h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And there is a difference between competition and just "winning". If a player aged 8 gets a medal because they have won a cup in under 9s eleven a side football it probably wont make the difference in terms of their later football development.

But coaching skills can still be competetive, games set up to teach movement and technique are always competative but also teach a skill.

In many places talented kids play a lot of footsal (smaller pitch, smaller heavier ball, less player) which forces kids to learn about movement, passing accuracy and technique as you cant play the game without developing these things.

When young kids play 11 aside it is the kids who can run the fastest, or kick the ball the furthest who are the best and these are the wrong thingas to teach at an early level.

FB

That's just it, everyone except the fa seem to understand this and so they keep pushing bad/outdated practices. And while we're on the subject, why are they not insisting that refs referee properly, at least at professional level? You know, stopping the back-chat, stopping keepers coming off the line when penalties are taken etc...

It's like the government asking Barbara Woodhouse to host a dog training programme on the BBC.

Referees can't referee properly because there is too much infringement, but not enough types of sanction. While it's very easy to say "crack down and start sending them off, it'll soon sort the game out"; realistically it wouldn't the game would just be a laughing stock. Remember the 2006 World Cup game where the ref got criticised for issuing 17 yellows and 3 reds.

What I think they should do is change the sanction system ... the NBA (American basketball) has a foul-out rule. Players can commit 6 fouls and then they're fouled out of the game, unable to return. Another player can come on in their place.

I think feasibly something like that could work in soccerball because referees could begin to issue fouls against shirt-tugging, holding, dodgy tackles, handballs etc.

There'd be downsides ... player with only 1 foul commits a professional foul late in the game ... how do you deal with it? But overall I think it would put refs in a position to clear up the game.

I sometimes wonder about the whole zero-tolerance refereeing idea. How many times would a match have to be called off after 10 minutes because 6 players have been sent off, before they get the message? I suspect it would be more than you think.
Remember, there is a large proportion of the current English professional cadre who swear without thinking, at least once in every single sentence. Add to this, their automatic reaction when they get a yellow card for bad language would be "What the ****?!" Yellow becomes red, and several more yellows go out to any other players in earshot.
I'm pretty sure that, after the first match where this happened, the outcry would be uproarious, powers would exert their influences, and the whole thing would be dropped. If they handled it _extremely_ well, they could do this quietly... As for letting it go for another 6 matches (because quite a few of those potty-mouths are *really* slow on the uptake), the money-men just wouldn't let that happen.

Fouling out would be used to get extra substitutions.

Players can speak without swearing they have to to keep their sponsors happy. You see it regularly in TV interviews, but in games it doesnt make a difference really.

Football would benefit from sin bins that reduced a teams numbers temporarily but crucially came in somewhere above a yellow card and between a red card.

The problem is that the clubs and the premiership have one agenda while the FA has another and they do not always agree with the each others.

Football in England would benefit from one ruling body but the FA are too clueless to run things properly and the Premiership (top clubs) only care about the bottom line.

It's interesting that Roy Hodgson only signed for Liverpool after the time when I imagined the FA might get rid of Capello, maybe he too was waiting to see what happened there. Hodgson was being touted as the imminennt new manager of england but even in the sticky situation Liverpool might slip into I think he's better off where he can select from the players of the world he cann afford rather than pick from a one dimensional elite of English talent.

Yes, I thought Hodgeson was interesting too, the timing was quite specific...

I dont really understand why football refs cant be a little more like rugby refs. Taking a more instructive, active part in the game (and their position and word having more respect) but then you'd need refs who have actually *played* the game for the most part (i.e. unless they were particularly intelligent members of the football watching community...)

Talking of managers ... did anyone hear what I thought to be an incredibly stupid comment by Mark Lawrenson during the German game (one of many comments I'm sure) ... something about

"They've just given Capello a four year extension ... they should give managers a two year contract for the tournament"

Right Mark. Good idea. So you finally find the manager who can sort things out for England and he wins you the World Cup but you only had him on a two year contract and its expired. So what do you think he does next? Resigns for a bit of extra money or hoiks his services around the football community to the highest bidder.

I seem to remember the FA got caught out by exactly that situation with Terry Venables back in 1996 where having got them to the Euro semi-finals he didn't then have a longer contract and was gone ...

I remember that! was going to comment along similar lines but forgot...

FB

Wow! Lawro has got some power if he can get my post removed ...

Sweet jumping jaysus the Mod's are going blooming crazy at the moment...

FB

This post has been removed.

Well I guess my last post must have been moderated because I alluded to the fact the the Yikser must enjoy making pancakes...

What is wrong with that?

FB

Well someone who makes pancakes has to toss them. Making them a tosser of pancakes.

Now apparently, seems the mods think there is also another use of the word "tosser" in addition to making pancakes.

News to me ...

FB

That is most puzzling indeed. Maybe the mods don't toss their pancakes

They certainly seem like tossers to me.

B

I realise post 474 is just referred and not hidden but mods really? Even in the context I used it in that post...



FB

P.S. Who the flipping heckfire referred post 474 et al, who ever you are shame on you...

Some tos....*shoves hand over mouth*

Returning to less risque territory, is anyone here giving Holland much of a chance tomorrow against Brazil?

From a German pov: I hope Holland will win. And that Germany will win.
Like Paul Breitner said a few days ago: the most interesting matches are always those against England and against Holland.