Future Sanitised Football

[Barry Shitpeas]

With the odd exception, most of the things you've highlighted have long since been absent from City games. As far as atmosphere goes, I've noticed recently that there seem to be quite a lot of young kids with their parents in the Canton / Ninian stands. Hopefully as they grow up into older teenagers they will replace the lads that used to create the new terrace chants that hardly seem to be doing it anymore.

[Kris]

With the odd exception, most of the things you've highlighted have long since been absent from City games. As far as atmosphere goes, I've noticed recently that there seem to be quite a lot of young kids with their parents in the Canton / Ninian stands. Hopefully as they grow up into older teenagers they will replace the lads that used to create the new terrace chants that hardly seem to be doing it anymore.

Video refs are going to see me lose interest fast.

[Barry Shitpeas]

Video refs are going to see me lose interest fast.

I don't particularly want video refs but I believe the only way video refs could work in football, is if the fourth official has a monitor and gives quick advice to the ref over a mic. The ref can then choose to take the advice or not. As far as time taken, it would be no different to the ref consulting the linesman and the crowd wouldn't even be aware of it.

What I don't know want is the ridiculous situation you have in rugby where an already stop - start game is slowed down even more as the refs seem to be more and more reliant on the TMO.

[Kris]

I don't particularly want video refs but I believe the only way video refs could work in football, is if the fourth official has a monitor and gives quick advice to the ref over a mic. The ref can then choose to take the advice or not. As far as time taken, it would be no different to the ref consulting the linesman and the crowd wouldn't even be aware of it.

What I don't know want is the ridiculous situation you have in rugby where an already stop - start game is slowed down even more as the refs seem to be more and more reliant on the TMO.

How many of the great talking moments of football down the years have involved controversial refereeing decisions?

Take that away, and the game is sanitised to the point of dullness.

[life on mars]

Its the frailties , controversies and blinding passion sets the sport apart from others.

[DubaiDai]

I don't particularly want video refs but I believe the only way video refs could work in football, is if the fourth official has a monitor and gives quick advice to the ref over a mic. The ref can then choose to take the advice or not. As far as time taken, it would be no different to the ref consulting the linesman and the crowd wouldn't even be aware of it.

What I don't know want is the ridiculous situation you have in rugby where an already stop - start game is slowed down even more as the refs seem to be more and more reliant on the TMO.

Agreed on the rugby comment, although the better referees tend to make most of the decisions and get on with it (Nigel Owens springs to mind), however, I have noticed more and more rugby referees playing safe and going the TMO for almost everything. Could that eventually happen in football ?

[the other bob wilson]

Agreed on the rugby comment, although the better referees tend to make most of the decisions and get on with it (Nigel Owens springs to mind), however, I have noticed more and more rugby referees playing safe and going the TMO for almost everything. Could that eventually happen in football ?

It also happens in cricket a lot. Although the current offside rule is gobbledegook as far as I'm concerned and is a dangerous development away from what I feel is one of the main reasons why football is truly the world game (it's rules are simple to understand), it's still nowhere near as complicated a game as rugby and cricket can be. I think the authorities have got things right at the moment. The officials need some help when it comes to whether the ball crossed the line or not decisions, but nothing else. Everyone loves to have a moan at a ref or linseman, but they get the overwhelming majority of decisions right - what would help them more would be a move away from the current vogue for TV companies trying to turn even the most minor of incidents into some sort of controversy which "the experts in the studio" have to discuss at half time or at the end of the game and a proper clampdown on divers - I'd love to see an official who was convinced someone was diving to try and get his side a penalty be able to award a spot kick at the other end of the pitch, but I think that may be too radical for the law makers .

As for the subject of the thread, I don't miss that feeling that I may be in danger of being attacked at a football game at all. I do miss the sort of match day atmospheres that seemed to be much more common a decade ago than they are now though, but the best atmospheres I've experienced in the new ground have been for a few Wales matches and City games against Man City, Leicester, Palace and a couple of Swansea derbies, only the latter two have had that "edge" to them where the atmosphere could be described as volatile in terms of feeling because of who the opposition were.

[Dr Lecter]

It also happens in cricket a lot. Although the current offside rule is gobbledegook as far as I'm concerned and is a dangerous development away from what I feel is one of the main reasons why football is truly the world game (it's rules are simple to understand), it's still nowhere near as complicated a game as rugby and cricket can be. I think the authorities have got things right at the moment. The officials need some help when it comes to whether the ball crossed the line or not decisions, but nothing else. Everyone loves to have a moan at a ref or linseman, but they get the overwhelming majority of decisions right - what would help them more would be a move away from the current vogue for TV companies trying to turn even the most minor of incidents into some sort of controversy which "the experts in the studio" have to discuss at half time or at the end of the game and a proper clampdown on divers - I'd love to see an official who was convinced someone was diving to try and get his side a penalty be able to award a spot kick at the other end of the pitch, but I think that may be too radical for the law makers .

As for the subject of the thread, I don't miss that feeling that I may be in danger of being attacked at a football game at all. I do miss the sort of match day atmospheres that seemed to be much more common a decade ago than they are now though, but the best atmospheres I've experienced in the new ground have been for a few Wales matches and City games against Man City, Leicester, Palace and a couple of Swansea derbies, only the latter two have had that "edge" to them where the atmosphere could be described as volatile in terms of feeling because of who the opposition were.

Totally agree with you here Bob.

There does seem to be an obsession with trying to make a controversy over even the most minor of incidents.

Then again, it gives them something to talk about in the studio which is easier than actually analysing tactics and gameplay (the fact that most of these pundits would be exposed as clueless is probably just a coincidence?)

On the subject of diving, I've been saying it for years that if the authorities wanted to clamp down then they could easily do it - an automatic five match ban for anyone diving (anywhere on the pitch) would stop it instantly. In the age of video technology you could easily look at incidents afterwards that were missed by the ref during the game. It would also help if pundits stopped making excuses such as 'there's contact, he's entitled to go down, he's looking for it etc. so as not to risk criticising certain players due to their nationality or club allegiance.

[the other bob wilson]

Totally agree with you here Bob.

There does seem to be an obsession with trying to make a controversy over even the most minor of incidents.

Then again, it gives them something to talk about in the studio which is easier than actually analysing tactics and gameplay (the fact that most of these pundits would be exposed as clueless is probably just a coincidence?)

On the subject of diving, I've been saying it for years that if the authorities wanted to clamp down then they could easily do it - an automatic five match ban for anyone diving (anywhere on the pitch) would stop it instantly. In the age of video technology you could easily look at incidents afterwards that were missed by the ref during the game. It would also help if pundits stopped making excuses such as 'there's contact, he's entitled to go down, he's looking for it etc. so as not to risk criticising certain players due to their nationality or club allegiance.

[lardy]

Totally agree with you here Bob.

There does seem to be an obsession with trying to make a controversy over even the most minor of incidents.

Then again, it gives them something to talk about in the studio which is easier than actually analysing tactics and gameplay (the fact that most of these pundits would be exposed as clueless is probably just a coincidence?)

On the subject of diving, I've been saying it for years that if the authorities wanted to clamp down then they could easily do it - an automatic five match ban for anyone diving (anywhere on the pitch) would stop it instantly. In the age of video technology you could easily look at incidents afterwards that were missed by the ref during the game. It would also help if pundits stopped making excuses such as 'there's contact, he's entitled to go down, he's looking for it etc. so as not to risk criticising certain players due to their nationality or club allegiance.

You can't really have it both ways though. If you want the panelists to stop going on about single incidents in games like suspect dives (which I agree with by the way), then I can't see that giving month long bans is going to help. That will just give the two second incident even more importance and they'll talk about it more. Should he banned? What about this one in another game? What if we compare it to this one from November?

Imagine if Hazard had dived last night and got a five match ban, that would be it for the season for him. Pundits and journos would be talking about it everywhere you turned.

[Jimmy the Jock]

Video refs are going to see me lose interest fast.

Has Voncent Tan got a job as a video ref?