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Cheshire Ref

Cheshire Ref

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Sunday League game, not done one for ages and it was fairly un-eventful, however......

Striker and goalkeeper are niggling with each other all game nothing major just "banter" I suppose you could say. Goalkeeper has a goal kick, the striker is stood on the edge of the box and says to the keeper "Let me just check that keeper I think its flat" the keeper rolls the ball to the striker who lobs it over his head and just skims the post and goes wide. I was a bit in shock to be honest that the cheeky so and so had even attempted this and a few of the opposition were not too happy with him and I wasn't surprised. I called him over and cautioned him for unsporting behaviour which he was very surprised at!!
 
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Cheshire Ref said:
Sunday League game, not done one for ages and it was fairly un-eventful, however......

Striker and goalkeeper are niggling with each other all game nothing major just "banter" I suppose you could say. Goalkeeper has a goal kick, the striker is stood on the edge of the box and says to the keeper "Let me just check that keeper I think its flat" the keeper rolls the ball to the striker who lobs it over his head and just skims the post and goes wide. I was a bit in shock to be honest that the cheeky so and so had even attempted this and a few of the opposition were not too happy with him and I wasn't surprised. I called him over and cautioned him for unsporting behaviour which he was very surprised at!!
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Why do you assume it's unsporting behaviour?
It was a goal kick, so the striker presumably knew that the ball wasn't yet in play. From what you've written, it sounds to me like this player has done exactly what he intended ie test the ball to see how flat it was by trying a chip/shot with it.
All a bit pointless for him to have done this anyway, but to be honest, unless you've missed something out of your explanation mate, from where I'm standing, this player has every right to be surprised at the caution? :)
 
Padfoot said:
'acts in a manner which shows a lack of respect for the game...'
Works for me.
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I agree. Total naivety from the goalkeeper but allowing the goal if the ball had gone in - which if I read the OP right was the intention - would have caused mayhem and probably resulted in at least one red card for the GK and probably several more as other players became involved.
 
Kes said:
Why do you assume it's unsporting behaviour?
It was a goal kick, so the striker presumably knew that the ball wasn't yet in play. From what you've written, it sounds to me like this player has done exactly what he intended ie test the ball to see how flat it was by trying a chip/shot with it.
All a bit pointless for him to have done this anyway, but to be honest, unless you've missed something out of your explanation mate, from where I'm standing, this player has every right to be surprised at the caution? :)
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I read it as the ball had left the area so was in play and the player was therefore trying to score a goal by unfair means. By saying "Let me just check that keeper I think its flat" he's going beyond just asking the GK for the ball.
Similar to saying "leave it!" when standing behind an opponent to put him off is a caution for USB.
I don't get why the GK didn't check it though!
 
Kes said:
Why do you assume it's unsporting behaviour?
It was a goal kick, so the striker presumably knew that the ball wasn't yet in play. From what you've written, it sounds to me like this player has done exactly what he intended ie test the ball to see how flat it was by trying a chip/shot with it.
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There was no way he was actually testing the ball, he knew exactly what he was doing which was to "trick" the goal keeper into passing him the ball.

Nottsman said:
I'd struggle to sell that as Unsporting Behaviour - Just sounds stupid and naive from the keeper.
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I actually saw this as one of the most obvious case's of unsporting behaviour I have ever seen!
 
Markt said:
I read it as the ball had left the area so was in play and the player was therefore trying to score a goal by unfair means. By saying "Let me just check that keeper I think its flat" he's going beyond just asking the GK for the ball.
Similar to saying "leave it!" when standing behind an opponent to put him off is a caution for USB.
I don't get why the GK didn't check it though!
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The ball wasn't in play. It was a goal kick and prior to taking it, the GK rolled the ball to the striker at his request to "test" it to see if it was flat. Can't see personally what the fuss is about. The ball didn't even go in the net!! :rolleyes: :)
 
Markt said:
I agree. Total naivety from the goalkeeper but allowing the goal if the ball had gone in - which if I read the OP right was the intention - would have caused mayhem and probably resulted in at least one red card for the GK and probably several more as other players became involved.
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See post #10. :)
 
;)
Kes said:
The ball wasn't in play. It was a goal kick and prior to taking it, the GK rolled the ball to the striker at his request to "test" it to see if it was flat. Can't see personally what the fuss is about. The ball didn't even go in the net!! :rolleyes: :)
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As Cheshire Ref (the OP) says in post 9 the forward tricked the gk into passing him the ball, ie he took the kick as required in Law, meaning that it actually was in play. If he had not penalised the player and the ball had gone into the goal then he would have had to allow it. (Unless he could argue that the ball was rolling, so the kick must be retaken! ;) ) This was why the defence got upset.
The fact that it didn't go in the goal is irrelevant. The intention was to "verbally distract an opponent at a restart" which is a mandatory caution for USB.
The fuss is about the fact that the player pulled a stunt that he considered funny but could have had serious consequences for match control. We should always clamp down when a player's actions threaten loss of control, as on this occasion.
If he had really thought the ball was flat he'd have told him to check the ball, not kick it to me! This is obviously what the gk should have done but the player's cheek took him by surprise.
Anyway, the the fact that it didn't go in the goal means a mandatory caution for being rubbish at cheating! :)
 
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I'd do exactly the same Ollie.

Did the ball leave the penalty area when it got to the striker? He can't have been far away?

Striker sounds a right proper little ****y **** to me.

Good refereeing.
 
Assuming rolled it means from the hands: If it's a goal kick and the keeper rolled it out, then the ball is not live. Just have the retake and give the striker the Collina stare. Cheeky scamp. Could Ping him for delay of game, but not distraction as the ball isn't in play.
 
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From post 9 from the OP I assume the GK rolled it with his foot ie kicked it. ( "There was no way he was actually testing the ball, he knew exactly what he was doing which was to "trick" the goal keeper into passing him the ball.") It therefore is in play.
Even if not, the player is trying it on because he and the goalkeeper had been niggling at each other all game. If they'd been ok all game then my reaction would be different. Even a good-tempered game has the potential to switch quickly if a team feels aggrieved about something. A player cheating like this can be the catalyst that leads to a mass-confrontation.

The LOTG says that a player is cautioned for USB if he "verbally distracts an opponent during play or at a restart": doesn't matter whether the ball is in play or not. The player reaction is the deciding factor here. If the other side had laughed and joked about it then I could sell the Collina stare (I have a really good one!) and a good mannered b***ocking to say that was funny that time but don't do it again!
Since they didn't react favourably I'd always caution. Having the Ref deal with something like that means there's less likely to be a reaction later. I always try to finish with 22 players and this had the potential to threaten that.
 
Markt said:
From post 9 from the OP I assume the GK rolled it with his foot ie kicked it. ( "There was no way he was actually testing the ball, he knew exactly what he was doing which was to "trick" the goal keeper into passing him the ball.") It therefore is in play.
Even if not, the player is trying it on because he and the goalkeeper had been niggling at each other all game. If they'd been ok all game then my reaction would be different. Even a good-tempered game has the potential to switch quickly if a team feels aggrieved about something. A player cheating like this can be the catalyst that leads to a mass-confrontation.
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My last post on this particular thread since it's going around in circles.
I think the card call was wrong. Like the OP has said, there was banter between the player and GK to start with. It can't have been nasty or the GK wouldn't have done what the player asked would he? The ball wasn't in play, as has already been stated. Ask yourself what the player might have stood to gain from doing what he did apart from as he said, testing the ball to see if it was too flat. How would he do this apart from firmly kicking the ball back towards the GK or goal? Doing anything else with it, i.e juggling wouldn't necessarily tell if the ball was in need of inflation. Kicking the ball in any other direction would have been wasting time or kicking the ball away so when you stand back and look at the whole thing objectively, based on what has been posted by the OP, the player did exactly what he suggested he'd do and the GK was complicit in that with him. Yellow card? No way. :)
 
I agree, I would be able to sell a caution for this... Striker knew exactly what he was doing and had it gone in, he would have demanded the goal stand
 
Kes said:
My last post on this particular thread since it's going around in circles.
I think the card call was wrong. Like the OP has said, there was banter between the player and GK to start with. It can't have been nasty or the GK wouldn't have done what the player asked would he? The ball wasn't in play, as has already been stated. Ask yourself what the player might have stood to gain from doing what he did apart from as he said, testing the ball to see if it was too flat. How would he do this apart from firmly kicking the ball back towards the GK or goal? Doing anything else with it, i.e juggling wouldn't necessarily tell if the ball was in need of inflation. Kicking the ball in any other direction would have been wasting time or kicking the ball away so when you stand back and look at the whole thing objectively, based on what has been posted by the OP, the player did exactly what he suggested he'd do and the GK was complicit in that with him. Yellow card? No way. :)
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If you think the striker was actually trying to test the ball, then I have a bridge to sell you....
 
@Kes you are right about only one thing that we are going around in circles. The way you have written your last post is as if you were actually stood on the side line watching the game. The ball left the penalty area so was therefore "in play" and never in the memory of man was the striker checking the ball he was attempting to deceive the goalkeeper and as I said earlier one of the clearest forms of USB behaviour I have ever seen. To quote a player on the opposing team, "I have been playing Sunday football for 20 years and I have never seen anyone try and cheat like that".
 
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