The young and inexperienced referee may fall for this one, especially when it's politely phrased by a kindly grandpa figure as you stroll off the field after what you think has been a relatively trouble-free game.
But beware, not only is this polite question loaded, in fact it's not even a question at all.
It's an opportunity for a crafty - but furious - spectator to get his twopennyworth in at the end of the game, to give you the earache face to face that he's been screaming out for the past half hour.
"You know the Respect campaign, well it's about the players respectng you referees, but how can you expect anyone to respect you when you don't even respect your own match officials," he started. I quickly realised what he was referring to. I had over-ruled the offside flag of a club linesman, in fact a substitute who had just started running the line halfway through the second half and had, until then, not made any calls. It was a complex decision and one I decided to make myself.
I acknowledged the flag, fulfilling what I had told him in his instructions, that I would either blow my whistle or acknowledge the flag with my hand to tell him I was making a different call. The away team scored seconds later, and the defence itself did not complain too much.
Now it's far too easy to get into a discussion with a kindly sounding spectator, but it rarely ends well, so I've adoped a style of simply nodding and saying, "well you're perfectly entitled to your opinion." Often the irate spectator wants nothing better than a row and is looking for an excuse to go ballistic. Don't give him that chance.
This has worked well for me over the years and worked well on Saturday. The spectator wondered off, chuntering to himself, and I shook hands with the assistant who had flagged for the offside, having a quiet word to explain why I had given the decision. He was fine with it.
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