Mike Riley is the manager of the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) board, which gives him the responsibility of looking after the referees at the professional level in England.
He recently took part in a BBC 5 live special, discussing, you guessed it, refereeing, with a particular emphasis on the Premier League.
Also featured is Kenny Hibbitt (Match Delegate) and Paul Rejer (Senior Coach of PGMO Assistant Referees).
Some topics:
Should Assistant Referees turn professional?
The assessing and match delegate system.
What is being done about the swarming of referees following contentious decisions?
Are referees letting personal / ‘big club’ relationships influence decisions?
Should assessor reports be made public?
Goal line technology and the Extra Assistants.
Should referees explain their decisions to the media after a game?
Out and about with the camcorder again to take in a local New Year fixture. This time, Badshot Lea v Cove in the Combined Counties league.
There were five goals in the match, including a penalty, with an old-fashioned confrontation featuring as well.
Due to time pressures, I did not have time to fully charge the camera before heading out. As a result, I did not get the last 20 minutes of the game. Thankfully, all the goals were before!
As part of my break, I decided to take the opportunity to go and watch a local supply league game (Combined Counties Premier Division).
I also took along my camcorder as it has been a bit neglected recently, and I thought it would be interesting to try recording a game and having my first play with iMovie.
The results are above. Certainly from reviewing the footage, I can tell I need to play with zoom less as it can be distracting! Definitely a learning experience. I also missed a lot of the second half, including two of the goals, as I was just having a chat instead!
This post is a little bit belated. I was very pleased to have my refereeing promotion to level 6 confirmed by Surrey FA back in November.
There has been a lot of work involved in getting to this point, combined with a lot of support, although it is an ongoing process as I have level 5 in my sights come March 2012. This is all part of the Enhanced Promotion scheme.
Thankfully, that is going very well so far. Unlike the initial phase, I now get my marks for each of my assessed games, so it is easier to tell if I am on track. I have had two of my minimum of three assessments so far and am very happy with how they have gone. Hopefully, just one more strong one and that’s job done!
The Christmas and New Year break has come at a good time. I’ve been racking up the games and some relaxation time was definitely in order. A few niggly injuries were starting to hit me and I really want to make sure that I am sharp for the remainder of the season. In addition, I can go over the array of assessments to date and pick out the development points that I should be concentrating on.
I love High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Well, I love it when I’m not in the process of actually doing it! It is a fantastic way of improving sports performance in short periods of time.
I tried out a new protocol today, cribbed from ‘Referee Specific Training’, a presentation by Bryn Markham-Jones. You can find it on pages 17 and 18.
Here is my own summary, and I have put the timings differently to make it easier to follow when actually doing it.
WARNING: HIIT is, by definition, INTENSIVE! Be absolutely sure you are fit to do this. Check with your GP if required. It is also expected that you are fully warmed up before commencing this, as it STARTS with running fast.
Set treadmill inclination to suit your fitness.
00:00 – 18.5 km/h
00:30 – Jogging
01:30 – 16.5 – 17.5 km/h
02:30 – Jogging
03:30 – 16 – 17 km/h
05:00 – Jogging
06:00 – 15 – 16 km/h
08:00 – Jogging
09:00 – 16 – 17 km/h
10:30 – Jogging
11:30 – 16.5 – 17.5 km/h
12:30 – Jogging
13:30 – 18.5 km/h
14:00 – Jogging
15:00 – STOP.
REST 5 minutes. This is ONE SET. Repeat, to make a total exercise duration of 35 minutes.
Fun, huh? I made it through, although I went for a 0% incline and the ‘Jogging’ elements ended up mostly being ‘Walking recovery’ in all honesty. Need to step that up!
My own personal guideline for HIIT: “Do I feel like I might collapse if I do any more? Do I have a sense of euphoria for finishing?” Job done then!
Do you have any favourite interval training routines?
I attended the Surrey FA RA-FA meeting last night, where Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey gave their story of their involvement in the World Cup. They were the two Assistant Referees who accompanied Howard Webb and ended up officiating the Final! They certainly had a better campaign than the England national team.
What struck me about both Darren and Mike is just how down to earth they are. They have reached the utmost top of their profession yet there was not a single trace of any arrogance whatsoever. They have clearly worked extremely hard and made sacrifices to achieve their goals, yet remain very humble. They demonstrated great empathy with some of their colleagues who ended up being sent home after errors, for example.
Shiny things! Inflatable things!
Some general notes from the evening:
MARGIN FOR ERROR: Darren in particular had to make some very tight offside calls. After the event, the experts on hand were able to reproduce the situations and give the official verdict. On one occasion he had it correct… with the margin of error being 8 centimetres! That distance is NOTHING considered the pace of the game at the highest level. Very impressive.
HEADSET COMMUNICATIONS: They admit they are always refining these techniques. The key is “ABC” – Accurate, Brief, Concise. The example given was: “Free kick to attack, shirt pull, yellow card, number 8″. Same should apply at park level when the referee needs to consult in-person with an assistant.
ACTION AT THE OTHER END: Mike made a great comment regarding a game where Darren had all the action: “It was like being at a birth. All the action was happening at the other end, and I wanted to be involved, but it all seemed to be getting a bit messy so I thought best to stay where I was”. Brilliant.
DEBRIEFS: These did not happen in the changing rooms. Instead, they were done with all the teams of officials together over the following days, and backed up with video. In ‘situations of interest’, the officials involved had to stand up and explain why they took the action they did. Be that for a good or bad incident! That way, due to the supportive atmosphere, everyone learned.
COMING BACK FROM DESPAIR: I asked how Mike bounced back from Euro 2008, where it was his (lack of) an offside call that contributed to them being sent home. He was devastated but said the support he received was all-important. In particular, “It’s not making mistakes, it’s how you deal with them”. The strongest point he made here was that the one thing which helped boost him was when the FA nominated him for the next set of international fixtures. That vote of confidence was key. He urged any Appointments Secretaries present to consider the same approach if a referee has a bad game!
SHOWING THE CARD: They told how Howard received some advice from the previous Final referee: When showing the card, show it to the side. You are communicating the decision to the player with your eyes. The card is for everyone else! “Howard like it so much he showed it 14 times in the next game”.
GOAL LINE TECHNOLOGY: In favour, for absolute decisions only (“Has the ball crossed the line?”). Makes sense to trial it and see if it works. On that note, the extra assistants that stand on the goal-line: They make audio signals only regarding decisions. It might be better for them to make indications as otherwise it looks like they just aren’t involved.
LAWS OF THE GAME: Darren felt it would be interesting to bring back the ’10 yards for dissent’ experiment, although with a modification that it was optional for the attacking team (gaining 10 yards could be a disadvantage if going for a shot).
IGNORANCE: Occurs at the highest levels. A tale of a Premiership Manager not knowing that part of the foot is allowed on the pitch for a throw-in. A player thinking that a goal kick is not a goal kick if it isn’t taken on the corner of the goal area. Shocking!
It was a very insightful evening and my thanks go to everyone involved in making it happen.
It’s now coming up to half-time in my refereeing promotion season. The full year runs from March 2011 to the end of February 2012. However, as I am on the Enhanced Promotion scheme, I had until the end of September 2011 to achieve all the 7-6 objectives.
It’s a strange feeling knowing that I have now done all I can:
Refereed a minimum of 20 eligible games (I’ve managed about 27 according to my records).
Attended the ‘In Service Training’ course.
Passed an examination on the Laws of the Game (I scored 100% !).
Received a minimum of three Assessments.
There are a few other requirements, which I have also achieved, but these are more administrative (such as being CRB cleared!)
Now, I get copies of the assessments but I cannot know for sure whether they are ‘pass’ standard: The mark is not revealed to candidates! However, they are positive and give me a good feeling.
Ultimately, the decision now rests with the Refereeing Committee who will consider all of the above and decide what happens next. All I know at this point is that will happen sometime in October.
I’ve been intending to take the Surrey FA fitness test for a while. It is not strictly required for the Enhanced Promotion scheme that I am on, but I love a good challenge and also to demonstrate that I am serious about all this.
The core component is the Cooper Test. Very simple: Run as far as you can in twelve minutes without stopping. The required distance to pass is 2500 metres. I had done a few test-runs, mostly on inclined treadmills, and had a good solid pace to hit 2700 metres without keeling over. Oh, and the right music choice to pace myself with!
I’ve been running regularly, both for fitness and when refereeing, so felt confident I would do okay. Especially with the extra adrenaline boost on the day.
On the day there were five candidates. It was a good atmosphere as the test was being held on a proper athletics track, which was being used by some other people too. With just five candidates, there was no real ‘pack’ to run with, so I was glad I had worked on pacing! In the end, I nailed 2700 metres so my ‘game plan’ worked successfully. I could have edged that up a bit but wanted to ensure I saved energy for the sprinting test…
The sprinting test is also simple: Run 50 metres in 7.5 seconds or less, walk back, and do it again. I’ve always been quite proud of my sprinting speed so this presented no issues. No record was kept of my exact time, which is a shame, but really the important thing is that I passed and that no injuries were sustained.
Now to keep working on my fitness and, of course, the healthy eating! I’ve set a benchmark to beat next time round…
Accidents will happen. Right at the end of the tremendous TruLondon unconference, I managed to drop my Netbook. It was only from chair height but it sadly struck the metal parts of the chair on the way down.
Ouch.
It powered up fine but half the screen was either glowing white or corrupted. That was promising in a way as there was no obvious structural damage. As a result, I attempted the LCD Massage trick. This involves gently massaging the LCD to try and prod it back to life (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME). It managed to resuscitate half of the damaged area.
“Great! I am the master of technology!”, I thought.
It did not bring results on the remaining dodgy part of the screen. I pushed a little harder. Still nothing. I pushed slightly harder and….. CRRRAAAAACCCCCCKKK!
Oops.
On the plus side, half of the screen was still working.
In pieces...
Thankfully, screens are pretty easy to replace on these devices. I ordered a replacement screen for my Samsung N220 Plus from laptopscreenonline.com for just under £50.
I was very impressed with their service as it arrived Next Day. In classic tradition, fitting it was the reverse of taking the broken one out, and everything worked great first time.
Unexpected bonus: The replacement screen is of the reflective variety which brings out the colours better. Not everyone likes the shiny screens but I do!
Good as new!
Now to give the poor machine some tender loving care…
I enjoyed attending TruLondon 4 this week. My employer, Jobsite, is the platinum sponsor of these events, which are put together by the illustrious Bill Boorman.
This isn’t a typical ‘dry’ conference. Instead, it is run as an Unconference. The different ‘tracks’ are predicated around audience participation instead of one person lecturing the others. After all, everyone has their different area of expertise to bring to the table. Names badges are banned! (Although some sidestepped this issue with cunningly customised T-shirts…)
I led a track on ‘Future Recruiting Technology’. This touched on elements ranging from technology which is emerging now to just where things could be going further into the future. I was particularly interested in finding out where the ‘pain’ was in terms of both candidates and recruiters. After all, all the technology in the world is not going to achieve anything unless it is meeting the actual needs of those using it! I am also keen on the point that if technology doesn’t feel like magic, it is doing it wrong. This is important as we move further towards the domain of semantic search: We don’t want users to realise it is happening because it is so accurate and targeted. If they become aware of the wizard behind the curtain, more work needs to be done.
Equally, the whole recruitment process still needs fixing. There is still this culture clash where candidates get annoyed with recruiters not responding to them (a form of passive rejection). Also, fake or incomplete job adverts. At the same time, recruiters need to protect their interests by hiding who the true employer is, so that competitors don’t go wading in. Or do they? How can we reconcile the two? As was commented during the conference, “Stop talking about Recruitment 4.0 until we fix Recruitment 1.0!”
I was really happy at being involved in two video panel discussions, hosted by DeeDee Doke. DeeDee is the editor of Recruiter and does a stunning job as an interviewer of making people feel at ease. That is a wonderful skill to have.
Finally, I was nabbed outside by Keith Robinson who asked me to talk a bit about my Systems Architect role at Jobsite. This is always tricky as we are working on a lot of cool stuff and not all of it we are ready to reveal to the public yet (it’s that cool!). I love the brick wall background on this.
The video interviews were a great experience, as was sharing knowledge with old and new faces in and around the recruitment industry. Roll on the next one! (Oh, and losing a bit more weight for the camera, hah!)
