Post-match controversy: media improvement suggestion

After yet another "quiet response from the F.A.", I was thinking about post-match controversy complaints, and how we could build them out a bit.

Right now, it seems like the only possible outcomes are "The F.A. remains silent" or "The F.A. issue you a warning / touchline ban".

Also, our statements are very limited. I'd like to see more statements added, and I'd like to see more impact on the game world.

Impact on Squad:

I flipped through my entire squad after a successful complaint about the ref, and didn't see a single PR or other response from my players.

I think complaint to the F.A. warrants some "PR" responses from our players, for example:

- A professional player might think his manager was being unprofessional for complaining

- A player who was given "blame" for the goal due to an error might get a Morale boost and positive PR

- The player who stated that he was upset with the call might appreciate his manager's support

Supporting the referee might work the other way:

- A professional player might be proud of his manager's professional demeanor

- The player(s) who were upset with the call might feel "betrayed" or "unsupported" by their manager.

Some of these might change based on the F.A.'s response, e.g., the professional player might remain silent if the F.A. did, but complain if the F.A. does ... but others might not: it might be worth risking the touchline ban to repair the morale of a player who was suffering.

New Statements:

I've often found myself wishing for a couple of other statements:

"That wasn't the only blown call in that game" - I'm livid, I'm willing to take the ban, I just want to vent. I especially want to say this when two controversial incidents went against my club in the same match, or there were a multitude of controversial fouls that fell shy of a card .. but there are times when I want to say it even when there was only one controversial foul.

"I thought both penalties were pretty dubious, but at least he was consistent" - I so wanted to say exactly this after both sides had a controversial penalty awarded in the same match! It actually felt like the one time I could have made a comment, chuffed my players a bit, but had the F.A. let me go because I'd said he was consistent.

"We have to do what it takes to win, despite the referee" - sometimes I just want to call my players out. I want them to know that I blame them for our loss (or failure to win), not the referee. This, I think, is the response that would work best for my most determined players, especially the veteran team-leader type. Professional players might also appreciate it. It would probably cut against the player who was complaining about the call, and also players with a low sense of personal responsibility, those prima donnas, etc.

Opposition Manager:

When the opposition manager has a controversial call go against him, offering him support might improve your relationship with him. Telling him its "Just Sour Grapes" should reduce his opinion of you. Of course, "The referee got it spot on" and "I didn't see the incident" would probably not impact your relationship.

There might also be some new comments to add when the opposition complains about the referee's call, maybe:

"I wasn't happy with some of the referee's decisions, either" - a way to indicate a particularly poor refereeing performance. This response should have a chance of resulting in a warning / ban for me (as well), but it should also reduce the chance of a warning / ban for the opposition manager. In return, it might count as a few points of friendship between us. It might even have a follow-on option to "Thank him for his support".

"I couldn't believe some of the calls that went our way" - kind of like the opposite of "That wasn't the only blown call", for matches where the referee just seemed intent on handing my team the match. Similar to "I wasn't happy either" in terms of the possible impact.

Board response:

I'd like to see our board take more of a stance, other than just giving us a warning: possible statements include:

"The board chairman tells you he thinks it was a bad call, too" - Yeah, the F.A. told me off, but my chairman appreciated that I stood up for a bad call. Probably biggest for a chairman who cares passionately about the club, especially after a bad call in a big game, a derby, or a rivalry match.

"The board chairman assured the media that you have his full support" - For managers who are secure in their position, for whom a single F.A. warning isn't a big deal

And then, of course, the current behavior, which would be reserved for managers who are on their second F.A. warning, or who are stirring up controversy while their job security is faltering.

Supporters:

Finally, in a perfect world, the supporters would note controversy in the "Match Confidence" section:

"The supporters were pleased with the win, even if it did take a questionable call" - self-explanatory, simply a modification of the text string about the number of chances etc.

"The supporters were disappointed that it required a questionable call to scratch a draw from this match" - A bit more controversial, but I'm imagining that if the supporters were disappointed with a scoreline, they might be more disappointed if your goal came through a questionable call. I can imagine phone calls to a radio talk show about how "We got lucky, we should never have been behind in the first place, and if the referee hadn't blown a call, we'd have lost that match. This manager has to go."

"The supporters were furious that a blown call cost us a game against our hated rivals" - and

"The supporters were irate about the refereeing, which cost us the victory we deserved" - In these two cases, the fans are irate at the referee, not at the manager .. so it might be appropriate to limit the amount of displeasure that the express at the manager, perhaps capping the confidence bar at the last level of "green" or the first level of "yellow" (unless the supporters were actually pleased with the result, in which case their level of pleasure overrides the "artificial floor" provided by their anger.)

"The supporters were disappointed at your silence after a questionable call went against the club" - Right now, there doesn't appear to be a downside to remaining silent .. this might be one of the downsides. It probably wouldn't come up after a win .. but if you lose, after a bad call goes against you, and you won't speak up for yourself .. the supporters have every right to be upset!

. . . . . .

I think if you put all of those together, you wind up with a much deeper and more realistic module, without really "Making the referees into a character", at least not any more than they are in the current version.

i like your thinking. Should be implemented

I often wonder why people like Amaroq can say what lots of us are thinking (but too cynical and jaded to bother to post), yet SI still don't really ask us for specific comments about specific things.

The "list ideas" thread is so monumental that I feel nothing will get seen. Whereas a "what would you improve about feature x" would not only keep ideas in one place, but the volume of replies could be used to gauge the importance of correcting that part of the game.

So regens and media will be priority one, buying houses with our wealth will be in FM52.

I'm not sure. In the media nowadays, the referee's decisions are being called into question more and more in the post-match interviews of managers. Managers wouldn't say much against the referee, but they would hint that the refereeing wasn't really up to scratch. As this is so common, players have a tendency to not worry about it, as it was just an offhand comment made in the interview, so there'd be no reason for them or the fans/board having hissy fits or dances of delight when it is like this.