One to hopefully get a debate going and the change must be applicable to all football, so no mention of technology. My one is that if you have used your substitutions and an opponent is then sent off for a challenge which injures your player so they can't play any further part in the match, then you can bring back on a player has already been substituted. The reason for doing this is so that you still have the man advantage from an opponent being sent off and by bringing on a player who has already taken part in the match, you're not exceeding the number of players that can take part in the game. eg if Yeates, Mariappa and Weimann had been substituted and Eustace got injured in a tackle where the opponent was sent off, then MY, AM or AW could come on for JE. Hope that makes sense
Thats fair enough. Why should the team loose the man advantage? I think i speak for many when i say i would bring back the 7 man bench. Why should the minority of clubs benefit when the vast majority are loosing out. If the FL/FA are as keen as they say about youth development then they will recognise the harm they are causing with only 5 subs.
#1 - may already be in place but I've never seen it used - march 10 metres for backchat to the ref when he's awarded a free kick. And if that results in a penalty, then so be it. Might help stop the histrionics that blight the game. #2 I've never really been a fan of the sending off rule - so I'd at least trial the Aussie Rules system whereby players aren't sent off, but are reported by the ref and tried later using video evidence. If guilty, a lengthier ban can be imposed - ideally which also impacts on their wallet. Like Barry, I'd also like to see already subbed players being allowed back on if an injury warrants it.
Fairly radical one this, but I say abolish the offside rule. That would open up the game far more. Plus, it might make Tamas Priskin look quite good.
I also thought about that one BBW, but came down in favour of introducing a sin bin. I think players can be sent off for committing two fairly technical fouls which seems unjust, then they will miss further games. Give a yellow as a warning, but a second one gets 10 or 15 mins in the bin. A third one back in the bin for 20 or 30 mins. This process would not stop a ref from giving a straight red for something dangerous. Should a player feign injury to try and get another player sent off, then a time in the bin would give him chance to reflect on his non injury.
Whilst it might open the game up more, i think it would also make it a lot more boring. You could simply stick a player on the edge of the box and lump it up to him all the time or slide it through which would ruin the game. A lot of people already think that footballers have it easy, so why make it easier? At least they have to think when they are playing against an offside trap.
I read the thread title and was going to say that MP's basic pay should be a fixed multiple of median earnings (across the board, not just public sector). Can of worms well and truly opened, I think the terms of player's contracts should be brought closer into line with the real world. I don't begrudge the top end earning millions of pounds a year. But if I'm caught bang to rights for a criminal offence that was entirely my fault, I wouldn't expect my employer to pay off the remaining 18-24 months of my contract. Good enough for Marlon King and a noticeable number of others though. If I injure myself away from the workplace and cannot do my job for four months, I'd be very surprised to get full pay for the duration. Good enough for Jay DeMerit though. If, without speaking to my boss beforehand, I tell a media organisation that I am never turning up for work again, I wouldn't expect my employer to pay me for the 8 weeks' holiday I'm about to take. Good enough for Carlos Tevez though. If I'm irredeemably incompetent from day one, I wouldn't expect to stay in my job on full pay for the next four years. Good enough for Winstone Bogarde though.
Onto proper football matters though, I like the idea that Roo flouted and I tweaked the other day. Three subs per match, three named substitutes, but if you decide not to use one or two of those subs, you can instead use any player under the age of 20 that you want. This should mean more opportunities for youngsters, because the three "men" on the bench aren't going to be able to cover for every eventuality.
NNW I quite like your subs idea would encourage youth development ! Frenchie and BB I would pinch the sin bin system from rugby union ,Ie yellow card 10 mins in the bin to cool off , 2nd yellow then you are sent off! Would also install rugbys citing system to punish bad offences the officials may have missed! these cites can install bans or fines !
Yes, you could stick a forward in the box and leave him there. It would just result in a difference in tactics, whereby an opposing defender would have to ensure they stick with them. Anyway, I am not convinced this would happen, as it would result in the team effectively being a man short, with the forward waiting for the ball to be booted up. Plus, this is exactly how hockey works. There are no offsides, so someone could camp out in the opposing sides half. But is simply doesn't happen. However, it makes the game very fast paced, therefore more enjoyable.
As much as I like the sin bin rule in Rugby I can't see the it working in football, at least not without a major overhaul in how the game is refereed. Imagine the uproar if two poor refereeing decisions in quick succession led to a team going down to 9 men for 10 mins. Unless you got sin binned for red cards instead of yellow cards, but then that is a downgrading in punishment and potentially counter productive. It might be an idea to use sin bin for two yellow card offences but keep a straight red as it is, but then it starts getting a bit complicated. One thing I would definitely change is the ruling that you can't get tried by video evidence if the referee has seen the incident (also the fact that yellow card decisions can't be overturned). I can't see how this would harm the integrity of the referee, we can already see they made a mistake at least this way there would be some justice and perhaps the vitriol against them would lessen. Or not.
That may well happen. I think we could only see if the rule was introduced, or removed in this case. I guess it could turn into the masters but on a bigger scale. Instead of 5 a side 11 a side. That would be interesting.
In rugby you normally get told when you're persistently doing the same thing wrong as a team that the next man to do it will go in the bin. The very threat of it would be an effective solution to problems such as diving and blatant timewasting. In football the real problem would be with clear-cut bookable offences where there was no intent.
When a player is sent off against a team he is then suspended for the next competitive fixture against that team rather then the next 2-3 games... makes more sense as it punishes potential injuries to a team for reckless tackling and rewards teams effected by foul play
A couple of points from previously mentioned suggestions: Sin bins - I can see the point that 2 or more bookings in quick succession could make a mockery of a game however in other sports it is graded to 2 minute, 5 minute & 10 minute sin bin penalties so it might work over a smaller time period. Also behaviour by players may improve if the penalty is a tangable threat. 10 yard rule - I have always felt this would be good for football to learn from Rugby where back chat is almost non existant. However I would point out that Rugby refs have usually played the game whilst most football refs have not played the game, certainly not at a high level and this is therefore the respect issue. Offside abolished: Well a number of sports don't have offside but they do have rules about passing i.e. in Ice Hockey they have icing which means that if the puck is hit from the defense over the opposing goal line it is a face-off back in the defensive end - that could be used to stop long balls say being punted from one penelty area to another (i.e. Draw a line accross from the 18 yd box). There was an experiment back in the 80's if memory serves me for moving the offside line from the halfway line to the 18 yd line which is different to my suggestion but it wasn't a success.
Thank you all for your ideas so far - there are a few which only apply in the professional game, and I did say at all levels.
I would like to see the red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity abolished. More often than not players make innocent attempts to get the ball but foul the player meaning they are sent off. I would only send a player off in that situation if they deliberatly pulled someone down or blocked it on the line with their arm. Very often players are dismissed when commiting innocent fouls and i feel the punishment of a penalty and yellow card would suffice unless as i stated the player committed what i would call a 'professional foul' and brought a player through on goal down deliberatly. I would also like to abolish the rule the FA have about retrospective action. Currently if the ref says he saw an incident during a game and made what he thought was the appropriate punishment the FA leave it at that. If (like the Rooney/McCarthy incident) it turns out the ref was wrong there should be retrospective punishment if he saw it or not. I would also like to see players being booked for taking their shirt off etc abolished as celebrations are part of the fun of the game. Hope my points are clear!
Would go back to the days when all players were called Alf, Stan or Bert ! No, seriously I think the laws of the game are o.k. but where regulation is needed is on the financial side - for as long as so much money is involved in the game coaches and managers will find ways of bending any new rules on the pitch to suit their own ends. I would reform the Champions League for a start into a competition more like the old European Cup - reinstate the Cup winners cup - in order to help raise the status of domestic cup competitions (Any side fielding a weakened team in cup competitions would be docked league points !). I would also introduce a rigidly controlled wage capping system. In order to work against clubs who fill their ranks with highly paid mercinaries I would bring a ruling into international football preventing players from playing for their countries after maybe 2 years absence abroad - and maybe the globe trotters would then think twice. The gulf in class/finances which is emerging in our league because some so called 'Clubs' (If they still qualify under this legal status) attracted investors and some didn't is what is really destroying our game. I see that Man. City against Everton this weekend is being labelled as haves against have nots because Everton haven`t attracted investors over the years - so, Everton face an uphill battle to preserve their status as one of Britain's elite, despite having the longest continuous history of top division football in England !
