Dissent by word or action

[Stuart McKenzie]

On Saturday i had a team and one of the players wasnt keen to have me refereeing, after the first couple of decisions he was talking to his follow players within earshot of me saying "you know what he is like" after one decision. Later on saying "he is a ****" to one of his colleagues. I pulled him to one side and said "whether you like me or not as a referee is fine entitled to your opinion, but i said if you dont like me either keep it to yourself or sharing it after the game otherwise i will caution you for dissent".

10 minutes later he said to another team mate he doesnt know the rules facing away from me, i overheard this and cautioned him. He said i have to get off the field of play otherwise i will do something stupid. It was rolling subs so he went off and was replaced.

After the game he came up to me and said he wasnt having a go about me not knowing the rules and that what he said was aimed at the club assistant from the home team.

would you caution for dissent if the comments werent directed at you but where about you?

 

[SM]

Yes I would. It is all meant to undermine your authority.

You were very patient with him. I would have been having him over with his captain nice and early with one more word after that chat earning him a caution.

Once you get the feeling that you have this kind of joker on the pitch, an early caution can be your friend. Especially if he ignores your early warning and the warning of his captain to shut up.

 

[Mewcenary]

Yes. These are the more tricky ones to deal with. Outright dissent is easy. It's harder with the chippy / 'cute' players who are trying to undermine your authority while flying under the caution radar.

Be proactive and deal with it early. Sometimes cutting them dead (perhaps with the captain) will stop it, sometimes not. However, if you then proceed to the caution you've made it clear you've tried to be reasonable and manage the situation first. No surprises!

 

[Stuart McKenzie]

ps it was a pre season

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Don't do what I did either, if the player has a reputation for being chippy. Don't think to yourself, I'll control him through my super refereeing powers. Just hit him with a caution and leave him to stew. Use the captain if needed, but players like that don't help themselves and often a team mate will thank you for shutting them up.

 

[Mewcenary]

Don't do what I did either, if the player has a reputation for being chippy. Don't think to yourself, I'll control him through my super refereeing powers. Just hit him with a caution and leave him to stew. Use the captain if needed, but players like that don't help themselves and often a team mate will thank you for shutting them up.

Perfectly put. Otherwise you end up in the 60th minute of the game kicking yourself for having left it too late. And then, perhaps to make things worse, an opponent will say something particularly bad which earns them an insta-caution, and they quite rightly will say, "But you've let him be in your ear the whole game!"

That's the other point to make, by the way. By not proactively dealing with it, it can give the impression to onlookers that you are letting the chippy player run the game / influence you unduly. Impressions count!

 

[Charlie Jones]

I find carrying a taser helps ...

I joke, agree with everyone else thus far, give him the early warning, captain warning and then just bash out the yellow - no messing!

had a keeper a little while back, every decision pretty much was 'how that a FK' 'that's our ball' 'I could see that from here' - after the 3rd shout I pulled him in and told him 'as much as I love the running commentary you are providing for my performance, would you mind putting a stop to it? thanks' .... cue a carry on, twice more and the captain was called in ... after another 2 or 3 shouts I get him to come to me (I was just outside the box of the oppositions half, so a nice little run for him) I just casual told him 'ive warned you twice, and have thanked you for your comments - but you are now really getting on my nerves - what's your name mate? .... booked!!!'

he did apoligise after the game though!

 

[Padfoot]

Gobby players.......in the book as soon as you can......either they shut up or they're off the pitch....win/win.

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Perfectly put. Otherwise you end up in the 60th minute of the game kicking yourself for having left it too late. And then, perhaps to make things worse, an opponent will say something particularly bad which earns them an insta-caution, and they quite rightly will say, "But you've let him be in your ear the whole game!"

That's the other point to make, by the way. By not proactively dealing with it, it can give the impression to onlookers that you are letting the chippy player run the game / influence you unduly. Impressions count!

I did caution him in the 60th minute lol

 

[CapnBloodbeard]

ps it was a pre season

I'm actually much less tolerant on some things - including dissent - in pre season! The game is meaningless, so there's even less need for it!

Dissent is showing disagreement or disrespect. So if it's said in earshot of you, it's cautionable. Players will pull that argument a lot.... 'This ref is an absolute idiot!" "Here's your card" "you can't book me for talking to my teammate!" or some nonsense...

They're doing it in a particularly cowardly attempt to get under your skin. Consider that aspect in particular - he doesn't even have the balls to argue to your face!

If he made that comment after the game, I'd play along. "I'll still look after my assistants, even if they're club AR's". doesn't matter who he was talking about (though you know he's lying about it), it's still cautionable.

 

[deusex]

Later on saying "he is a ****" to one of his colleagues.

No offence, but why are we talking about dissent? The player is guilty of OFFINABUS and should have been sent off.
Ignoring that for a moment. Don't fall for the "I wasn't talking to you" ploy. EVERY player I've ever sent off for OFFINABUS has tried it and it's embarrassing. Any player who thinks they can say whatever they want about me/my performance as long as they are talking to a teammate is in for a surprise.