I was watching the Madrid derby the other night and some of the shirt pulling etc was ridiculous. It got me to thinking what aspects of the game annoy me most. On that basis i thought I'd ask you lot as well. Leaving aside the obvious wild tackles / blatant cheating for penalties etc. you see now and again, for me it has to be the moaning at the referee when he makes a decision. I don't think I have ever in my life seen an official change his / her mind on the basis of player pressure so I cannot for the life of me see why they do it. I'm not talking about the complaints for something outrageous but it seems to happen so regularly. In fact, i think it's the only time I openly criticise our players at a game (everyone does it fof course so it's not a dig about our lot in particular) - it just strikes me as senseless and is asking for a booking which could cost us dear. So, over to you!
One big one for me is players appealing for throw-ins/corners/goal-kicks when they know full well they had the last touch. I don't see why this isn't considered 'cheating' as for me it is just as dishonest as going down under little contact Another is the surrounding of refs or the players that are always in his ear. I remember the Derby game last season and thought they were one of the worst I have seen in person do it... Will Hughes was terrible for it and though it quite sad someone so young was doing it so much! I watched the Madrid derby and thought it awful for all the histrionics involved - it just turned out to be who could try and win more fouls, then complain to the ref about it!
My biggest concern about getting promoted to the promise land that is the EPL, is having to deal with more of what you both mention above but on a whole new scale !! Histrionics during a game seem to have become accepted to a certain level, what gets me is when teams start to do it in an obvious attempt to waste time and then the referee wastes even more time dragging the player in question to one side to remonstrate with them !
Why oh why can't referees make a stand and start dishing out yellow cards to players that surround them? Only the guilty player and the team captain have any right to be present, all others should be carded and if they persist, shown a second yellow followed by a red! It wouldn't take long for the penny to drop!
The problem is with the FA the rules are there to enforce if the ref want to but they will not get the backing . The game is called FOOTball not foot and mouth plus hands
Claiming for stuff when they know full well it touched them last is my big hate. Just get on with the game honestly.
...and what about the poncy haircuts they sport today ....I remember a time when 50% of the golden boys had tight perms ..real men in those days !
For me it is players who take throw ins 20 yds further up the pitch than the place where the ball went out.
Don't agree with that, mainly because it would obviously lead to more red cards, which would mean lop-sided games. I'd rather see refs follow the lead of their Union/League counterparts and simply march the offenders 10 yards towards their own goal every time a mouth opens with complaint - and keep marching them until a penalty can be awarded. My pet hate is the rolling around in agony as though an elephant stood on them, when the reality is that a mouse ran over their foot - all the while peering through their fingers to see if the ref has fallen for their histrionics.
Quite simply, when will these guys get it into their heads that they are role models? I don't expect them to be complete saints on the pitch, but I would pretty much agree with most of the above. Is it my perception, or does it occur less the lower the rewards (I'm mainly referring to players salaries)? I went to the Hemel v Sutton FA Cup tie last season, and the only argument with the ref was after Hemel had an obvious penalty not given
