Can you believe some of the refereeing decisions that we see week in and week out, I for one cannot. I was led to believe that football is run on a set of rules, where offside is offside, handball is handball and so on. Those rules have been tampered with so that a simple rule has now two different meanings to them and the officials have now got the power to interpret them any way they wish.
Take for instance the offside rule, a simple rule which stated that any player standing in an offside position when the ball is kicked is deemed to be offside and a free kick to the defending team would be awarded from where the player stood. Now that is so simple that everybody can understand it. Now though, the football federations have seen it fit to change that simple rule.
Now the offside rule is:
You are offside, if when receiving the ball you are in an offside position but anybody else is not deemed offside unless interfering with play. Now that has caused many controversial arguments and has put the deciding decision in the hands of the officials. So from changing a simple rule to a complicated rule has thrown everything up in the air. My view on this is, match fixing, yes match fixing! Any rule that can be interpreted two ways is open to abuse, and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the rule was changed to fix the result of the game.
The handball rule is another controversial subject, when is handball, handball?
The rule states from the shoulder down is deemed handball, unless its accidental! Who determines if it was intentional or not? Yes the official on the day! Another way for the officials to fix results and another rule that can be interpreted two ways. How can we have a rule that is not clear-cut, if a ball hits the arm from shoulder down it must be classed as handball whether accidental or not, it should never be left up to the officials if it is the same for all, it must be fair.
When looking at the offside rule, we need to be aware that the defending back line is trying to keep the line straight and playing encroaching players into an offside position. They are doing this deliberately so you can understand that when encroaching players who are in an offside position are deemed not offside, is totally against what defenders are trying to achieve. This rule has to be changed back to the simple explanation so that it takes it out of the hands of officials.
The Professional foul:
When a player is through to a scoring position (which we all know is between the goalkeeper and the striker), and is taken out of the game before he has a chance to shoot, is in my eyes a professional foul. Punishment for that offence is a red card. However, the rule interpreted by officials is if the last defender takes a player out of the game where classed by the official as a scoring opportunity, the defender should take a red card. The trouble with that interpretation is this may happen on the halfway line, this is not a scoring chance so a red card should not be given. This rule needs to be defined so everybody knows at a glance what the ruling should be.
Today the game of football is orchestrated by the officials, they determine who wins by the decisions they make. The football federations are in charge of the officials they appoint them to whatever games they want. Officials should be rotated so they are not in charge of more games than any other official. We have seen too often in the Premier League the same officials for the same clashes which I find unacceptable.
At the end of the day we only want the best team to come out on top, fairness has to be the main aim without bias. Rules need to be simplified so even the new supporter can understand the rules of the game. It is in everyone’s interest to make the game of football interesting and fair. With technology we can make the game even fairer by eliminating mistakes and the onus is not then on the officials. As in Tennis, Cricket and Rugby where seeing is believing, this makes for better relations between fans and players alike but above all ensures the right result is there at the end of the game.
Many rules are changed for other reasons, either to give the supporter more excitement with more goals, or as a way of speeding up the game. Some of these changes may have achieved this but at what expense. Has the pass back to a goalkeeper actually speeded up the game? Maybe for making the keeper kick it straight back out but when he receives the ball from the opponent, he can run all round his area with the ball and then drop the ball at his feet and dribble it before he kicks it out. Put these two together and I don’t believe that overall this has speeded up the game much at all.
The rules of football were introduced when the game became competitive and those rules survived for many years without the interference from anybody. Since the changes we have had controversy from every corner and also many strange decisions. You may think the game has changed so the rules have to be updated but I believe if we make changes they should be for the better of the game, the emphasis being on fair play and not for orchestrated games dictated by the governing bodies.
I personally liked the old ways of play but what’s your views, and can we improve a very old game which now has a very silly set of new rules?
Written by Steve Palmer an ex player who played the old way.
One titbit to add which is doing the rounds in all the red tops this morning and that is about Cesc Fabregas. Having paid out £50 Million for Torres, Roman now plans to offer the same figure for our captain. Unlike Torres, Cesc loves playing for the club he is at, he has repeated that time and time again. Only one other club is dear to his heart and we all know who they are, Cesc is not driven by money he is driven by success and right now he wants that at Arsenal. Should he finally leave in the summer it certainly won’t be to another Premier League side and certainly not to an over aged, over paid side full of massive egos.
Like I said, he’s a winner and going to Chelsea would certainly be a step backwards in his career.
Also, in my opinion, if the chavs were willing to pay £50 Million for Torres, that surely makes Cesc’s value around the £100 Million mark! The chavs don’t make that kind of money so they certainly can’t spend that kind of money can they?
In short, dream on Roman!
Have a good day all…….
Morning all
Good post Steve, thanks…
The laws/rules of the game are crazy, nothing seems to be set in stone anymore, it’s all about how the ref on the day sees it and calls it, you are spot-on.
I know these officials are meant to be impartial but they must love football to get into it and they must all support a team..
I don’t think anyone can convince me that ‘their’ club is on their mind when making some of their decisions…..
Time for technology i think….
As for the Chavs, they can dream on….
Thats Nikki gone in the summer then …..
Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner insists he will decide on his future at the end of the season.
The Dane has often been linked with moves away from The Gunners, as he struggles to command a regular first-team place.
German giants Bayern Munich are the most recent side linked with a move for him, and he admits he is considering his options.
“If I’m still happy then I stay, otherwise we must see what will happen,” he is quoted by the Daily Star.
“I mean that I’m good enough to be in the line-up.
“I will play this season to the end as an Arsenal player and then make a decision on my status in the summer.”
The 23-year-old also insisted that he was worthy of anything that comes his way financially in the game.
“I believe I’m worth what is coming my way. I pay a big price with my body, my time and with never being able to have privacy when I am out,” said the Gunners striker.
“I don’t complain about that. It’s a part of being a professional footballer but it’s definitely a price to pay.
“Again, I am not complaining but I love to go on a skiing holiday but as long as I have my career I can’t do that because of the risk of injury.”
I understand handball against ball to hand. Not every time it hits the hand or arm is it a foul.
The offside rule is still pretty simple but yes, the change has confused a lot of people (mostly lino’s it seems) but the one thing that annoy’s me is “intent”.
There seems to be a school of thought that as long as the ball is played first, a foul can’t be committed. That is rubbish.
Let’s look at the Barton tackle on Diaby (as it is still fresh in my old memory). Yes, Barton got the ball first but look at the physical force he used in that tackle, he knew he would go through the ball and take the player but he had the old “I played the ball” excuse to fall back on.
I have seen players booked who never made contact but the ref could see the intent in the challenge and showed the card the challenge warranted.
The other thing I need clarification on (and have written to the FA for said clarification) is why the person retaliating is in 99% on cases the player booked and the original offender gets away with the foul that caused the issue.
These are the two issues I want to understand.
Morning Will,
The only way I see all this changing for the better is to have technology, take the heat away from the incident for that split second and have it reviewed…
I still cannot see how that barton tackle was deemed legal and i hope you hear back from the FA, we’d all like to hear their reasons why…
Morning Rico.
It is the get out of “played the ball” that upsets me. I feel like asking a ref, does that mean I can kick the guy in the face as long as I played the ball first?
Will, trust me I understand what you are saying, had diaby broken his leg then no dobt Dowd would have shown him red but it should not take a nasty injury to change a ref’s mind, the tackle was wrong….
I do worry about Dowd. I know we all piss and moan about ref’s but this guy seems to have a genuine dislike for us.
I hope I hear from the FA soon or I will send another mail.
Him and Webb Will….
Webb is just an open Man Utd fan.
Newsnow is playing up for HH today, Steve’s post has not gone out which is a great shame…
True re Webb so how he is allowed to ref their games is beyond me….
Thing is, I agree on the set in stone rules idea as right now, it seems the rules are a set of guidelines open to each ref’s personal thoughts and his likes/dislikes of teams or individual players.
Thats exactly what steve is saying too Will, its all down to how the ref sees on ‘his’ day, totally wrong!!
Got to pop out for an hour, will try and sort NN when i get back…..
Morning Rico, morning Will. doesn’t Dowd come from Stoke on Trent, home of the beautiful game?
Morning Kev. Yes he does.
morning rico, Will,
Good points Will, i dont beleive Barton ever tackles without intent, i beleive his pholosophy is, if i dont get the ball you wont either. To a point i agree with that method, i beleive tackling is an art, some have it others dont, the art is to retreive the ball fairly without injury, in the back of some players mind is to let them know your there, and with the likes of Barton, they like to leave their mark. some one said to me once when i was driveing like a madman, you want to be carefull, one day you will meet yourself comeing the other way. i thought about that statement for a while untill the penny dropped, Barton without a shadow of a doubt will meet his match very soon.
Yes Steve, that is exactly it. Barton gets away with it every game and ref’s should take previous into account.
Barton tries to injure every time and watch the tackle again, Barton’s momentum takes him not only through the ball but through Diaby’s legs.
Remember Shawcross, he got loads of stick for being a dangerous tackler, dont hear so much about him now do we
All I remember about the Shawcross thing was the English press telling anyone who would listen that he was not that sort of boy and even when it was proved he was, the defended him.
Thats because it was an Arsenal player that got injured.
Exactly. I have noticed the media and other fans are having a go at us for mentioning the ref’s open bias.
There has for some time, been accusations of match fixing, many foreign leagues have been involved, i for one beleive its been here for a long time, any football fan who watches all games not just their own team, can see that the decisions made by officials are biased, and i cant understand why i see it but the FA dont. The only answer in my mind is for match fixing, and untill this problem is rectified the same teams will win nearly every trophy, its been the same for years, and i dont expect things to improve anytime soon. A clear cut set of rules is a good starting point.
I agree on the rules. It really does depend on what ref you get as to what fouls are given.
Boo, anyone around??
Steve, I’m really sorry but for some reason todays post didn’t go out on NN, have tried to sort it but to no avail… 🙁
I am here.
Me too on and of Will, any more players dropped out of the friendlies yet??
Guys, go answer this please
http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/arsenal/64234/how-much-more-unlikable-can-arsenal-get.html/comment-page-1#comment-103779
Will, just read it, is that from a Gooner blog??
morning all…good write-up, just waiting anxiously for news on jd…
will, why even link that? it’s a wind-up, plain and simple – why do we even want to bother giving the attention-seeker what he wants? the inflammatory headline should tell you all you need to know about the motive for that “piece”…don’t give him what he wants…
morning oliver – you and me both re JD….
Arsenal fans have voted Nicklas Bendtner’s strike against Ipswich as our January Goal of the Month.
The Danish striker produced a moment of magic to break Ipswich’s resolve in the Carling Cup Semi-Final second leg at Emirates Stadium, bringing down Jack Wilshere’s raking pass and cutting inside a defender before curving a shot into the far corner.
Nicklas’ effort received 34 per cent of the votes to win our monthly award.
Good read from a different point of view.why are Arse.com so silent regarding JD’s injury?im tired of refreshing the page.
Hi KT, i won’t be surprised to hear them say he is fine on Thursday morning, save any prob re the swiss game….
there is a story making the rounds that djourou may be back training after only a week or so…source is apparently the switzerland fa. i am taking it with a grain of salt and shall wait for the offical line on dot.com…
Joey Barton’s tackling methods are unfortunately a by product of the “English way” of playing football that is still being taught up and down the country on a saturday and Sunday morning. The amount of times I have been told my Saturday league manager to make sure you “go through him” or “make him know you’re there so he won’t go in for the next one”. This is fine if you have been brought up with respect for other people, but unfortunately some folk are bought up in an environment whereby this is not taught. There are many players I come across on a Saturday and Sunday who are
applauded for tackling the way Joey Barton does.
It is absolutely inherent in the english ethos and is why you get PRANNIES like Alan Brazil going on about it being “ridiculous that you’re not allowed to tackle any more”.
What Brazil etc don’t realise is that there is absolutely no need to make tackles in the way Barton did. In my opinion this kind of tackle, i.e. sliding/ going to ground in a head on challenge should be banned. If the ball is loose and 2 players are running towards it they can both tackle, and put their full weight into a challenge whilst on their feet. If they both slide in or go to ground it is f’ing dangerous.
Sliding for me should only be allowed from a side on position.
Now you can’t take the physical side our of the game, but some players are taking it too far and the only way to stop it is to implement long term and retrospective (if required) bans so players learn their lesson.
Oliver i think JD is fine and they are only resting him.if it was a season ending injury it would be all over the news am sure and Arse.com would’ve already informed us.he would also have already undergone surgery by now.
Re JD, I think he will be back after Wolves….
As the saying goes, the pessamist may be proved right in the end, but the optimist will have a better journey 🙂
Hi James,
trouble is, its seems that everyone apart from arsenal fans think barton’s tackle was legal…. other club fans wouldn’t though if it happened to one of their players…
The Swiss doctor has said its going to take less than a week.if Arse.com had said it was 7 days it would be more like 70.JD was upbeat on twitter and this may be just the reason why.Brum would have destroyed us with zigic in the CC final without him.his partnership with kos may just help us keep barca out.
I said the same a couple of days ago KT, great minds – Zigic v Squilli…. would be nearly as scary as messi 😉
I think you are right about surgery too, if he were that bad, he’d be operated on by now, especially if it were cartlidge…
Rico the diagnosis took so long because of the swelling in his knee.as things stand only sagna and nasri will miss the barca tie and thats a relief.
good post and i agree
the officials are so shit cos they dont know the rules themselves…
its too complicated..everything involves ‘phase two’ and ‘phase three’
its rubbish..phase one is where it all counts and the refs are thinking too far ahead that they miss the real issue
i think jd is ok
the news is delayed until the internationals are over..
he’ll be available for wolves i reckon
Messi has 24 la liga goals from 93 shots.CR7 has 24 from 165…
Ronaldo has 50 laliga goals in 51 games.he broke Di stefano’s record of 50 in 54 games.
jj, you not been reading my comments again 😆
Bonjour old chap 😉
KT, at least its only one match for sagna, he be back to see us go through in the second leg 😉
Actually, have i got that right about just one match??
Rico sagna will be back for the Camp nou tie.
Evening all,
Any decent news about anything happening.
bonjour rico 😉
hey guys
JD is fine steve.
Just come back from nine holes, while i was playing i was thinking about the rules and realised that in Golf you can call a foul on yourself, i wondered whether that could be introduced into football, do you think anybody would ever do it.
Thank Christ for that rico
Sorr KT,
Just realised i answered to the wrong person
folks, lets just wait until we hear the word from arsenal.com, ok? i understand that this is jd’s national side medical staff speaking, but arsenal is the team he plays regularly for, the one who pays his wages…for all we know, afc medical team may have a completely different diagnosis…if they don’t and he misses just wolves, i will be very, very happy…but i don’t want to get elated just yet – not until i hear our team’s take on this…
i think that type of thing has happened a few times steve
di canio for westham
fowler for liverpool
not fouls as such but fair play
gentlemanly conduct
We have conceded a goal every 251 minutes with JD and 54 without JD.
Nice to hear Jon Jon,
oliver, i will re-post my earlier about JD’s injury….
As the saying goes, the pessamist may be proved right in the end, but the optimist will have a better journey
😆
Hi Steve
thank you again for the post, just sorry NN failed to publish it 🙁
No probs rico, probably saved me from a bit of abuse
perhaps…but will it really hurt to patiently wait for the official line from dot com before getting elated that we will have him back for the big upcoming matches? if our staff diagnoses this similar, then we’ve lost nothing and can relax and look forward to a tighter, more solid defence…if, however, the news from our club is not good, then just how deflating will that be?
Eredivisie powerhouse Ajax could lose yet another key player at the end of the season as defender Jan Vertonghen has revealed that he is ready to move to a bigger club.
The Amsterdam side lost Urby Emanuelson and Luis Suarez in the winter transfer window and now their key defensive performer looks set to move on.
“I’ll be honest about the alleged interest of Milan and Arsenal – I haven’t heard anything from them just yet,” said Vertonghen to Het Nieuwsblad.
“They haven’t approached me personally and haven’t spoken to my agent or club either.
“There has been some interest in me before, but never from this kind of clubs. Obviously, I’ve heard Milan director Adriano Galliani talk about me me after the Champions League match in San Siro and his words were very flattering.
“This is the right moment for me to leave Ajax. It’s not as if I’m desperate to move on, but I feel like I’m ready to join a bigger club. I’m a big fan of the Premier League, but you can’t say no when a club like Milan come knocking.”
The 23-year-old’s current contract runs until the summer of 2013.
oliver – i know why you are so sceptical, so much has not been said by afc in the past and when they do, its always negative – its the JD comments from himself that give optimism in this case….
Steve, abuse?? Why?
Its a good post and I cannot see why anyone could abuse your views, week in week out we see so many different refs make different decisions, when the circumstances in front of them are so similar….
the rules are an ass…..
vertonghen??
tv former partner at ajax..
vertonghen was mentioned last summer and this jan, if he truly is ready to leave, wenger will get him i am sure – he and TV are best of friends and get them back together, well…..
it would be bloody perfect….
Oliver if the swiss say 1 week its 1 week 00:00:01 next week.
rico, optimistic but not necessarily a diagnosis. i saw your post earlier, also see others proclaiming with near-certainty that this is nothing and he will definitely be back either for, or immediately after that match. all i am recommending is to wait for arsenal’s official comment on the matter. he’s probably ok, but there is no harm in not getting our hopes high up just yet…that’s all…
k, it wasn’t only the doctors. i am pretty sure i saw some quotes attributed to herr hitzfeld about the good news regarding jd’s fitness (and his importance to hitzfeld’s squad)…he’s probably fine, i just prefer arsenal fc to make it official that he is.
JJ Most people say that barca rarely change their formation but i disagree.i have watched them closely this season and have realised something.against teams that attack like villareal/madrid they played a 3-7-0.they did not press so high up.in doing this they invited pressure luring the defenders out to form a high offside line.they would then win the ball and overwhelm the double pivot (khedira/alonso) with villa/pedro playing on the shoulder of the last defender.messi would drop deep along xavi and iniesta to dictate play.
like you say oliver, we’ll all be happier hopefully, when afc.com tell it as it really is…
oliver
i said the same as rico last night, i think its just precaution
if he was done for the season i think they would have told us by now…
jd said he was feeling better on a tweet yesterday its looking positive
Villa has just said we are a ‘great team’ but we all know he must be licking his lips at the prospect of facing eboue.cesc probably skipped the internationals to avoid taunting from barca players.
ktr if they do that to us they will beat us
its the same way the chavs and the mancs have beat us in the passed but they no longer have the players to do it
barca do..
BREAKING NEWS:RVP is one game away from facing barca.fingers crossed…come to think of it f*ck messi we’ve got wonderboy!
JJ Thats how they played at the camp nou due to theo’s presence on the pitch.if you look at their 3rd and 4th goals messi was probably the only player in our half.we have to score first then stay tight.let them come onto us and then unleash AA and theo on the break.we saw how messi’s throughballs sliced apart madrid.we must not allow him the space to do that.at the camp nou if we’re ahead and the game is ending id play JD and verm (if he is back) and kos as a sweeper in a back 5 to cut out the through balls that barca aim between CB and FB for villa/pedro’s diagonal runs.
if we are only missing nasri and sagna we’ll give em a go…
we’ll need the full squad next leg though
It appears to me that the early goal Wenger allways has said is vital, may just be our Achillese heel, judgeing by what Kosi has supposedly said, we are probably better coming from behind, that may be the way against Barca
Villa knows our first eleven is unstoppable – trouble is, we won’t have our first eleven….
We need the big guns at the camp nou for sure.
Steve going behind against barca will be disastrous.they’ll toy around with us and murder us on the break.just look at the camp nou tie when they went 2-1 up and you’ll see what i mean.
Guys, got to go for the day, birthday celebrations in my family and no, it’s not mine again 😉
Catch you all tomorrow…
nighty night
KT, Just looking at the positives
The highlight of our barca ties for me was clichy.he played like a lion in both ties and was our only player whose head never dropped at any moment in the tie.he may have his faults but he always gives 100%.
I like Clicky too, lets hope his spirit rejuvinates the rest, seems first half is alright, its the second half we need to work on
Nte Nte All
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