That's a million miles away from the days when the players were roped in to work on the pitch in the summer break.I can still see "Bill Bradbury" leaning on a shovel as the others grafted.
Oh they have? I just assumed that we would be getting it this season due to all the moaning in the interviews. But if no-one can have it, I guess it won't be a problem. I don't see why they would scrap it though.
It's when the ball boys all have a ball, so that when the ball goes out of play, they immediately provide another, so there's no stop in play.
Except the 50 times a game when the ball-boy chucks his ball on and the crowd throw the original ball back and the ref stops the game!
ahh cheers OLM, we should be able to tell the ball boys whether or not to do it. and similarly to hold it up if we are defending.
Not allowed. Once a game has been fixed as either single ball, or multi-ball, it must be the same for both sides or you get in bother. It's the same with Delap and his annoying towel, if he uses them, everyone else has to be able to use them and it turns into a bit of a farce.
The whole multi-ball thing is a farce. It never used to be a problem until Sheff. Utd. started using to cheat outrageously. They'd throw 2 balls on every time the away team had a throw-in and the opposite when it was theirs. Someone, somewhere decided, for some reason that it would be a better idea to play with one ball, and ruled out multi-ball completely. (The simple alternative would be to discipline teams that abused it). Though I understand it has been coming back at certain grounds and certain competitions more recently. Liam Rosenior was one who openly criticised the stupidity of a Championship match only having one ball available in a post-match interview. His argument was that it allowed much quicker attacks and was an advantage to the home team. I seem to remember he said he'd hoped we'd be getting it for this season, so I wouldn't rule it out just yet.
It always used to be the rule that if either team didn't want it then you didn't have it. And wasn't there a game last season or the season before where the referee in a multiball game sent off all the ballboys or something and made it one ball because of the unfair way they were running it?
This is all they need to do. As it's the home team that generally benefit from multi-ball, and the home team that maintain it throughout the game. Multi-ball should just be allowed, until the referee deems that it is being abused or not used properly, when he can stop the system and revert to primal one-ball.
Didn't we stop using multi-ball in the promotion season? I can't remember ever using it in either of the premier league seasons...
What happens when it's the home fans abusing it in order to slow the game down? We go 1-0 up with 10 minutes left as the result of a speedy return. After that the defenders just smash all their clearances into the crowd who keep the ball. When the opposition start attacking again the crowd throw the ball back on the pitch and the ref has to stop play. It's even more abusable if it's a shot that's gone over/wide and the ball can be thrown back on in the 6 yard box if the opposition get through on goal. By taking it away then it benefits the home side because play will be more broken up. It's pathetic not allowing it because it just suits poor teams who can punt it into the crowd to get a breather for a minute, but allowing it until it's abused isn't a safe way either.
