Question Number: 13311

Character, Attitude and Control 7/10/2006

RE: Rec, Competative, Adult League Under 19

Steve of Duluth, MN USA asks...

This question is probably not applicable in many situations, but it has nevertheless been bugging me for a while.

I don't like to give out cards in the first quarter of a game if I can help it. However, if players start going up for headers with their arms flailing or commit other hard fouls, do you give a caution right away if it happens early in the first half? What about serious time wasting or dissent? If you book them right away for these infractions, then must you also continue to be consistant and thus fair by equally applying a caution to every subsequent offense, regardless of who commits it? It seems to me that should this happen and the players refuse to respond to being booked, a game could end up like the one with 16 yellows and 4 reds, something no referee probably would ever want.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Steve my friend...you can referee the game with a style that best suits your needs. We all have different strategies and methods that we use to control the game. I will say this however...you need to put out small fires before they turn into large fires. If you do not deal with dissent early on, you may be putting up with it all game long. Also, dissent is a cancer for bad physical play. It is human psychology that people will do what they get away with. If you do nothing about it, why should they stop the dirty play or language? Rules or in our case laws are only good if they are enforced with a consequence. People are less likely to behave in a manner if they perceive a meaningful consequence for their actions. If the consequence outweighs any benefits they gain from it, then they most likely will not take part in the foolish behavior. Simple psychology my friend. I am a teacher and I know that the first few days in the classroom are the most important days of the year. This is where I set the tone for what will and will not be accepted for the remainder of the year. Similarly, the first quarter of a soccer game sets the tone for the rest of the game. Not acting correctly on incidents can result in an out of control game which is ever referees nightmare. On the other hand, you can be in for a nice and smooth game of soccer if you put out the small fires early. As Always,

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Steve I deliberately allowed another panelist to chime in on this one so what I have to say can be in amplification of another man's thoughts rather than another rant from a crotchety bitter old man.

Right, NO referee being assessed by me had ever say he doesn't like to forgo discipline in the first minutes of any match. This tells me loads about his capabilities as a manager. The very best thing a referee can have is a caution in the first minutes of a match exactly in front of the technical areas that he makes a big deal about.

This puts the team's staff on notice, it shows the player[s] what is expected of them and is massively effective throughout the match. It tells the players that this isn't going to happen. If the players are USA in a fixture against Italy and they ignore this warning the referee MUST hold the line because he can't trust them to play within the Law. They have not demonstrated this and until they do every similar action must be dealt with at the same level. If the referee allows the players to establish how a match is going to be played and that is beyond what is acceptable to just one player the referee WILL have his hands full the whole match. Reason, the players have no known level of fair play to which they may return and be within the Law.

The referee must show all participants where that point is and he must do it instantly. If he can't find foul play to whistle in the first few minutes he must use his voice in a such a way the players hear he is satisfied with them. Well done, a little more careful there, thanks for pulling out of that one -- these things reinforce good play -- the players can hear your praise and they will respond positively.

Look at the first few minutes of a match as the pot simmering and as things escalate turning the heat down allows simmering to continue, failing to do that allows a boil and it the pot boils over the stove gets dirty and will stay dirty until the cooking is finished, then you have to clean that up too. Watch things, intervene to keep things on track, influence how the players play and demand they play fairly. They will bitch and moan but they will maintain an acceptable level of bump and crunch. If they moan too much, yeah, hang a little wallpaper on a few of the most vocal or the most disgusted. Cautions of this nature are not aimed directly at specific players, they are loudspeakers broadcasting limits AND they work. If the players refuse to listen then keep broadcasting until they do listen or you drop below seven players. So one team or another is unhappy with you, the next two will know you are a no nonsense referee and your job will be easier.

Isn't that better than them thinking "we can beat the crap out of those guys for the first 22,5 minutes because he doesn't like going to his pocket until then"?

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I simply don't understand your logic. What are you telling the players? If I'm a player I'm thinking I can get away with anything from this referee and will continue to push it. You should set the tone of your game early not later. Don't make up anything, of course, but if there's a hard tackle deserving of a yellow in the first or 81st minute then call it. Same for dissent.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Steve,
It is a far too COMMON MYTH that you can get away with a harsh tackle early and a referee will not book you as he will TRY to man manage you first is a terrible approach to the game .

I appreciate your wanting to be a good guy and keep the players on the field of play and not to want to set standard of what is cautionable behaviour with a weak card. But as referee being a FAIR guy is the real job and protecting the players from themselves is not a job that begins at the 22. 5th minute. If a big time incident occurs you must respond appropriately.

Headers with their arms flailing you decided are the elbows being used as a weapon or the arms used in a careless or reckless fashion and respond appropriately!
Hard fouls ? you judge the action on its own for concern for the player fouled, possibly its purpose, level of physicality, location ,and respond appropriately
Serious time wasting you can publicly tell a player to move it as a single incident but serious is serious not general or kind of is it.
Dissent if it is persistent, public and personal it requires your attention so attend to it.

In the recent WC Portugal/Dutch match our referee tried very hard to make a point using yellow plastic early yet if failed to have the desired effect which was to keep the pot from boiling over. This would at first appear to bear out your earlier desire to avoid early cards. But if you examine why this continued!

The first caution was spot on at the 3rd minute, the second at 7 minutes was in my opinion a mistake as it set the tolerance level too low. The card that was a NEEDED was a DIRECT red card. While a total of 16 cards were issued the four reds were all double yellows.
In my opinion, the failure here was not the cards it was the colour those cards needed to be!

RESPONSIBILITY is an OBLIGATION on the part of the participants and the referee to ensure each understands what auspices of fairplay and the spirit of a match is to be played under. It is easy to critique and point fingers of blame but the PLAYERS themselves are the culprits in this debacle. The referee was in my opinion trying to keep them on the field but that is not his job to water down punishment he must act upon the actions of the players!
Every caution that WAS given was in fact the least needed thing that was required. There were at least 5 direct red card incidents that in my opinion were missed or only cautioned. There were at least two further cautions for DIVES that needed to be made.

Language barrier or not I can assure you there must be strips of ass hanging from nearly every player there and two butt exits as I would chew then a second one if I witnessed such a pathetic effort of soccer!

In a first time match at a new community I awarded 7 red cards in a Men's League in the first match I did. I was told "You cannot referee like that!", I replied," No, you can not play like that if you want me to referee!" I was still refereing years later with very few cards being issued season to season.

I encourage referees to be very aware during first ten minutes of the match of the first critical incident in which all eyes turn to you for a decision. Even as routine as a ball out of play they are looking for signs of strength to reassure them as well as signs of weakness to exploit. Setting standards are easy to keep if you USE the occasion to send a CLEAR message as well as NEED that card to send that message. Cards are a tool of management not always required but MUST be awarded when NEEDED!

I suspect there is this misconception that we should talk to the players if they are bad telling them if they remain bad we will have to caution them. There are NO free shots at an opponent in matches I am officiating just because we are early into a match. There is no wasting time and preventing free kicks or failing to respect the 10 yards because I caution EVERY TIME in EVERY match those that are aware know it will be so, so they do not do it! Those that are surprised had best get over that surprise or a second surprise will follow! All a referee can do is be consistent in the matches he or she does, then those who get you a second, third or fourth time need not spend too much time testing you to see what they can get away rather than playing the game!

I must digress with your statement that if "players refuse to respond to being booked" see how they respond to being sent off and playing short because their choices dictate the referee's actions NOT the other way around. A referee sets a standard, player's adapt, but no license is EVER given to ANY player to harm or hurt an opponent because of a weak, missed or even wrong decision by an official.

It is a myth that a referee must adapt to the playing styles of the teams involved. Soccer is an international game monitored by those who follow the same laws of play in every nation the game is played. It is the same game and the same laws.

This arbitrary code of doubtful and trivial how do you intend to apply it?

A strong physical team who likes to grab, pull, push , lean and will enjoy the same goes against a smaller quicker skilled team who likes to run and pass but hits the ground ready to sell the slightest contact?

YOU APPLY the laws of the game and you do not accept a push in the same way you do not accept a dive. One is considered a penal foul the other USB but both are not permitted! It is in seeking how much to permit by which standard of acceptability and tolerance a referee can manage the players of conflicting values by a SINGLE set of laws!!! If we accept law 18 as the degree of bendability the laws and the spirit of those laws can be flexed we need to remember they are NOT to be broken! A referee with integrity sees what he sees and is FAIR not perfect!
Cheers