The changing game of football

[Aussie Rules]

I noticed in the one game I watched the referee used a spray to mark the distance from where a free kick had been awarded which, according to the Beeb commentator, was being trialled for possible use beyond the World Cup. A good idea I thought.

 

One of the areas needing attention, in my opinion, is the blatant time wasting through the feigning of injury or interchanging of players ergo running down the clock to advantage the winning side - especially during extra time. Legal perhaps, but frustrating to say the least.

 

FIFA most likely will never adopt alternative ways to manage time wasting but I would like to see time management similar to Australian Rules Football i.e. the clock stops after a goal and restarts only when the ball is bounced down by the umpire in the centre circle. The same for the ball going out of play, or for player injury needing to be stretchered off the oval.

 

How many times do we see players rolling around so called writhing in pain to purchase precious minutes only to jump up again and run around like a hairy goat on the mountainside. Or players chasing the referee like mards to complain about goodness knows what only to turn away grinning they have wasted game time.

 

Has FIFA ever given thought to such an idea?

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

I noticed in the one game I watched the referee used a spray to mark the distance from where a free kick had been awarded which, according to the Beeb commentator, was being trialled for possible use beyond the World Cup. A good idea I thought.

 

One of the areas needing attention, in my opinion, is the blatant time wasting through the feigning of injury or interchanging of players ergo running down the clock to advantage the winning side - especially during extra time. Legal perhaps, but frustrating to say the least.

 

FIFA most likely will never adopt alternative ways to manage time wasting but I would like to see time management similar to Australian Rules Football i.e. the clock stops after a goal and restarts only when the ball is bounced down by the umpire in the centre circle. The same for the ball going out of play, or for player injury needing to be stretchered off the oval.

 

How many times do we see players rolling around so called writhing in pain to purchase precious minutes only to jump up again and run around like a hairy goat on the mountainside. Or players chasing the referee like mards to complain about goodness knows what only to turn away grinning they have wasted game time.

 

Has FIFA ever given thought to such an idea?

 

Great idea which I think officials would support.

 

Case in point in the Uruguay v Italy game. From 70-80 minutes Suarez and co were constantly complaining about the Italians doing it and yet after they scored they were even worse. This would stop all the prattling around :)

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Aren't refs supposed to do this anyway?

 

Unless it can be applied to all levels of the game (and you won't find a fourth official to do this when the Red Lion plays the Dog and Duck) then it's a no from me.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Aren't refs supposed to do this anyway?

 

Unless it can be applied to all levels of the game (and you won't find a fourth official to do this when the Red Lion plays the Dog and Duck) then it's a no from me.

 

I always seem to play longer than other officials. I played a second half of 59 minutes last season when a team was taking the ****. The club reported me to the league and FA as they conceded twice and went from leading 2-1 to losing 3-2 in the added time I applied! :)

[Paul6754]

Great idea which I think officials would support.

 

Case in point in the Uruguay v Italy game. From 70-80 minutes Suarez and co were constantly complaining about the Italians doing it and yet after they scored they were even worse. This would stop all the prattling around :)

 

I noticed a new phrase crept into this WC, "teams managing the game" meaning time wasting etc, I always understood it was the referee who managed the game. It's particularly galling in the senario you describe and also when a team wastes time and then scores in the time added on to alter the result of a game. It should be possible to note which team is responsible for the wasted time and only add it on if the team not responsible needs to score or are winning by 2 or more goals although this would put even more burden on the ref and could get complicated. However making the game whiter than white would take away many of the talking points.

 

The spray can idea was excellent but the ref in the Costa Rica/England game didn't use it much, probably thought the game wasn't worth it and decided to conserve the spray and hence the budget!! Hope its used in the UK and CL from now on.

[PVFC764]

Quite like the ref's using the foam to mark out where the players have to stand. How many times do you see players creeping when the ref turns and takes his position. Also players flicking the ball forward a few yards and then kicking the ball.

 

Anything that helps the ref with the game can't be that bad.

[Markie G]

This spray can save a lot of time as teams do like to mess about walking forward etc just, because they know that the ref will have to push them back again, wasting more time