Sin Bin

[Old Lethamite]

Fotball to consider implementing sin bins shock!  What has taken them  so long?  Plenty of positive examples

from other sports - rugby, ice hockey, hockey, where it is generally regarded as a positive move.  Can't wait for

the 'it'll never work', numerous 'what if's? etc. from our unimaginative press corps. 

And while they are at it, adopt central timing when referees signal stopping the clock (cue excitement for fans

as the game enters the final minute), captain's armband meaning something,  and, shock horror, doing away

with the offsie rule.  Discuss.

[Gekko]

I'd certainly say, that at the very least, we should give it a try.

Sometimes, a tackle isn't bad enough for a card, and the player gets away with it. The classic "taking one for the team" being the prime example.

If he knew he was going to get ten minutes in the sin bin for making it, would he still be as willing to do so?

The central timing certainly adds excitement in rugby and would take away any uncertainty about the exact time left, and it would put a stop to all the accusations that the officials kept the game going until the opposition scored.

Having only the captain speak to the ref is an interesting one. It would work in theory, but I feel that football isn't as, respectful shall we say, as other sports and it would struggle with that.

I can imagine it would be even more difficult to be enforced the further down the leagues you go. Especially at kids games when often the parents are practically going on to the pitch, to try and throttle the ref themselves.

Although I do agree the officials need more protection from intimidation.

I remember an interview with Sir Alex, where he said that he always told his players to surround the ref at times when they needed to make important decisions, to try and pressure them to rule in their favour. It was literally a tactic he'd use! And I'm sure he's not the only manager to do that.

The offside rule for me should be made simpler, and go back to the old rules.

This, not interfering with play nonsense, gets on my nerves.

It can be confusing and leaves too much open to interpretation.

I can't remember who it was, but a famous manager once said, "If he's not interfering with play, then what's he doing on the pitch?"

My thoughts exactly, keep it simple and revert it back.

[blueheaven]

Totally agree with the above comment about the offside rule. It's been tweaked so many times over the last decade or two that it's just become completely incomprehensible and I've never really understood what problem they were trying to fix in the first place. The offside rule in its very simplest form is fine as it is. The only thing I'd perhaps add is some clarification that there needs to be a clear line of daylight between the attacking and defending player for it to be an offside call. I don't think just having a shoulder etc further forward than the defender should be enough for the flag to go up.

Sin bin I'm not sure about. Might be worth a try, but I'm not really sure why it's necessary. My general view on most of these things is that football's rules should just be left alone and kept as simple as possible. (That said, I think the introduction of the pass-back rule really improved the game, so sometimes these things do work.)

[sixties saintee]

Are the refs gonna go in it as well