Into The book - Episode 14, October 2024
Into the Book - Episode 14
As we head into October we move quickly into the heart of the season and into matches that have more and more importance. No matter the league that you’re working with players, coaches and fans are going to become more and more invested in the matches, the points will matter more and the emotions will only get higher. In this episode we will look at management of coaches and the technical areas, the importance of reading the game to help make tactical foul decisions.
Video 1 - Coach Misconduct and Technical Area
Knowing what the Laws of The Game and what misconduct you can administer to coaches is incredibly important. It is also important to know where to draw the line in allowing a coach to voice frustration or ask questions and when it becomes dissent by action and / or word.
In this video we’re going to focus on the action part of dissent and how this referee handled issuing the misconduct.
The referee makes a great careless foul call close to the technical areas. Could he have called it at the first contact? Maybe, but a player on the UPSL National Campions we would give the chance to play out of that first contact so we’re okay with it. The second contact comes, he calls it and it is accepted by the players on the field. The referee is close enough to give the coach an answer to his first question comment.
This is where the 4th official can come in, get the coaches attention on them instead of the referee. As a referee team we need to see the signs of the visual dissent that come next. The coach stands up off the bench after the foul, he is the second coach standing which should heighten our awareness right away. As soon as he stands up he begins to point at the referee and yell. This is the behavior we want coaches to avoid, big visual displays of dissent can bring the decisions of the referees into question and shows a lack of respect toward the referee team. The referee correctly goes to the sideline, not entering the technical area, and shows this coach a Caution for Dissent.
Next question - should he stay and talk to the other coach that was already standing? We’ll say that it is a risk for sure. Often when one coach on a team is upset the others will be too and nothing good will come from us staying over there to talk. The referee does a good job of staying calm and listening to the coaches point, however, as you can see, the coach doesn’t completely agree and becomes more frustrated and gets louder and begins to wave his arms as the referee walks away. This behavior gets very close to dissent, and would be supported if the referee gave it and we certainly would support a warning. We must be careful as referees when we choose to allow conversations. Sometimes we must save coaches from themselves and if we allow a conversation that we know a coach will be upset with then we are forcing ourselves into a situation where a caution will be required. It can be better to say “I’ve already talk to him (the other coach)” and go manage the restart.
4th Officials:
Your role is not a passive role. It is more than management of subs, paper work and checking players in. You’re here to help manage the sidelines, coaches, technical areas and assist with fouls. Yes, you are paid the least on the crew and you have to deal with a lot of…frustration from coaches. It is a tough position to be and under valued often. Remember that you have a vital role to the success of the match for your crew.
Why did we clip out this picture and what could the 4th official do different? The benches aren’t close, how could the 4th official help when the referee is the closest official to the coach?
First - Clipboards. They’re useful to write on but have no business in your hands when a sub is not happening. The clipboards goes on a table or the ground and is used when you need to check rosters and write down sub Information, then it goes back down. Our opinion, get rid of the clipboard after player check in. Find a referee wallet / book you like to write in and use that. Ask fellow referees how they track information as 4th official and become creative.
Next up - Anticipation. Any foul around the benches, no matter how big or small, difficult or easy to call is going to be contentious. Anticipate the coaches frustration and start to make your way toward the technical area. You may not be able to prevent this but your presence could help make the coach think twice about how they behave.
After the card is given - This is where you can deflect attention away from the referee. Bring the coaches attention over to you, maybe he talks to you in a more calm manner.
Video 2 - Turnover into DOGSO Decision
In this clip we’re going to breakdown the DOGSO decision and how referees can make this a little easier on themselves when the unexpected turnover happens. We want to get you from saying “Oh no! Where did that turnover come from” to “I saw that coming the entire time”
We’re going to start at the end of this video and evaluate the DOGSO then come back to how it can be made a little easier.
The moment the turnover happens we must be telling ourselves what our decision will be if he is fouled the moment he gets the ball SPA would be correct. As he continues down the central channel of the field continue to evaluate at every moment if you have SPA or DOGSO if a foul were to occur and by which defender. The moment the yellow attacker splits the defenders and is closer to the left most defender, who is also the further of the two up field, we must tell ourselves DOGSO if he is fouled. The foul comes, a tripping foul from the left leg of the defender onto the attacker, and the referee correctly issues a Red Card and Sends Off the player for Denial of an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity.
Now for the real important part of this clip - how we make it easier on ourselves as referees. The closer we are to a decision the more credibility we have in making it.
From the start of the clip:
The referee positions himself well from the throw in. He is ahead of play, in a pocket of space that is not in any of the red attacking team’s space. He recognizes what is usually a player setting up to play the ball long. The attacker roles the ball in front of himself and looks up ahead. The referee shifts to anticipate that long ball. There are two actions that come next that show us he has changed his mind and will play short and that pressure will come when he makes that pass. The first action is the Red Attacker stepping on the ball. This tells us he is reevaluating his options and will play it to one of the players close to him, on his left, his right or directly in front of him. It is at this moment we should turn and face the ball again. The second action is the Yellow defender pressing the player receiving the ball. He does this before the pass is even played, great anticipation by the defender. We MUST recognize this and begin to move back towards this potential challenge, assume it can all go wrong and be a big foul here. A referee as this level can bring themselves an additional 5 - 10 yards closer before the challenge happens plus you will already be moving in the direction of any potential turnover.
Once this turnover happens, because you were 10 yards closer, moving in the direction of the turnover you are probably in the frame of the video to make the DOGSO decision. All of this by reading the cues of the players to see what can happen.
Summary of referee’s movement and helpful anticipation
Positioned ahead of play, in a pocket of space that is not in any of the red team’s space.
Recognize a player setting up to play long by rolling the ball in front of himself - correctly faces up field
Two Actions that change from the above action - Must see these two actions and face play, moving closer to anticipate turnover or foul
Red Attacker stepping on the ball - He is now going to play short
Yellow defender pressing the player receiving the ball.