16 Football rules that drive us mad and must be changed.

More succinct! You make a valid point, Imps. People are forgetting some of the awful refereeing in Division 1. When we played United in the Cup in our promotion season I remember thinking that the referee was a world apart from the usual offerings. The only thing he got wrong - and he did it twice - was to ignore the FLT rule and allow a goal scored by United to stand.

 

I don't think it's been mentioned before, but one rule that should be added (if it doesn't already exist in some form) is that after a goal is scored, the opposition team should be allowed to kick off as soon as they are ready, rather than having to wait for all members of the scoring team to return to their half of the pitch.
I have nothing against celebrating a goal (although I've forgotten what it is like), but a large amount of time is wasted in waiting for a restart. If the team kicking off could restart when they were ready, the scoring team would either need to re-form in their own half, or accept that they are all out of position, and probably would be unable to defend an attacking move.

We still wouldn't score, though

 

If we were allowed to change rules wholesale I'd play 45 minutes each way of football. Official sits overseeing the whole pitch. Once the flag's gone up for the ball being out of play they press a button and the clock stops, to be released as the ball's thrown or kicked. Similarly for fouls, substitutions, etc. Tie it into the clock that's now on every scoreboard.

As I've mentioned before it'd be fun if only to watch blood explode out of Pulis's ears when he realised he couldn't get away with 30 minutes each way.

Vin

 

They are considering this, but hate to tell you...they are aiming for about 30 mins play (which apparently is roughly what you get nowadays from a nominal 45 min half).

 

30 minutes is plenty for the poor darlings. After all, rugby players only manage 40 minutes each way actual playing time, and all they do is run around a lot tearing each other’s limbs off.

 

I think it was a couple of weeks ago, on CBC or wherever my dodgey stream came from, the "expert" commentator questioned if someone had been 'played on'. Something that ended some decades ago? Pundits eh.

 

Another dodgy handball against NI last night. That rules has to be looked at and referees sent to common sense school.

Another problem with lower league refs is they just don't know the rules. Several times this season in games I have attended the ref has ordered players off the field when they have been treated despite the ref having shown the yellow card to the offender.

The week after the Mane sending off the ref at the away game against Notts County sent off Billy Knott for connecting with the County player's head despite that head being at waist height. Then later in the same game a Notts County player connected with 6ft 5in Sean Ragett's head while he was stretching to head the ball and not even a yellow. And our left back booked for pointing out the inconsistency. I should addthat Kevin Nolan stood on the touchline the whole game directing the ref from his "area" didn;t help much.

The last home game an opposition player kicked the ball away a good few seconds after the whistle had blown, the ref charged up with his hand going into his pocket, realised it would be a second yellow card and decided not to give a yellow and just a warning.

And against Mansfield there were 3 fouls worthy of at least a yellow in the build up to their goal (only goal of the game) and Steve Evans was on the pitch after the first "should've been a" foul for the umpteenth time in the game without any warnings for any of them yet our Manager got a talking to for trying to point out the fouls and stepping onto the pitch (like Mourinho.)

The "rate the ref" threads on the Lincoln forum are very popular threads. lol.

Wish we could have the refs we had for the FA Cup games. Kevin Friend, Johnathan Moss and Lee Mason would be 100% improvements on what we get.........and that is a decent measure. We tend to have an abundance of referees like Bobby Madley that make baffling snap decisions that are nearly always wrong. Just ours make them continuously through the game whereas Bobby Madley only does a couple a game.

 

The issue I see here is (and I may be completely wrong on this front) if there is a rule change like this it doesn't just effect the professionals it goes all the way down to grass roots. Can you imagine if the clock stopped every time the ball went out of play in a Sunday league game where there are loads of pitches on a big open space? They'd be playing until Monday going and getting the ball every 2 minutes. As Fran said I saw a stat a while ago saying the average time the ball was in play in a PL game that season was 29 mins a half, so the proposal was for 2 half an hour periods as I guess the ball goes dead more than rugby league (I don't know this 100% as I don't watch any form of rugby).

 

They generally have quite a few spare balls at the games I've been too, so even if one or two are kicked out the stadium, the ball is usually back in play pretty quickly. That said, I haven't watched any games at below Wessex League level.

 

I like the longer advantage, like they do in hockey. The idea at the moment is the attacking player doesn't get two opportunities, but why shouldn't he? It's the other team's fault for fouling him.

The rest, no no no no no no and no.

 

I saw Denis Irwin once in the airport lounge in Dublin. Unlike his fellow Irishman from Man U he was generous with his time, signing autographs for kids and generally being an OK feller. I was gutted for him a year or so later when he was sent off for two yellows in a game that meant he missed the FA Cup Final during the Treble season. His offences were an innocuous tackle and kicking the ball away. Even the latter wasn't blatant.

I get a bit old school on this red card business. Unless the guy coming off is carrying the leg of the one he's supposedly fouled I'm not impressed. Time wasting, like kicking the ball away, is easily dealt with

 

I can see the problem and I argued strongly against goal-line technology on the same basis. However, the floodgates are now open for the PL to play to different rules so let's use it for a good purpose.

Vin

 

If the same approach is adopted as in both rugby codes I can’t see a proble. The clock isn’t stopped every time the ball goes out of play, that would be stupid. It’s just stopped in case of injury to a player or reviewing a try decision. The referee is in constant communication with the TMO, and decisions are reviewed while play is still in progress. I can only see this being used in matches which are televised, so that naturally excludes the vast majority of football anyway..

 

If the aim is to stop timewasting (which is my bugbear) then it would need to stop every time it was out of play. It'd stop the ten seconds lining up for a throw, realising as if by magic that you're not going to take it, the other guy wandering over slowly, picking up the ball, drying it on his shirt then taking another ten seconds to throw it in. Ditto it would stop Fraser (or whomever) doing the slowies when it's a goal-kick. All it needs is a button in the fourth official's hands that stops the clock all the time it's pressed.

It's not going to happen anyway; that would require a decision from the football authorities.

Vin

 

I agree on all these silly yellows making red ruining the game. I was just pointing out that those are the rules and a lot of refs at this level seem to only remember them sometimes and on other occasions choose not to enforce them if it means a second yellow.

 

There are long running threads on "Guess the minute" on the Lincoln forum. The guess the minute is when the goalie will go down at which point the team go over to the dugout for a teamtalk!!! I kid you not. Our goalie nearly always goes down around 60 minutes for treatment.

 

I'm not advocating it, but if you had Hawk-Eye on all the perimeter pitch lines, and put it in charge of time-keeping, you could effectively have zero time wasting whenever the ball goes out of play. Mind you, could the grounds people reliably draw the pitch lines as accurately as Hawk-Eye would be able to see what was in play or out.?

 

The linesmen would still flag it out before Hawk eye showed it didn't go out.

 

Probably.