of mankind.
I am sorry your referee today was a coward. I don't know who came up with that list of sh*te excuses not to bin him, hope it was him. Please don't try and convince yourself the ref was correct, he wasn't.
One of the things I enjoy least about refereeing is running lines for weak refs that haven't got my back. The **** I've had screamed at me by players, just to watch aghast as the ref "has a word". Spineless.
I'd be politely turning down any lines with this ref in future and would state my reasons why to the ref sec.
 
Of course the game, situation, manner etc is all taken into consideration - but that doesn't extend to meaning that if a team is 5 goals down and just had a goal disallowed that they're now allowed to say anything. If something crosses the line, then it crosses the line.
I think most referees would agree that it doesn't matter what the scenario is, calling a ref a cheat or c*** completely crosses the line past the point where other things can be taken into consideration.

Personally, I think all of that 'it's an emotional game' nonsense is an excuse anyway, but currently it's an excuse we all have to live by.currently.

and I can't think who else 'do your job' would be directed at...lol.

'f*** off* could be argued as being more about the situation than a personal attack. Though it's interesting to note how even on here, over the last couple of years there's been an increasing number of people saying it may only result in a yellow. And heck, given that I've sent a number of players off for it and it almost always causes more problems doing so, I've also softened my approach. We're all both victims and proponents of the problem.
 
The Bstard said:
If a player is frustrated at s decision and snap-turns with an 'oh fck off', that's a chat to me. A player in the game I was assistant on today said to me 'do your job you ginger c.nt' when the ball didn't go out of play and was crossed in. I wanted red, but was talked down by the man in the middle based on the 90th minute, the team being four down, the temperature of the game, the fact it was a snap comment, not hurled at me. I sort of kind of agree with him, from common sense, and I'm not sure I should, letter of law wise.
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I don't think you were talked down. It's the referee who decides what shade of card is used not an Assistant.

The assistant passes the referee the information and the referee makes their decision.
 
I agree with the Cap'n and B'stard here. The context, the manner in which it is said and the frequency with which it is said all have to come into play. If a player responds quickly and one time after a decision is made with a "F*ck off" he'll get a sharp warning from me and if it happens again, he will go into the book, but I'm not aiming to send anyone off for having a quick, impassioned response when there's nothing particularly threatening about it. Now, if it's a fifteen second diatribe from the player, he will probably be walking. Just a quick response like "F*ck off that was never a foul ref" will meet with a public chat involving: "Whether you think it was a foul or not, I won't be abused. Mind your mouth next time and we won't have a problem."
 
For me it also depends on frustration or if it's full on and I don't care if your second coming of Christ if I get called over by my Lino and asked to bath that is what is happening
 
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