FIFA Ponder Scrapping Offsides

[Dinho lad]

didn't they try that at the 94 world cup?

 

I think giving an offside decision simply because a player has his arm ahead of the last defender is kinda daft. I think an experiment is a good thing. And I agree with the opinion that the game would flow more.

 

Bad news for teams like newcastle that possess not one ounce of creativity in them, though!

 

 

This isn't offside, it's only offside if it's a part of your body with which you can legally score.

 

seen it before though. must be a shit linesman or something.

[Fatwax]

didn't they try that at the 94 world cup?

 

I think giving an offside decision simply because a player has his arm ahead of the last defender is kinda daft. I think an experiment is a good thing. And I agree with the opinion that the game would flow more.

 

Bad news for teams like newcastle that possess not one ounce of creativity in them, though!

 

 

This isn't offside, it's only offside if it's a part of your body with which you can legally score.

 

seen it before though. must be a s*** linesman or something.

 

Yeah, pretty much. Also the daylight rule never really existed, it was just something that shit commentators talked about making the public think that this was the case.

 

Never been in the rulebook, that.

[Exiled in Texas]

It's all about alignment of the AR to the last defender (and therefore the relative position of the attacker). And of course the ever changing movement of the defender, AR and attacker.  It's tougher than it looks and everyones an expert even from upfield/downfield of the "line"

[wacko]

As a referee - the Sin Bin concept would be another tool to let the referee manage the game.  Not as severe as a Red or Yellow (which is half way to a dismissal), the sin bin could be used to add discipline and minor penalties. 

 

It would all depend on the referee and his ability to use this new tool - and any referee who fails to manage a game with the current cards will probably still fail with the Sin Bin option. But for most referees it would be a very usefull tool for game management -  although perhaps difficult to manage without an official scorer when multiple infractions are occuring.

 

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.)

 

Well there is nothing stopping a 'sin-bin clock' being started/stopped when the ball went out of play.

 

Referees have a wrist watch to manage time - usually with stop watch that has an additional "stopwatch Add time feature". So that way they are tracking the game time, plus stoppage/injury time.  Without a 4th official managing the Sin Bin times, the referees would need to start carrying something beyond a wrist watch to manage game time and sin bin time. Workable for pro-Leagues but tough to bring down to lower level leagues.

 

All they'd need is a simple stopwatch like they handed out in PE, and a bit of practice using it (if you actually wanted to properly watch the clock, in which case games would last 120+ minute). The long and short of it is that the relationship of clock to ball-in-play time is so out of whack as it is, accurate timekeeping is not a priority, and noting player number and time is no more than refs do during bookings, anyway. You can be sure as hell the players won't let the ref forget to let their teammates back on.

 

I think it's a great idea. It would add a new tactical dimension to the game (powerplays, isn't it?).

[morpeth mag]

Personally I think the rules need to evolve as the game does. The offside rule was altered in the 20s when a certain NUFC exploited the old rule to good effect. Personally I think there are too many cynical fouls as the punishment is not severe enough (although a pen and red card goes the other way). I like the ice hockey rules where every foul gets a sin bin time (2 mins) and more serious fouls (yellow card equivalent) get 5 mins. In football the times would need to be longer to reflect the increased size of the pitch, number of players and length of game. I'd also like to see games last a fixed length with clocks switched off either like Rugby or running only when the ball is in play (70 min games?). I'd also like to see the use of a long range penalty (25m?) for any yellow card offence; more excitement and I bet soon less fouls. Finally I'd like to use video to re-referee games; not to change the outcome but to punish clubs whose players dive, hold shirts etc etc. You could have an escalation like a warning after so many offences, then a fine and then points docked. Make the onus on the clubs to manage their employees.

[Cronky]

I'd agree that abolishing offside altogether wouldn't improve the game. It would spread the play out, but it would make it a game of man-to-man marking like Aussie Rules football.

 

The Americans experimented in the seventies with a line across the pitch 35 yards from goal, behind which all attackers were onside (ie this new line replaced the half-way line) The intention was to give players more space while retaining the essential strategy of the game. FIFA forced them to drop the rule, just to keep the laws univeral, rather than because it wasn't working.

 

Other possibilities are to extend the 18 yard line right across the pitch, and use that as the offside line.

 

There was also a tournament in the 1970's called the Watney Cup, where offside was limited to the penalty area. I seem to remember that it resulted in a fair few goals.

 

Basically, the law can be adjusted in all sorts of ways other than total abolition.

[wacko]

Personally I think the rules need to evolve as the game does. The offside rule was altered in the 20s when a certain NUFC exploited the old rule to good effect. Personally I think there are too many cynical fouls as the punishment is not severe enough (although a pen and red card goes the other way). I like the ice hockey rules where every foul gets a sin bin time (2 mins) and more serious fouls (yellow card equivalent) get 5 mins. In football the times would need to be longer to reflect the increased size of the pitch, number of players and length of game. I'd also like to see games last a fixed length with clocks switched off either like Rugby or running only when the ball is in play (70 min games?). I'd also like to see the use of a long range penalty (25m?) for any yellow card offence; more excitement and I bet soon less fouls. Finally I'd like to use video to re-referee games; not to change the outcome but to punish clubs whose players dive, hold shirts etc etc. You could have an escalation like a warning after so many offences, then a fine and then points docked. Make the onus on the clubs to manage their employees.

 

It'd take 40+ years to get that lot through.

[Mistle17]

Adjust/fix the offside rule- Yes. Scrap it- No.

[Adam]

Field hockey there is no offside and its class, people need to actually see how it would effect the game before saying OMGZ IT WILL BE SHIT, THIS IS FOOTBALL DONT CHANGE IT WAH WAH.

 

On a side note, football needs to have a sinbin or a three card structure with a sin bin as the current system is shit.

[Guest Geordiesned]

In field hockey the option of knocking a high long ball forward to a mooching forward isn't an option so the comparison between hockey and football is a non-starter for me.

[Stifler]

In field hockey the option of knocking a high long ball forward to a mooching forward isn't an option so the comparison between hockey and football is a non-starter for me.

 

Exactly, football will turn into a game when you play with a set of mates and one fucker stands in front of the keeper the whole game to pick up scraps. Fuck that idea, the offside rule is a pretty good rule, and better then the old rule in my opinion. Just referee the rule the correct way instead.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

If this happens Lee Trundle will play for Man Utd and Viduka has another 10 years left as a Prem player

[Guest Geordiesned]

Shola and Nolan would love offside to be scrapped as they're too fucking lazy to try and get back onside.

[Adam]

In field hockey the option of knocking a high long ball forward to a mooching forward isn't an option so the comparison between hockey and football is a non-starter for me.

 

You can do long ariel passes in hockey tho., people can chuck it the length of the pitch, having no offside makes the game far more dynamic and open.

[wacko]

I used to play (field) hockey for the school, but I'm fucked if I can remember the rules. Buggered up my knee, that did.

[Dr.Spaceman]

Whatever happens will need to be trialled first.  See what happens from that.

[Exiled in Texas]

As a referee - the Sin Bin concept would be another tool to let the referee manage the game.  Not as severe as a Red or Yellow (which is half way to a dismissal), the sin bin could be used to add discipline and minor penalties. 

 

It would all depend on the referee and his ability to use this new tool - and any referee who fails to manage a game with the current cards will probably still fail with the Sin Bin option. But for most referees it would be a very usefull tool for game management -  although perhaps difficult to manage without an official scorer when multiple infractions are occuring.

 

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.)

 

Well there is nothing stopping a 'sin-bin clock' being started/stopped when the ball went out of play.

 

Referees have a wrist watch to manage time - usually with stop watch that has an additional "stopwatch Add time feature". So that way they are tracking the game time, plus stoppage/injury time.  Without a 4th official managing the Sin Bin times, the referees would need to start carrying something beyond a wrist watch to manage game time and sin bin time. Workable for pro-Leagues but tough to bring down to lower level leagues.

 

All they'd need is a simple stopwatch like they handed out in PE, and a bit of practice using it (if you actually wanted to properly watch the clock, in which case games would last 120+ minute). The long and short of it is that the relationship of clock to ball-in-play time is so out of whack as it is, accurate timekeeping is not a priority, and noting player number and time is no more than refs do during bookings, anyway. You can be sure as hell the players won't let the ref forget to let their teammates back on.

 

I think it's a great idea. It would add a new tactical dimension to the game (powerplays, isn't it?).

 

The challenge is how do you manage multiple sin bin infractions at the same time.  One guy is sent to sin bin for 2 mins, but 30 secs later guy from other team is sent in, then 45 secs later another player is sent in. 

 

That's a lot of stop watches to carry around. Even in Ice Hockey with an official scorer and a scoreboard with 2 sin-bin timers (Player # and Time remaining) there are times when additional infractions need to be noted and added manually.  The scorer (and the score board) also manages the release of the players back into the game, so the referees don't need to signal the players back in.

 

Seeing as Rugby already has this concept, I wonder how far down the leagues the Sin Bin concept is used and who manages the time.

[Foluwashola]

I used to be a decent goal moocher when we used to play doubles in the playground, perhaps there is still hope for my dream of playing for the toon 

[wacko]

As a referee - the Sin Bin concept would be another tool to let the referee manage the game.  Not as severe as a Red or Yellow (which is half way to a dismissal), the sin bin could be used to add discipline and minor penalties. 

 

It would all depend on the referee and his ability to use this new tool - and any referee who fails to manage a game with the current cards will probably still fail with the Sin Bin option. But for most referees it would be a very usefull tool for game management -  although perhaps difficult to manage without an official scorer when multiple infractions are occuring.

 

One hindrance is that the clock isn't stopped in Football, which could make it difficult to make sure the correct time is spent there and so on. I'm all for it if they find a way to execute it in a good way without making too many changes to the existing game. (i.e. starting to stop the clock to use this rule etc.)

 

Well there is nothing stopping a 'sin-bin clock' being started/stopped when the ball went out of play.

 

Referees have a wrist watch to manage time - usually with stop watch that has an additional "stopwatch Add time feature". So that way they are tracking the game time, plus stoppage/injury time.  Without a 4th official managing the Sin Bin times, the referees would need to start carrying something beyond a wrist watch to manage game time and sin bin time. Workable for pro-Leagues but tough to bring down to lower level leagues.

 

All they'd need is a simple stopwatch like they handed out in PE, and a bit of practice using it (if you actually wanted to properly watch the clock, in which case games would last 120+ minute). The long and short of it is that the relationship of clock to ball-in-play time is so out of whack as it is, accurate timekeeping is not a priority, and noting player number and time is no more than refs do during bookings, anyway. You can be sure as hell the players won't let the ref forget to let their teammates back on.

 

I think it's a great idea. It would add a new tactical dimension to the game (powerplays, isn't it?).

 

The challenge is how do you manage multiple sin bin infractions at the same time.  One guy is sent to sin bin for 2 mins, but 30 secs later guy from other team is sent in, then 45 secs later another player is sent in.

 

Realistically, there aren't going to be that many players in the sin bin. If refs generally enforce a rule of 2-3 minutes before they'll let the next player back on (unless they were sent off practically simultaneously), then players will be further discouraged from offending, and referees encouraged to punish tactical fouls. The ref only ever has to remember when the next player is allowed back on, and then look at his list. The player will, of course, be hopping up and down on the sideline. It's just a bit more book-keeping (one more card, one number).

 

That's a lot of stop watches to carry around. Even in Ice Hockey with an official scorer and a scoreboard with 2 sin-bin timers (Player # and Time remaining) there are times when additional infractions need to be noted and added manually.  The scorer (and the score board) also manages the release of the players back into the game, so the referees don't need to signal the players back in.

 

Sure, but in hockey they take the time really seriously. My point is that they don't at all in football, so suddenly insisting on it regarding the sin-bin would probably have a detrimental effect. Top sides can easily keep the ball for most of 2-3 minutes, while lesser (especially punt-happy UK) sides can't, while any time can play cynically. In this case, it'd actually be better to go with the status quo and let the ref play it by ear.

 

Seeing as Rugby already has this concept, I wonder how far down the leagues the Sin Bin concept is used and who manages the time.

 

Me, too. But it certainly proves it's doable.

[Guest sittingontheball]

First rule change I would do would be crack down on dissent.

 

Stop the Sky 4 clubs and other whingers surrounding the ref every time something happens. Approaching the ref when you're not the captain or not involved should be a booking. I'd also consider moving freekicks forward (or goalward) in response to dissent, like in rugby.

 

[SEMTEX]

First rule change I would do would be crack down on dissent.

 

Stop the Sky 4 clubs and other whingers surrounding the ref every time something happens. Approaching the ref when you're not the captain or not involved should be a booking. I'd also consider moving freekicks forward (or goalward) in response to dissent, like in rugby.

 

 

They did the move freekick thing, but closer doesn't always mean better for freekicks, which made it awkward. But otherwise, I agree.

[Gash]

I like it.

[Village Idiot]

I guess the main change would be that all defences would be forced to sit deep, which is pretty boring. If the opposition plays with goalhangers you need to be shoulders with them, and if they don't you would be forced to sit deep too as pacy forwards would have a very easy time ripping an advanced defence without offsides.

 

So pretty much every goal would be a lumped ball or a lucky deflected shout outside the box. Yay.

[Guest gggg]

Why the fuck are they trying to copy field hockey anyway?

[gazza ladra]

Don't fix it; it ain't broke.