SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS FOR A FREE KICK?!

[Steve the Tea]

At City's last home game the ref took an age for every free kick near to the penalty area that necessitated getting the wall back 10 yds. Every one approached a minute. Whilst watching tonight's Derby v Bristol City game on Sky the ref, a Mr England, took fully SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS over one near to the penalty area between whistling for a foul to whistling for the free-kick to be taken.

SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS! Just time that. Centre of attention comes to mind. Time for the authorities to sort that one out.

StT.
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[Loramski]

At City's last home game the ref took an age for every free kick near to the penalty area that necessitated getting the wall back 10 yds. Every one approached a minute. Whilst watching tonight's Derby v Bristol City game on Sky the ref, a Mr England, took fully SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS over one near to the penalty area between whistling for a foul to whistling for the free-kick to be taken.

SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS! Just time that. Centre of attention comes to mind. Time for the authorities to sort that one out.

StT.
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I increasingly became aware of this as Whittingham lost his magic free kick powers over the years. If we were chasing the game late on and got a direct free kick there'd be a huge roar from the crowd as though we'd won a penalty. The reality was that most of the remaining time would be run down while the ref got everything sorted, the free kick would come to nothing (as a very large percentage of them do overall), more time would be lost taking the resulting goal kick and any attacking momentum had been lost.

I can't think of a better way of wasting time at the end of a game if you're under pressure. Rather than spend 30 seconds making a sub for which 30 seconds gets added on, just foul someone outside the box and the best part of two minutes disappears. Of course the odd one will go in but plenty of goals get scored from open play in injury time anyway. Stopping the clock for these free kicks would be an obvious answer but football doesn't do obvious.

[Steve the Tea]

I increasingly became aware of this as Whittingham lost his magic free kick powers over the years. If we were chasing the game late on and got a direct free kick there'd be a huge roar from the crowd as though we'd won a penalty. The reality was that most of the remaining time would be run down while the ref got everything sorted, the free kick would come to nothing (as a very large percentage of them do overall), more time would be lost taking the resulting goal kick and any attacking momentum had been lost.

I can't think of a better way of wasting time at the end of a game if you're under pressure. Rather than spend 30 seconds making a sub for which 30 seconds gets added on, just foul someone outside the box and the best part of two minutes disappears. Of course the odd one will go in but plenty of goals get scored from open play in injury time anyway. Stopping the clock for these free kicks would be an obvious answer but football doesn't do obvious.

The problem here was due almost exclusively to the ref. All he has to do is do the blob for the ball and, irrespective of where the defending players are, the line 10 yds away. Players who don't retire immediately behind the line when it is drawn are booked. The kick can be taken almost certainly within 30 secs.

StT.
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[A Quiet Monkfish]

I thought that - with the 'spray' system it's supposed to be quick and simple but all you see is the referee standing there for ages between the wall and the free kick taker, looking important...

[Steve the Tea]

I thought that - with the 'spray' system it's supposed to be quick and simple but all you see is the referee standing there for ages between the wall and the free kick taker, looking important...

Very true, AQM. One or two refs do, 'the blob and line,' before the wall retreats is as it should be. The authorities always try to make a problem where there should not be one. Argh!

Now don't get me started on foul throws that are taken from the top of the head and not correctly from the back of the neck.

StT.
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[jamieccfc]

The average time the ball is actually in play is 50-60 minutes

[Loramski]

The problem here was due almost exclusively to the ref. All he has to do is do the blob for the ball and, irrespective of where the defending players are, the line 10 yds away. Players who don't retire immediately behind the line when it is drawn are booked. The kick can be taken almost certainly within 30 secs.

StT.
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Definitely, but this scenario is pretty much standard and accepted now after the foul gets committed. The defence are in no rush to take their positions as they are close to goal so will waste time contesting the decision or accusing the fouled player of diving. The ref will then spray by the ball and tell the taker to wait for the whistle (in other words, 'you're attacking, you're desperate for a goal, there's not much time left, you've been fouled so I'm going to punish you by giving you less time to score one while I show these defenders how far 10 yards is').

The ref then paces out the 10 yards and sprays, now a defender can finish organising the wall by standing on the ball and fine tuning everyone's position till he's got it just right. There will be some jostling somewhere in the box that the ref needs to sort out, then he'll retire to some precise spot, check everything is in order and, finally, blow his whistle. As I say, more often than not it comes to nothing (have we seen a direct free kick scored at the CCS this season?) so the whole thing is a waste of time.

Sean Dyche felt it was unfair that Man City had been allowed to take a quick free kick from just inside the Burnley half recently. Apparently, Ashley Westwood was standing by the ref and asking him if City would have to wait for the whistle before they took it. Instead of criticising Westwood, Dyche had a go at the ref saying it would've been common sense to stop the game and have a chat with Westwood instead of letting Man City play on and score. Complete and utter gibberish, of course, but Dyche obviously felt cheated that the unwritten rule of a break in play for a defensive foul hadn't been applied.

[dembethewarrior]

At City's last home game the ref took an age for every free kick near to the penalty area that necessitated getting the wall back 10 yds. Every one approached a minute. Whilst watching tonight's Derby v Bristol City game on Sky the ref, a Mr England, took fully SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS over one near to the penalty area between whistling for a foul to whistling for the free-kick to be taken.

SEVENTY-FIVE SECONDS! Just time that. Centre of attention comes to mind. Time for the authorities to sort that one out.

StT.
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Ref last week was awful even down to goal kicks.

At first I thought it was the keeper for Sunderland so I started to watch the ref..he was taking an age to put his hand up...wonder if out "time wasting" claims by others is just down to the ref.

[Llanedeyrnblue]

The average time the ball is actually in play is 50-60 minutes

Compared to rugby that’s brilliant

[dembethewarrior]

Just off topic...

There was some crazy bloke in the family stand last week screaming at the ref for only pacing out 9 yards

[jamieccfc]

Compared to rugby that’s brilliant

? They stop the clock in rugby

[Loramski]

I had a quick look for some stats on direct free-kicks to try and show their success rate. I couldn't find anything definitive but I get the impression that it's around 5 or 6% overall. Obviously some players are better than others but even the free-kick 'legend' Ronaldo was only at 6.6% in La Liga up to the start of this season (20 goals from 301 attempts). I don't think they're worth the fuss that the referees make of them. To echo the OP, give the defence thirty seconds to get ready (and add that time on at the end of the game) and just get on with it.

The attacking side don't help mind. I can't understand why they never seem in a rush to take them, even in the chasing the game scenario I talked of earlier in the thread. If they get a corner or a throw-in late on they'll be scampering over to take it but a direct free-kick takes forever and they don't seem bothered. It's as though they think it's such a great opportunity to score that they might mess it up if they rush it. The stats seem to show otherwise.

[Louth]

A lot of referees have become legends in their own mind.
Just get on with it. Players circling the ref irritates me too. Book one or two and tell them to f#ck off. That'll soon put an end to it

[Steve the Tea]

Definitely, but this scenario is pretty much standard and accepted now after the foul gets committed. The defence are in no rush to take their positions as they are close to goal so will waste time contesting the decision or accusing the fouled player of diving. The ref will then spray by the ball and tell the taker to wait for the whistle (in other words, 'you're attacking, you're desperate for a goal, there's not much time left, you've been fouled so I'm going to punish you by giving you less time to score one while I show these defenders how far 10 yards is').

The ref then paces out the 10 yards and sprays, now a defender can finish organising the wall by standing on the ball and fine tuning everyone's position till he's got it just right. There will be some jostling somewhere in the box that the ref needs to sort out, then he'll retire to some precise spot, check everything is in order and, finally, blow his whistle. As I say, more often than not it comes to nothing (have we seen a direct free kick scored at the CCS this season?) so the whole thing is a waste of time.

Sean Dyche felt it was unfair that Man City had been allowed to take a quick free kick from just inside the Burnley half recently. Apparently, Ashley Westwood was standing by the ref and asking him if City would have to wait for the whistle before they took it. Instead of criticising Westwood, Dyche had a go at the ref saying it would've been common sense to stop the game and have a chat with Westwood instead of letting Man City play on and score. Complete and utter gibberish, of course, but Dyche obviously felt cheated that the unwritten rule of a break in play for a defensive foul hadn't been applied.

Hi again. My point is that it should be the ref who determines the the time that a free kick takes and not the defending team. My original post sought to outline the complete dereliction of duty the official showed in regard to this.

StT.
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