many Blue square clubs and Rymans league clubs, such as my other Club,Sutton are run on shoestring budgets,and couldn't afford it
many Blue square clubs and Rymans league clubs, such as my other Club,Sutton are run on shoestring budgets,and couldn't afford it
The need for more refs would be removed at a stroke if players were required to act in an honest and sportsmanlike way at all timea and there were very heavy penalties to punish those who didn't.
I suggest that the laws should include a section like this (extracted from the rules of curling and amended appropriately):
"Footballers play to win, but never to hurt their opponents. A footballer never attempts to distract opponents, nor to foul them to prevent them from playing their best, and would prefer to lose rather than to win unfairly.
Footballers never knowingly break a rule of the game, nor disrespect any of its traditions. Should they become aware that this has been done inadvertently, they will be the first to divulge the breach."
This may be a dream but I don't see how any proper fan could argue against it. If the ref was unsure of anything all he would have to do was to ask the players to tell him honestly what happened.
Thats pretty much what i said on the 1st page. Snooker players call themselves up on fouls all the time. They want to win just as much as footballers.
Sorry - Spurfectionist - made the mistake of posting wthout reading the whole thread so disn't acknowledge your contribution.
I think the difference from snooker comes from the belief that has grown up in football that breaking the rules somehow isn't cheating beacuse the ref gives a free-kick and everything is then all right.
Well, this technology for all angle doesn't sit with me at all, in rugby, video replay isn't available down to lower leagues, in tennis there's no video line call at my local Sport Centre either, its just a fact that the top of any game gets benefits, thats life!
many Blue square clubs and Rymans league clubs, such as my other Club,Sutton are run on shoestring budgets,and couldn't afford it
The problem is that its not as clear cut in football sometimes. Eg, the modders pen vs stoke. Even if there was no actual contact (not saying there was or wasn't) the actions of the defender caused him to have to take evasive action which stopped the move.
The refs don't help, when was the last time you saw a penalty given if the player was fouled but tried to stay on his feet? I've seen players try to stay up and nothing gets given, so they have to go down.
...so they don't have to install cameras and that's fine. Because football is such a massive game there are massive variations on how it's played. No-one argued against fourth officials or that little electric board they hold up cos Sunday league teams couldn't afford one. Sunday league teams play on pitches that barely deserve the name sometimes. The markings on the pitch will not be regulation quality for a Premier League game. The linesmen might be people attached to the clubs, there might not be corner flags, the nets might have holes in.
Football is already different at different levels. It's fine.
But if the TV cameras are already there it is insane that refs are not allowed to look at them.
You can't stifle the use of something merely because it can't yet (and perhaps never will) be used by everyone.
So the Ref asks Luka 'what happened there?' Luka says 'I tried to avoid his kick and lost my balance', or 'he caught me on the shin and I fell'. The Stoke player says 'I tried to withdraw my foot but caught him slightly' or 'I didn't touch him' . The ref then has all the info needed to decide.
He records what was said. Replays are used to check on truthfulness - evident mistruths cost a points deduction and/or a long ban. Simples!
Blimey, you planning to stop the game for a polygraph!
Players being honest and taking responsibility for their actions is a very noble aim, but probably a forlorn one in the cut and thrust of a physical sport like football, with all that is at stake.
It's very hard for anyone to act in a calm, rational, even detached way when they are in the thick of the action and emotions are running high. Also players may not always know whether they've tackled cleanly or handled the ball at speed (especially if it just glances the arm, for example.)
And let's not pretend that footballers are so au fait with the rules that they would instantly call a decision for or against themselves correctly!
Snooker or golf is played at a sedate pace in much more composed circumstances. Admitting that your cue touched the cue ball before you played a shot is a much easier foul to call than whether you timed a sliding tackle well.
I recall that Jol used to tell the players not to dive and surround the ref when he was at Spurs. I think he publicly criticised one of our own for doing it at one point.
Sorry, wasn't very clear. The player went up to the ref and said "excuse me sir, do you think that was the right decision?". Angered Jol something chronicThat would suggest that a Spurs player dived and I simply refuse to believe that.
Sorry, wasn't very clear. The player went up to the ref and said "excuse me sir, do you think that was the right decision?". Angered Jol something chronic![]()