First impressions do count. (Feb 20 2016)

David Matthews warns against making a bad start before the game gets underway

The pre-match routine. Coaches and players say a lot about how they like to prepare for a game and the referees are no different. Their approach ranges from being (apparently) very laid back to totally intense, which usually means that one or two sleepless nights, a vital part of 'football manager speak,' have been included in the build up. I can remember two occasions when insomnia troubled me; I need to go as far back as 1987 and two important fixtures: one was Swansea v Llanelli and the other Toulouse v Dax. In the case of the former I recall innocently enquiring whether there was anything on this meeting, to which my Welsh colleague replied "It's Swansea against Llanelli, you don't need any more than that." This was in the days when, to assess the referee's ability to perform at a higher level, he was appointed to two, usually testing games outside the normal experience. "Outside the normal experience," not much! No wonder sleep on the eve of the match wasn't easy.

The day dawns and early arrival for referees, just like the players, is highly advisable, although it occurs to me that some of my most memorable eighty minutes followed getting there five minutes before the scheduled kick-off; we were only a few minutes behind when we did actually start. By contrast and in more recent times I have noticed with interest a couple of referees who only turned up after the game was due to begin, then demanded half an hour to warm up! But the really important duties come when you are on time and you visit the changing rooms to meet the captains and arrange when to inspect studs and make the toss. All this becomes vital when you are meeting two clubs for the first time; a fussy, domineering attitude does not go down well as it is sometimes the shape of things to come.

A favourite pre-game routine with some of the clubs who worked hard on making the referee think, Bath in their prime were one of the greatest exponents, was for the coach and captain to greet the referee, before the game and usually out on the pitch; they would follow their cheery welcome with a question on how a particular phase of play might be refereed. It had obviously not been refereed to their satisfaction the previous week. As an obvious ploy to psyche out  the man with the whistle, the answer needed to be treated with the utmost caution.

Some important do's and don'ts for the changing rooms: don't indulge in 'clever' chat, don't become involved in matey explanation about how you will interpret a certain law and don't talk down to the players. All referees have their own idiosyncrasies which make up their hour or so of planning. It is not then a wise move for referee or assistant to beat the door down in exhorting the teams to come out.

If this is a second meeting between referee and either of the teams, first impressions will have counted and the referee does not want to overhear, either when inspecting studs, or as they are going out, "It's that b...... who penalised us out of the game in September." Well, there are ways before even blowing the whistle to avoid it.