Is it only me that thinks the ref respect thing hasn't made a blind bit of difference, does a game go by where the ref isn't surrounded or sworn at?
The players are so cocooned inside their Ivory towers these days that they just cannot except that someone can question their actions. They are so used to getting their own way that they get indignant when someone who isn't even a professional footballer tells them they are wrong. John Terry could whip out a sledgehammer and break another players leg and he would still have a go at the referee who dared to book him (he would probably turn the sledgehammer on the ref if he was shown a red card for it). And all his team mates (well, the ones that hadn't caught him in bed with their missus) would join in the remonstrations to.
It wouldn't last long though, OSS. Once a few players have been booked for dissent and a couple have been dismissed, it would soon stop.
I also think that they should introduce that spray can idea for marking out 10 yards from free-kicks. It would instantly stop any debates about where people need to stand and would also prevent walls creeping forwards, as they do now. Not behind the line promptly? In the book. End of debate.
Not to mention the length of the bans that are handed out in Rugby Union. Especially for violent conduct. Serious offences, such as gouging, biting, etc, can, and do, draw bans of several months. Those sort of bans would make idiots like Rooney think twice before being so carefree with his elbows!!
Sadly I don't think the authorities have the bottle for it. Just take Coward Webb in the World Cup Final, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't in that game. He could have sent off at least three Dutch players in that game but you just know that FIFA, managers, players, the media and even some fans would have been calling him a disgrace for ruining footballs show-piece. FIFA, UEFA and managers, most importantly, have to take the lead on this and say the ref's word is final. They have to except that the game will suffer in the short-term to get the long-term advantages (God knows how many games would get postponed as players keep getting sent off for dissent - small price to pay in my book in the short run). And Wenger and his ilk will have to take responsibility for their players actions. No more "I did er not zee it."
PNP - The trouble with the spray can approach is that when teams park the bus against superior sides the ground around the penalty area is going to end up looking like a Jackson Pollock. Could get a tad confusing. On the plus side, at least it will look pretty. Maybe give the ref a selection of colours and draft in Rolf Harris.
I know, as I'm sure you do, Ensil, that some of the thuggery in Rugby, is also spur of the moment stuff. In general, Rugby players are far more disciplined than footballers - they have to be, or the field would be littered with bodies. It's just that the penalties for losing your discipline are far harsher in Rugby. I'm not so sure that's a bad idea. Rooney could, indeed, have caused serious injury. Even a thickhead like him would think twice before doing it again if he were risking serious sanctions.
Given the incidents that have already cost teams unfairly, I see absolutely no justification for not implementing goal line technology The spray I believe, is composed of a formula, that makes it disappear. So Rolf is **** out of luck
I think, Luke, that people still talk about the Mendes incident as much because it was, probably, THE most blatant example of officials getting it wrong. I mean, of course, that the ball was literally yards over the line - not inches, as in most cases.
Personally, I feel that a chap who's into tying down kangaroos, is not to be trusted, anyway. What will these colonials be up to next, one wonders?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004–05_FA_Premier_League It would of elevated us a place and only a point off 7th and a UEFA Cup spot, however if we had the momentum of a win at OT who knows what could of happened.
So did I and the sly dig in that comment didn't go unnoticed. I think our Manc friend is in a weird mood today.
http://referees.worldcupblog.org/files/2010/06/article-0-01F87AA20000044D-158_468x339-300x217.jpg Still grinds my gear to this day. Fu*king Man Utd.
No Luke, you're wrong to make light of the Mendes thing, the effect points wise is irrelevant as you point out, it doesn't make it a lesser incident. I'm pleased to hear your failure to beat a mid table side at home, contributed to your potlessness that year.
Their turnover is irrelevant. The comparison is clearly between their rubbish, budget products and your... well, I don't need to finish that off really, do I?
The spray paint is the wrong solution to the wrong problem! It is just another way of delaying the game restarting. The problem is nothing to do with the players not knowing how far ten yards is, the problem is the blatant cheating in stopping the free kick being the advantage it should be. The rugby solution works: the free kick can be taken at any time: if a defender who is not back ten yards intervenes in stopping the attack, the free kick goes ten yards forward, if that makes it a penalty, so be it. Add a yellow card for offending against the ten yard rule and we would have a much faster free-flowing game with more goals scored from free kicks because there would be no time to set up a wall. Of course that might mean that players would learn to be more careful about fouls in dangerous positions......
