A&H

Wrong Decision

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boblardo

Active Member
Level 5 Referee
Game yesterday, blue v reds. Tight, competitive affair which ended 3-2 to blues. Nothing really of note occurred although when looking back I probably did miss a couple of mandatory cautions.

However, there was one incident that I wanted some feedback on. Blue attacker & Red defender both going for the ball; both players have their back to me as they run into the penalty area, shot toward goal it goes over the goal line, no one appealed for anything and after waiting a second or two decided to give a GK. As I gave the goal kick everyone started moving towards the goal thinking a corner would be awarded. it was the wrong side of the FOP for the AR to award clearly.

I stuck with my decision despite a couple of remarks along the lines of "that's a corner ref, its not in play you can still change your mind".

I had two thoughts it; 1) it may well have been a corner but I gave a GK so didn't want to lose credibility 2) if I change my mind the defending team will assume I have done so based on the comments again questioning my credibility.

Do you ever change your mind in these situations or is it better to accept that you go it "wrong" and just move on.

FWIW, the more i dwell on it the more I start to think it may have been a corner!!!
 
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You say you waited a second before giving the goal kick - is there any way you could have waited another second or two? If you're really unsure about a direction of restart decision like this, you can sometime get a clue from players moving to defend the restart when they know it will go to their opponents. In this case, you could have spied a defender moving backwards to a defensive position and taken that to mean that he thinks it's a corner.

Obviously this carries more weight than a player going towards the ball to take a restart, as that could just be them being opportunistic!
 
boblardo said:
Do you ever change your mind in these situations or is it better to accept that you go it "wrong" and just move on.
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Nope. I sort of did once, and I got absolutely bollocked for it by an assessor as it came off as 'weak'. Make the call, stand your ground.

Thing is, we're all going to get them wrong once in a while. Thesedays I'm much more confident at brushing it off, and players tend to accept that better than if I display any doubt about it, even if I'm 100% wrong.


Saying that though, I agree with Graeme, maybe take an extra second if need be - but not too long or they'll start calling you indecisive! :cry:
 
I changed a decision during an assessment on sunday, I was adamant it was a corner, CAR flagged GK. I went and had a word, pointed to red player that it came off and in turn red 6 agreed that he had last touch

Assessor congratulated me on bravery to change decision. Ultimately its about making the right decision he said, as long as the decision I gave initially was my own.

However, if red had denied the touch I would have stuck with gut instinct and gave the corner.
 
I’ve asked a defender to admit it was a corner, if he fesses up then I’ll change the call, if not I’d stick with my original decision, once they’ve swayed you on one it can become a tactic. There are honest defenders out there, sometimes you need help, if he’s not forthcoming then stay as you were.
 
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boblardo said:
FWIW, the more i dwell on it the more I start to think it may have been a corner!!!
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If that's the worst error you made you've had a good game. :)

I will always change my mind if a player from the team that stands to lose out from being honest tell me I've got it wrong. But I never, ever change my mind because of complaints from one team, even if it is obvious from the number and tone of complaints that I've got it wrong.
 
I always award the goal kick if the lino can't tell me otherwise.

If anybody questions it or challenges it, my stock answer is "I wasn't 100% sure guys so I'm giving the goal kick as a default decision".
They'll live with it....
 
Changing decisions depends on the situation and how sure I am the decision is wrong. But one instance I would always change my decision now is if the benefiting team says I got it wrong in ball going out of play. I learnt this the hard way. If you don't change the decision they play the ball to the other side themselves and make you look like a d!<K. I gave a corner kick once and both sides said it was goal kick (I had no AR). I asked them to just go with my call. A few rolling eyes and the team with the ball kicked it directly over the goal line for a goal kick.

EDIT: deliberate handball though is a tricky one. Most players just stop and expect a free kick to be given against them if they gain an advantage when the ball comes into contact with their hand. If I don't believe its deliberate I shout 'keep going, not deliberate'. If they choose to kick the ball to the other side, so be it.
 
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There's actually nothing wrong with changing your decision...sometimes.
If you have the defending team saying it's a corner, then why not change your decision and go with that? You're not going to do it just because the attackers are saying it, obviously, but why not go with the team that's disadvantaging themselves with honesty? Thank them for the honesty and change your decision.
You actually lose more credibility by sticking with the wrong decision
Of course, sometimes the defence will say it came off them but you've seen that there was still an attacking touch after, or what they think was the ball touching their foot was just the opponent. Thank them for their honesty, quickly explain what you saw.
Other people give good advice that if you're not sure you can get away with waiting a moment and making your decision off the player's reactions...but you usually don't have too long before you have to signal.
 
Sometimes changing your decision can be the better option. You can use excuses as you got the teams mixed up - I do this with throw ins (a huge pet hate!). I regularly get them wrong the first time, change my mind after a few complaints but just say that I got the teams mixed up and it usually works.

If you decided to stick to your decision, as one of the above posts says - you can always say you weren't 100% sure, and you're going for the safer option.
 
Never been convinced with this 'safer' option argument, I get that its just that but I always went with my gut instinct and what god gave me to see through, sod the consequences, '5 moaning defenders, so what!!'..... If I thought it was a corner, unless someone fesses up, its a blooming corner!!!
 
Sheffields Finest said:
Never been convinced with this 'safer' option argument, I get that its just that but I always went with my gut instinct and what god gave me to see through, sod the consequences, '5 moaning defenders, so what!!'..... If I thought it was a corner, unless someone fesses up, its a blooming corner!!!
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And your gut has never said "I haven't got a clue what happened there"? That's when the safer option comes in, no one is saying it overrules a actual decision when you think you actually know what happened.
 
GraemeS said:
And your gut has never said "I haven't got a clue what happened there"? That's when the safer option comes in, no one is saying it overrules a actual decision when you think you actually know what happened.
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Know what your saying GraemeS but my point was that some refs make the 'safe' option their default only option, it shouldn't be, Thats not refereeing as you saw it, thats refereeing for an easy life, thats a big difference! You're there to make tough decisions, judgement calls, right or wrong, its your call, its bound to be the wrong call at times if you always go defensive by default!!!
 
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