Same Old FM, FA punishment is immense & lack of post match referee comments

This really disappoints me, yet again in every FM game, when you got asked about a decision in the match which relates to the officials, there is a lack of choice of words to say about them. Even when you just say "You THINK the referee got it wrong" you get an instant touchline ban without even passing comment in the same season. Since when do managers get instant touchline bans for merely stating they "THINK" they got it wrong. WTF is going wrong, cant stress how appalling this is, after making so many FM games, you can get it so wrong. Biggest error in an FM game since Jonny Evans got rated highly. Sort it out.

Oh and I also forgot to mention, the touch line ban somehow stops you talking to your team at half time and making half time changes. Please correct me if im being stupid, BUT HOW THE HELL DOES A "TOUCHLINE BAN" STOP YOU FROM GOING INTO YOUR TEAMS CHANGING ROOMS. WTF.

When your banned your not allowed into the dressing room at any point IRL.

I had a goal disallowed where there were 2 players and a goalie on the line and my player was 3 yards away from the goaline and never at any point got any closer to the goal, i wasnt even asked about it after the match!

But as you say, there needs to be an option to criticise the ref and not get banned and really have a go at the ref and risk a ban if youre wrong, its stupid that anything negative you say results in a ban when it happens every week IRL.

When your banned your not allowed into the dressing room at any point IRL.

I don't doubt what you've said, but I find it hard to believe. Is there anywhere that states this?

And what has a "Touchline" ban got to do with changing rooms, and whats to stop you from telling your coach to go make changes like they do "IRL". Makes no sense.

Furthermore;

http://www.offthepost.info/blog/2011/03/the-touchline-ban-time-for-a-change/

To highlight from this source; "The FA rules on a touchline ban state that a manager is prevented from occupying his technical area during the match. So what? Ferguson is able to arrive at the ground with his team. He can then assist in the warm up, giving advice where necessary. He then delivers the pre-match teamtalk, and sends the players out. He can speak to the players again at half-time, and throughout the match can deliver instructions to the players through constant communication with Mike Phelan (such as sending on Dimitar Berbatov to score the winner). He can sit possibly ten metres away from his normal position."

Why cant I do this in FM.

Wenger got an extra ban for breaching his ban when sat in the upper tier.

No contact allowed.

Wenger got an extra ban for breaching his ban when sat in the upper tier.

No contact allowed.

I'm not talking about an extra ban. And I think I'm correct in saying that was a UEFA ban, which is completely different to an FA ban.

FA ban clearly states you're not allowed on the touchline and to communicate with your players during the match. UEFA ban states no contact by any means which includes pre-match, half time team talks etc. The touchline ban i received for merely stating an opinion with no bad comments about the referee's was an FA ban during a championship match.

Technically the match does not end until the final whistle, half-time is merely an extended break in play so the ban on communicating with players will still be in force.

That said I do agree that there are not enough middle ground comments which allow you to criticise the overall performance of the match officials without the risk of FA sanctions & the frequency of touchline bans does seem too high for human managers, not sure about AI managers as I've never come across a news item saying that another manager is in hot water with the FA.

I'm also left thinking that there is too much of an English bias to how the issue of criticising officials is handled in the game, are there any forum members that can comment on how the national FA's of other countries deal with this situation, are they as strict as the game portrays?

As annoying as it is, it is simply a reflection of real life, so any ranting should be directed at the FA, not FM. Don't think the OP is the slightest bit interested in the facts or reasoned responses.

DON'T FEED THE TROLL.

Touchline bans are basically the same as a player being suspended. They wouldn't be in the changing rooms at half time would they? Lets be fair, I doubt half the time they'd even be at the game.

I am still keen to know if AI managers get touchline bans or are they programmed to avoid the situation & it would also be interesting to know if the game offers a reasonably accurate representation of different attitudes to this issue among the various national associations, it could lead to new or revamped features.

This annoys me so much, you get asked about a decision say you don't think it was right and get banned, you cannot say anything in the slightest about any referee, has always annoyed me this

As annoying as it is, it is simply a reflection of real life, so any ranting should be directed at the FA, not FM. Don't think the OP is the slightest bit interested in the facts or reasoned responses.

DON'T FEED THE TROLL.

The reaction to manager comments is wrong. IRL most managers say they think referees got certain decisions wrong, and they never get any level of punishment.

To say the ref was wrong is fine, to say the ref is biased, cheating or incompetant gets you fined and sometimes banned from the touchline. FM certainly does not do this correctly.

Touchline bans are basically the same as a player being suspended. They wouldn't be in the changing rooms at half time would they? Lets be fair, I doubt half the time they'd even be at the game.

They really are not the same thing, non-playing players cannot influence the game, a manager certainly can.

They should remove any abuse of refs in the game, i personally hate it and think it should be completely banned full stop, its a cop out for managers IRL, a way to blame someone or something else for their teams failings. I dont see what it adds to the game at all, abusing a ref changes nothing and getting banned is completely pointless.

The reaction to manager comments is wrong. IRL most managers say they think referees got certain decisions wrong, and they never get any level of punishment.

To say the ref was wrong is fine, to say the ref is biased, cheating or incompetant gets you fined and sometimes banned from the touchline. FM certainly does not do this correctly.

I agree with you and it's something that's bugged me for a while.

The problem I have with it is that it's not worth ever disagreeing with the referees. Maybe 1% of the time you get a positive response (ie the FA's silence effectively admits guilt) but even if the referee does admit they're wrong, then there's no positive for you as a club or manager. It doesn't change anything.

Because of that, this becomes a pointless feature. Why bother asking me the question if there's no downside? Yes, it happens in real-life, but as you say, the reactions are less draconian. And we don't have to replicate everything that happens in real-life.

They should remove any abuse of refs in the game, i personally hate it and think it should be completely banned full stop, its a cop out for managers IRL, a way to blame someone or something else for their teams failings. I dont see what it adds to the game at all, abusing a ref changes nothing and getting banned is completely pointless.

Its only a cop out for the big clubs, ie AVB whining at the red cards at the QPR game and then choosing not to appeal them, however last week I watched a game where my team scored 1 good goal, had another wrongly disallowed for offside and the opposition scored an offside goal. The game was 1-1 and should have been 2-0 if officiated correctly. The ref cost us 2 points.

Ajax also had 2 goals wrongly disallowed against Real in midweek, refs affect games massively and often have a bigger effect than any single player.

I would be more worried as to why you didnt create another good chance rather than worry about what the ref did. Football got along fine for centuries with ref mistakes, why now is it the biggest talking point of any given week in football? Especially here in Britain. I guess footballers do enjoy cheating a lot more now which is a big thing.

So you expect clubs to win 3 or 4 nil just to account for the ref errors?

Its hard enough to beat Real on fair terms, Id love to know how many teams have beaten them by 3 clear goals in the last 5 years which is the kind of performance youd need if you have 2 goals wrongly disallowed.

Every major decision should be confirmed by video evidence. That would stop cheating as well.

i never said that, i said i would be more worried about how my team is playing rather than worry about the referee. You dont have to win 3/4-0 every game, but every game is winnable. Teams can keep blaming the ref over and over but its not going to change anything.

Video evidence is only going to work if they have a quick enough system in place, thats not going to happen for anything other than goal line technology for a while yet, if ever. People need to stop getting so hung up on 1 decision and remember there is 90 minutes of football in a game, not just the split second the ref may have gotten a decision wrong. Like i say football survived for years and years with mistakes, why now is it such a big deal?

Its a big deal now because we have the technology and cheating is epidemic, every major decision could be confirmed before the team even stops arguing, weve seen it used by a 4th official looking at a TV and communicating the correct call to the ref. No one minded but FIFA took the TVs away from the 4th officials.

It works in cricket, tennis, rugby and ice hockey. It would work in football if we had a 30 sec to 1 min time to review as play never starts before that amount of time has passed if theres a controversial decision.

Oh and match fixing like in the OL and Ajax games would be much harder to do.

***off-topic(ish)***

The problem will go away if Stuart Atwell would only opt for a career change, I feel sorry for the guy but he's not cutting the mustard.

***back on-topic***

***off-topic(ish)***

The problem will go away if Stuart Atwell would only opt for a career change, I feel sorry for the guy but he's not cutting the mustard.

***back on-topic***

Gavin Ward is actually worse than him, Ive never seen a good young ref, all the fast tracked ones are awful. They are placed there in the hope they will become good, not because they deserve it.

I remember him giving QPR an injury time pen for handball at Pompey when the player had a ball mark on his chest. Of course he sent the player off for arguing as well!

fergie got in trouble with the FA for praising a referee

there is something i have noticed about refs here, they always blow full time at the right time, even if you have a corner, are about to shoot etc, and never seem to give yellow/red cards on penalty box infringments, U23,s i'm sure i scored, the game was pulled back for a handball and a penalty, yet no card?

the refs in champions league are terrible though, we know that from past seasons

As annoying as it is, it is simply a reflection of real life, so any ranting should be directed at the FA, not FM. Don't think the OP is the slightest bit interested in the facts or reasoned responses.

DON'T FEED THE TROLL.

Yes you're absolutely right, so when managers such as Mick McCarthy and Neil Warnock who are renowned for having a go at referee's regularly get banned for merely disagreeing with the referee. Also how the hell is "I think the referee got it wrong" ranting.

Don't understand some peoples responses. The touchline ban isnt correct atm for the english league, and there are no responses to post match interviews to disagree and not be banned. It becomes urnealistic and you get bored of clicking "I don't want to say anything that would get me in trouble" or "The referee made the correct decision".

They should remove any abuse of refs in the game, i personally hate it and think it should be completely banned full stop, its a cop out for managers IRL, a way to blame someone or something else for their teams failings. I dont see what it adds to the game at all, abusing a ref changes nothing and getting banned is completely pointless.

Referees can lose teams the game, you can't put it down to a team playing badly. Your comments are meaningless.

Why isnt it correct, in what way is it wrong?

Because referees get a lot of key decisions wrong and managers will always feal aggrieved, but they dont get bans unless theyre bang out of order. Sometimes e.g. man utd vs newcastle, newcastle get a penalty that isnt a penalty, you're right man utd have no real arguement when they should have won the game, but the ref still got it wrong. The game just needs more comments that dont get you into trouble, because no manager has been given an instant touchline ban for merely stating his opinion on the ref getting the decision wrong.

I've torn strips off referees for bad calls about 6 or 7 times in my current save, and never gotten as much as a warning. I only complain when they actually made the wrong call...

fergie got in trouble with the FA for praising a referee

That was different, he was trying to influence the ref before the match by saying how good he was, that puts pressure on him to treat Man U better.

IRL theres a level of criticism that doesnt get a ban, that should be in FM.

my 1st 0-0 draw of the season, it said ref was biased towards the other team.

something about a denied penalty for us, put 2+2 together..... o no it was the correct discision AFTER the conferance, when it then allows me to view incident, i get punished off FA.

Just some off-topic:

I'm also left thinking that there is too much of an English bias to how the issue of criticising officials is handled in the game, are there any forum members that can comment on how the national FA's of other countries deal with this situation, are they as strict as the game portrays?

Yes there is. Here in Portugal the maganers, players and directors are always criticising referees and the bans are very, very rares. But most of the time they are right, so...

Football got along fine for centuries with ref mistakes, why now is it the biggest talking point of any given week in football? Especially here in Britain. I guess footballers do enjoy cheating a lot more now which is a big thing.

Britain its not special in this case. I think its everywhere. In Portugal the media gives more importance to a director or a manager that criticise a referee then to a great goal.

Ajax also had 2 goals wrongly disallowed against Real in midweek, refs affect games massively and often have a bigger effect than any single player.

What can I say?... Its a crappy Portuguese referee with crappy linesmen. I know him very well. He has been awful in the past in many games.

This is very standart nowadays here in Portugal. There isnt one single season that the referees arent linked with the team that wins the league. But the mistakes punishes everybody.

It works in cricket, tennis, rugby and ice hockey. It would work in football if we had a 30 sec to 1 min time to review as play never starts before that amount of time has passed if theres a controversial decision.

Oh and match fixing like in the OL and Ajax games would be much harder to do.

It could work in that sports but not in football.

This year I've seen a game Braga-Benfica where there was a problem with the lights. The game was interrupted several times in the 1st half and it was really a pain to see.

Even the players where annoyed because of that.

I could imagine if the CL final was interrupted for every fault just to see and decide if the player deserve a yellow card or not. Or it is an offside. Or any other little thing. It will last for hours that match and the fans will sooner or later lose interest in the game. I think that it would kill football.

Its not every little thing, just goals, penalties and red cards. All game changing decisions.

The players spend a lot of time arguing every decision anyway, this would actually speed up the game.

champions league refs are terrible always, the lack of ref critisism is imo, the reason why they get worse.

and yes the newcastle draw united should have won the game, but on any other day 2 or 3 of those would have gone in, it was thier keeper not the finishing. so therfore getting that 1 goal and then winning would have been good.

and martin atkinson at stamford bridge v united... every season he gets it wrong.. horribly.

if a player deserves a red card, then assists or scores, how is that fair?