A&H

There goes my theory.

RegalRef

RegalRef

Politically Incorrect
I had this theory up until today that teams at the bottom of any league tend to be the ones that give the most dissent or constant commentary about decisions.

Had a game today 1st v 2nd and they were a nightmare. Both of them.

Didn't start well when I got there and found about 30 rabbit holes (you know the ones about 3 or 4 inches deep) in the pitch. Looked at the next pitch and found it was better though half a dozen so made them swap the nets and corner flags. 'But we don't mind ref, we're happy to play on this one". Well it's not your decision boys - you move pitches or we don't play. I wasn't messing about. They moved and we stamped in the remaining holes.

Real poor discipline from both sides and they just wanted to argue or give their thoughts on every decision which I told them I wasn't interested in.

Cards came out after 10 minutes which quietened it down for half hour or so until they forgot and it was card after card for the same sort of thing.

Ended up with 6 cautions, 5 for dissent and 1 red on home goalkeeper for DOGSO.

Home Manager came onto pitch at the end for handshake and was questioning the red and penalty, saying there was no contact, striker dived and I shouldn't be putting it through because he was a student who couldn't afford it and had done nothing wrong etc etc.

Up pipes a voice in my defence who I hadn't recognised but was stood on his own 5 yards from the corner flag on the side of the incident in a long coat - a L4 colleague who I ran a line for a couple of weeks ago in lives in one of the houses overlooking the pitch had had his game cancelled so came to watch. He later told me it was an excellent decision, and he had the best view.

After the final whistle player from away side came and shook my hand 'I don't even know where to start ref'. I said 'if you don't want a second yellow and red I suggest you don't. Besides, I really couldn't care less of your opinion'.

Ends with manager saying they will appeal red and/or not pay anyway. 'Oh right. That'll make things better I'm sure'. Followed by massive piss taking from the opposite team as the player that went in goal following the red played an absolute blinder.
 
The Referee Store
I agree with your initial perception - though mainly with the team running for wooden spoon, particularly if they're bottom by a long way. Too often it's been easy to see that they've stopped enjoying their football as a result, so as soon as anything goes against them (say, a goal) they start looking for somebody to blame. Discipline starts to go out the window, then that makes them feel more hard done by, so they get worse, etc etc. And utterly convinced that there's a referee conspiracy against them - not realising their own poor discipline is a big part of the reason why they're on the bottom. Especially if they're on the bottom for more than 1 season.
One particular team, each time I refereed them I sent off somebody for telling me to "f*** off" (each time the player looked in my eyes to say it, so it wasn't just a frustration at the decision thing). Bizarre.

The flip side with your perception is that teams around the top tend to be a bit more competitive so a bit more aggressive and emotional - and they have more riding on their games than a team in the middle of the table.

I tend to find that the top one or two teams tend to have the best discipline, and it's often the teams a few spots down which cause more problems!
 
Last edited:
CapnBloodbeard said:
I agree with your initial perception - though mainly with the team running for wooden spoon, particularly if they're bottom by a long way. Too often it's been easy to see that they've stopped enjoying their football as a result, so as soon as anything goes against them (say, a goal) they start looking for somebody to blame. Discipline starts to go out the window, then that makes them feel more hard done by, so they get worse, etc etc. And utterly convinced that there's a referee conspiracy against them - not realising their own poor discipline is a big part of the reason why they're on the bottom. Especially if they're on the bottom for more than 1 season.
One particular team, each time I refereed them I sent off somebody for telling me to "f*** off" (each time the player looked in my eyes to say it, so it wasn't just a frustration at the decision thing). Bizarre.

The flip side with your perception is that teams around the top tend to be a bit more competitive so a bit more aggressive and emotional - and they have more riding on their games than a team in the middle of the table.

I tend to find that the top one or two teams tend to have the best discipline, and it's often the teams a few spots down which cause more problems!
Click to expand...

The flip side to my initial perception was that the teams at the top tend to focus more on playing the game, hence the better performance and results.
 
Comments like "I don't care about your opinion anyway" are not helpful in maintaining control or avoiding further dissent. Saying something like "If you don't want a second yellow, I suggest you don't" is fine if the player is being belligerent. If he's just expressing his disappointment in a quiet and reasonable way, it might be best to listen and say something along the lines of "I'm sorry we disagree about what happened, but what's done is done and now we have to move on."
 
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