That's why they start on the half-way line, so there's time for 5 ad-breks before the player is actually in a position to take the shot. And then he kicks it, and it goes to another ad-break.
They are time outs, not breaks. We interrupt this overtime shootout, for a message from your local sponsor, Gooooo Godders!! "Remember, they cannot be our riva........." Deafening sound of TV's, being turned off all across the mid-west.
Don't see how that is much different to penalties really, apart from possibly making it easier for the striker. But then again, the keeper can move off his line I suppose and cut down the angles, so is it easier for him as well?
Interview with Glenn Hoddle on BBC Sportsweek last Saturday which you can listen again. He had some interesting ideas which he was implementing in the legends tournament this weekend. His basic point was to hurt teams with the ball, rather than brandishing yellow & red cards. Moving the ball forward 10 yards for any dissent. I believe this power is avaliable to the refs but they hardly use it. If this was used it would stop mass protests from players if the ball keeps moving forward 10 yards closer.
This was brought into the laws in about 2000 as a trial but quickly scrapped. As I remember it could only be used if a player was cautioned for dissent, not as a replacement.
Send em off if they get in the ref's face. Sure, it'll end up 8v8 to start with, but they'll soon get the idea.
Anyone caught diving will be given an immediate 3 match ban with no appeal! Would cut it out straight away!
I see that RLGB and I are in agreement about the diving issue. I know that the replays are not always conclusive, but that is easily sorted by having a presumption innocence. It's only the really blatant cheats who would get caught, and I think diving needs to be driven from the game. If a defender brings down a forward and he's the last man, it's a red card, because it stops a probable goal scoring opportunity. How is that less serious than cheating your way to a penalty, which is an even better goal scoring opportunity!?!!! Just a yellow card! And those don't even count at all in the final run-in. The other thing which makes me annoyed is the dancing your way up the pitch whilst pretending to take a throw-in, repositioning the ball at a free-kick, often more than once so an advantage is gained. Instead of bringing the play back, the officials should award the throw/kick the other way. As for dissent, I think the threat of ten minutes in the sin-bin would probably sort that completely!
Referees are intimidated into giving yellow and red cards these days. They surround the referee to try and confuse him and to persuade him of the need to issue a penalty card. These are the people I would like to see booked and quite frankly sent off.
-Goal-line technology. -Retrospective bans for diving and feigning injury. -Microphones on refs to prevent dissent. -More leniency when it comes to players having a little scrap (eg not sending people off for touching an opposing players face). It is a man's game after all. Tempers do boil over and it's understandable. -Bring back standing. Yes, Hillsborough was terrible, but it was one incident in over 100 years and was easily preventable. If it can work in Germany it can work here. -Introduce salary caps. Fans are being massively over-charged to subsidise massively over-inflated wages. This would also be beneficial to clubs. Lower wages = lower expenditure = lower ticket prices = happier fans and higher attendances = more money for clubs. The cap would have to be world wide to stop any leagues being handicapped. I could think of many many more but I would be here forever.
Glad you got the message. I am looking forward to the games against our rivals next season. I might also enjoy the game against PFC. Sorry I can't bring myself to say either P word.
Quick point about goal line technology... do we really need it? we can all watch videos of Pedro Mendes v Man U or Lampard v Germans but do we really need it? No one remembers the ones that were correct including one on the last day of the Prem season (Newcastle v WBA I think) and I don't see why we need to install 20x goal line technology for £££ when one of them might be needed once per season.
Why not just have video referral like in rugby. 90% of the time you can see on TV within seconds what the right call was.
Apart from an instant yes/no on goal-line decisions, technology has no place in football. The game doesn't have all the stop starts that you get in rugby, tennis and cricket. The decision has to be instant even for goal yes/no. If a goal isn't given, the ball may be cleared by the defenders and be half-way up pitch and then called back because the attacking team are arguing the toss. People get very upset about wrong decisions, which may prove costly in a final or qualifier, but is it worth ruining the game?
I think technology wouldn't disrupt the flow. For instance if you had the referee in charge of referrals (as he is in rugby), he could stop the game to refer. When there is a contested penalty or offside decision play normally stops anyway as the players surround the referree. And of course you don't use if for everything. They don't in rugby, you just let the referee refer big calls (e.g offsides, penalties and goals) to the TV match official when he is unsure of something (e.g. did the defender get the ball). Would of course have to mike up the ref, but in a game where so much is based on the refs opinion, why shouldn't he explain it? And the fact they can't use it on Hackney Marshes or in the Oceania nations cup qualifier between Tuvalu and Kiribati doesn't matter, cos it'll still be the same for both teams in the game and all the teams in a league.
Noooooooo! Never, never make football like some American game. It's fast, nearly continuous and mistakes can be made, but stop/start would ruin game.
