Guest blogger: Robin Part 2 - From coach to referee 2022-05-13

Guest blogger: Robin - The coach who became a referee

Do you remember Robin Lindsjö who was a coach, but who has now started refereeing football instead. If you missed his previous post, you can read it here: Robin's blog post part 1

Pre-season and running test completed. The body feels very good and the training has given results. To date, I have refereed 21 matches and have 7 matches left before the break. Very different levels, everything from youth matches to assistant referee in ladies div 2 and head referee in div 4 ladies.

My feeling after these matches then? Excited and pleased with my achievements. Why then do you think? The simple answer is that I get to feel the dressing room feeling and visit sports venues I have never visited before.

My leadership on the pitch gets better with each match. I feel calm and continue to be very clear in my decisions on the pitch. It has worked very well and I feel that the matches are flowing. I have attached great importance to the communication with the players on the pitch and the leaders on the side. See the reactions and capture them with a smile or a small and quick chat on the go. Be clear and be able to explain what you have perceived and why you made the decision you made. However, it must not be an exaggeration to explain every single decision, it is important to find a good balance.

What have I taken with me from my previous role as a coach?

The attitude of the leaders is contagious to the players on the pitch. Capture this at an early stage and prevent as far as possible, the match will flow on. If a behavior is unacceptable, it should still be punished. Not only train/coach the players to become good football players, but make it something bigger. If the player shows inappropriate behavior towards, for example, his teammates, take your responsibility and explain and help out in that situation.

I have experienced few coaches that goes over the line, but I have had two incidents during my matches. One is in a training match where the coach wants a whistle for an injury. Where I believe that the team itself had the opportunity to play the ball out, but chose to continue playing. I then blow off for a situation where the goalkeeper injures himself. Then the coach gets loud and I have to reprimand and show a yellow card. Then it calms down and matches can continue without problems. The second situation is that the leader experiences an uneven distribution in the number of cards. One team is leading the game and the cards dealt are both for stopping promising attacks. I hand out a card for repeated reactions, and at the same time explain that his behavior can not continue then he will have to leave. I understand as an old coach that you can react over decisions, but there are limits to how a reaction can be allowed to be. Two events in all my matches I have to be very happy with.

Just like when I was a coach, I have high demands on myself, I want to referee better matches and at a higher level. I make sure to be prepared, take every match seriously and create conditions for myself to make as good matches as possible. If you do that, it usually shows up and creates the conditions to get even better.

Yesterday I had the chance to referee Skåne's best 07s in their continued path towards a further selection. Good speed, tempo and skilled players. It went very fast and the game turned from side to side, which meant that you needed to be properly on your toes and read the game in a good way. In some matches it is enough to find a good starting position, but it did not work at all here. I tried to make the game flow and not whistle for smaller things. The players appreciated that they had to keep the pace in the game and that some duels were allowed. Satisfied with my efforts and a receipt that I am on the right track.

We will hear from you in the autumn and hope for some interesting news to tell!