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New Year's resolutions?

mancman

Well-Known Member
Aug 24, 2006
363
688
Dear fellow Spurs fanatics

I have supported Spurs for over 40 years man and boy and the changes I have observed have been highly visible. As part of my New Year's resolutions I thought I would share some ideas with you. You may disagree with some of these thoughts so lets get the discussion going.

1 Referees should give penalties for obvious holding and blatant obstruction at corners. (Does it not irritate you to watch defenders ignoring the ball and just focusing on stopping intelligent movement in the box)
2 Referees should not just book but send off players obviously cheating (diving & feigning injury)
3 No referee should be subjected to more than 1 player surrounding/questioning their decisions (especially whole crowds of intimidating players). If it happens the FA should deduct points. It would soon stop.
4 No referees (or assistants) should be subjected to verbal abuse from players or managers during a game. (send the ignorant morons off!)
5 No substitutions allowed with less than five minutes to go. (this will stop timewasting and stopping the flow of the game)

The above is just a sample of measures I would like to see happen so that amateur referees (fast disappearing breed) don't have to put up with crap as amateur players mimic the professionals.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Are any of you sick and tired of Managers and players going on about how fast the game is now, and how important it is to rest the players......
What a load of nonsense. just watch for example Henry(arsenal), Anelka(bolton), Ballack(chelsea) to name just a few who don't break sweat. I think of my favourite Spurs player Steve Perryman who in 1970-71 played over 60 games and was a mf dynamo.

Have you noticed how many players get injured (or who are out injured) nowadays. Compare this again with the early seventies and if you check the appearances record of most top clubs you will find no more than 17 or 18 players being used in a season!

With all the sports knowledge and technology nowadays you would think there would be less injuries. I think current footballers are overpaid, pampered and yes soft!

There are lots of other irksome things I could write about but I will leave it at that.

I hope you agree with just a few of my thoughts or am I being too naive?

Cheers for now
Mancman :bang:
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,888
62,568
1. I agree it must be done, but unfortunately I can't see a ref who's going to have the guts to blow for it at the present time...maybe it can be one of the FAs "new" things next summer.
2. Possible, but the consequences could be that we get a lot more reds that have to be "overturned" by the FA as the players clearly weren't diving (eg Alonso v Arse last sat). Refs still aren't that great at seperating the dives frm the falls.
3. That has been proposed I think. Nobody but the team captain is allowed to discuss with the ref in a new rule that mght be brought in for next season or the one after. I'm all for it.
4. Difficult to stop. Everybody can get hot-headed during a game. Not unnatural for the coaches/players to have the same emotions as the fans, who mouth obscenities pretty much throughout some games. Though there ought to be less of this talking to the ref, which might help stop some agression.
5. Agree 100%. No further comments needed.
 

dontcallme

SC Supporter
Mar 18, 2005
33,988
81,937
Some good points, here's my break down

1) yes it would be nice to see any kinds of foul in the box punished more
2) yes, i saw Benni McCarthy a few weeks do the old pll his leg out and jump on the floor with no contact at all. This should be a straight red. Making a meal out of anything with minimal contact is a booking
3) This has turned out to be a huge change in football. What it all boils down to is a lack of respect and is a terrible example. The captain and offending player should be able to talk to the ref any other player approaching the ref is an immediate booking
4) Completely agree, once again the lack of respect to the ref is just wrong and especially managers should be able to maintain their respect for an authoritive figure even at the most stressful of times.
5) disagree here, substitutions are part of the rules and allowed to be used in way chosen. Although maybe if they're made at the end a little extra injury added time could be added on to make up for it.

My Spurscommunity resolution is to write more positive responses to those who take time to write a column. Good post.
 

Makkaveli101

SC Supporter
Apr 11, 2004
1,570
1,764
Great post. I work with a bunch of rugby fans and they're forever telling me what an lawless game football is. I really do believe that referees with the full backing of the FA and SUPPORTERS (can that ever happen?!) need to come down hard on players and obvious breaches of the laws of our game. It will make the beautiful game even more beautiful. The 'diving' element is embarassing, and referees should demand respect. It's basically a mirror of the society we live in (no discipline in schools, 'in my day you used to get the cane etc etc)-- if you told a ref to 'fuck' in the fifties/sixties, you'd be off the pitch before you could say 'off'!
 

fatspur

Member
Mar 11, 2005
578
2
agree that football could learn a lot from rugby as far as respecting ref is concerned. whatever rules are in place it is vital that there is consistency (or at least intention of consistency) every ref can make mistakes.

temp subs for blood injuries works well in rugby too - would have given time for proper assessment of Ghaly
 

JoeT

Well-Known Member
Jun 7, 2005
3,813
935
Re: point#2: how about a rule that if a player is injured and apparently requires treatment, he will be made to stay off for 5 minutes? This should stop the faking plus, in the case of a real injury, give the team time to get another player ready to come on. What do you think?
Also, sorry to disagree but I do feel that todays game is faster then it used to be. Also, in order to be faster players are wearing lighter - less protective - boots and lighter shin pads. This , in turn leads to more injuries. It's hard to prove that todays footballers are faster...but just about all sportd today are. Athletes weight train and diet; they must be. Iv'e heard of todays wingers that can do a 100 meters in 11 seconds; how many track sprinters could do that 30 years ago.
 

sundancer

Member
Apr 4, 2006
893
1
Good post, I too have been supporting Spurs for over 40 years and seen the decline in player behavior. Agree with all points you have made.
 

hongkongyid

New Member
May 11, 2005
114
0
Totally agree with point 5, well said.

Maybe this one would be controversial but how about a rule change where-by goalkeepers were never allowed outside the 18 yard box, they get enough protection inside it, would make for excellent one on one's which we hardly ever see these days.

Just a thought.
 

Dharmabum

Well-Known Member
Aug 16, 2003
8,274
12,242
Points 1-4 can easily be dealt with if video ref's were introduced. It's bound to happen some time - maybe in 10 or 20 years, who knows...but it's bound to happen, so why not start now?

As for point 5, the best is to follow up on what other sports started a long time ago: effective playing time. Just stop the watch each time the ball is out of play.
 
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