I can see where the refs giving press would help somewhat sometimes. That said I can't help but notice how the overwhelming majority of coaches, when given a microphone (witness the two featured in this article), seem to simply bleed IQ points by the time they finish their run-on sentence. Not sure the refs on occasion wouldn't hurt more than help the cause with a mic in their face.
This one's a little different...this was apparently a case of mistaken identity, where the wrong player was booked the first time. Still highlights the fact that AR's need to be paying attention to such things as much as possible.
This wasn't really mistaken identity, it was pretty shoddy refereeing. Russell races in, flashes the card in an over-exuberent manner, and then gets too busy dealing with the restart, instead of noting the players name or number. By the time he'd got round to writing it down, the player had long gone, and he guessed the wrong number. Had he taken his time a bit more, done it in a bit more of a professional manner as we're taught to do lower down the ladder, rather than forgetting your basic training once you reach a higher level and start flashing quick yellows, he would have got it right. Having said that, I see no such excuse for the 4O, other than perhaps he was dealing with some arguing about the diving decision with the bench, but he should still have got the correct player eventually.
+1 - in this case it's just like Poll's blunder, not just a failure of the referee but the entire crew.
Not sure how much blame can lie with the ARs as I don't think they note cautions at this level. That job is the 4Os, who had no excuse really.
I do take notes when I'm Ar. Cards,goals and number of substitutions when they are not unlimited. And before you ask I don't work games at that level. If I can take the time to do it why can't a professional AR?
We don't know what the 4O was told. If the R cautions the wrong player, and tells teh 4O the wrong player, how is the 4O going to catch that? (I haven't seen the video -- did he show the card to the wron player or write down the wrong number? One of the defenders seems to have though the same thing happened as what the R wrote down.)
If the referee said "Player X" when it was Player Y, then what does the 4th do? It can be difficult to see a number 50 yards away - almost impossible if the player never turns to show you the back of the jersey. You can only track a player for so long, and if the referee gave me a number that made sense (i.e. he was in the area of play) I'd be going with it.
Well, with head sets, if he thinks the R has the wrong player, he says something to get it clarified at the time it happens. But if he doesn't realize it is the wrong player, obviously nothing he can do. (This is, in many ways, also easier at the pro level not only because you expect the shirts to have numbers on the front as well as the back and the shorts to have numbers, but that the refs at that level will typically know most of the playersfrom their prep for the game -- a luxury that most of us don't have.)
Granted, and so do I. But we're not at that level. At that level, there are 4Os, so the ARs focus should be on the FOP. I've only ever known once where an AR has had to replace a referee after both ref and 4O have got injured. As for the referee telling the 4O, he may well have done, but seeing as the offender runs up to the halfway line to stand with a team mate, right in front of the benches and 4O, you'd hope the 4O is paying attention and telling the referee he's got it wrong, rather than just blindly writing down what the referee tells him. This wasn't a case of it happening on the other side of the pitch, the offence happened 20-25 yards from the 4O and the player then came up to the halfway line in front of him. Anyway, I'm sure they and their PGMO colleagues will all learn from this and put in place measures to make sure it doesn't happen again.