Aside from my amazement that top defenders now seem to have little idea that their primary duty is to stop the ball entering their own net, and that goalkeepers may now be able to pass like Johnny Haynes and execute a Cruyff turn, but are consistently unable to prevent goals that would have had me hanging my head in shame at the top of the Sunday League fifty years ago, I wonder that among the 184 different tamperings David Elleray has been responsible for since he was put into power as a reward for preventing Chesterfield reaching an FA Cup Final he hasn't thought of doing something about the pointless bureaucracy of bookings.
Bookings, a bit like Philip Larkin's mum and dad, ucfk the game up.
Sometimes they are doled out like peanuts on a short haul flight. Other times they are used as a serious punishment. A quick winger will hit the ground dramatically as soon as he sees a full back in the hope of getting him an early booking that will then deter him from tackling. A concrete full back will consider hitting the flier early doors to deter him before the ref' is ready to administer any booking at all. It's nonsense. If then the referee comes up with a soft booking, and minutes later the booked player, caught up in an innocuous challenge for a ball, is adjudged have committed a foul, he is SENT OFF. Down to 10 men and the game as a spectacle is ruined - it'll be just attack versus defence. And as an extra bonus there is the pointless administration of recording the bookings and counting them up to 5 so persistent offenders can then be suspended at further administrative cost.
The worst aspect of the booking is the way it has come to be regarded as an occupational hazard, by players, managers and pundits. Even a proper player like Jermaine Jenas will advocate TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM. So your team looks like being caught on a quick break, you are last man just inside your own half, that Adama Traore has the ball and there's acres of space. You chop him down. Harmless free kick. You nod when Mr Atkinson waves his yellow card. He might as well wave his willy for all the notice you are taking. Five minutes later, Traore again chasing for a ball, your full back is gaining a serious close appreciation of the quality of Traore's shirt. Another harmless free kick, a second booking. Jimenez is on the ball thirty yards out, loads of runners, options everywhere, he's blocked off. Bit of a chance for Neves with a 30 yard free, but it's worth it and another booking. And the very same pundit who commented on taking one for the team notes that the cynical opposition seems to be doing a good job of cramping Wolves' crowd-pleasing style.
SO, my note to Mr Elleray and those like him, who want to tamper with the game until they can determine whether one of Jack Grealish's eyelashes was offside before he rounded the keeper and backheeled that ball into the net, is try doing something to make the game more fun to play and more enjoyable to watch. My suggestion is SCRAP BOOKINGS. If a a player commits a serious enough offence to have been worth a booking, especially if it is done to benefit his team, let Mr Atkinson wave his yellow card at that team's bench. Instead of having THREE substitutions available they are down to two, so the team suffers and if you take one for the team you literally do. Referees will still be able to send off players for one serious offence or for persistent infringements. Managers will be far less willing to instruct their players in the dark arts, if the flexibility of the team is immediately reduced. Players will have more respect for the game and opponents and, if of course, the referee waved his yellow card when a player simulated being fouled then that player would have disadvantaged his own team by cheating (a much greater risk than a potential booking for something he could easily avoid repeating).
Of course if a player commits an offence after all substitutions available have been used then that does have to carry over to the next game, so the team would be allowed only two subs next time out...... which would involve some minor administration. And yes apparently David Elleray has apparently been involved in 184 changes so far.
Bookings, a bit like Philip Larkin's mum and dad, ucfk the game up.
Sometimes they are doled out like peanuts on a short haul flight. Other times they are used as a serious punishment. A quick winger will hit the ground dramatically as soon as he sees a full back in the hope of getting him an early booking that will then deter him from tackling. A concrete full back will consider hitting the flier early doors to deter him before the ref' is ready to administer any booking at all. It's nonsense. If then the referee comes up with a soft booking, and minutes later the booked player, caught up in an innocuous challenge for a ball, is adjudged have committed a foul, he is SENT OFF. Down to 10 men and the game as a spectacle is ruined - it'll be just attack versus defence. And as an extra bonus there is the pointless administration of recording the bookings and counting them up to 5 so persistent offenders can then be suspended at further administrative cost.
The worst aspect of the booking is the way it has come to be regarded as an occupational hazard, by players, managers and pundits. Even a proper player like Jermaine Jenas will advocate TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM. So your team looks like being caught on a quick break, you are last man just inside your own half, that Adama Traore has the ball and there's acres of space. You chop him down. Harmless free kick. You nod when Mr Atkinson waves his yellow card. He might as well wave his willy for all the notice you are taking. Five minutes later, Traore again chasing for a ball, your full back is gaining a serious close appreciation of the quality of Traore's shirt. Another harmless free kick, a second booking. Jimenez is on the ball thirty yards out, loads of runners, options everywhere, he's blocked off. Bit of a chance for Neves with a 30 yard free, but it's worth it and another booking. And the very same pundit who commented on taking one for the team notes that the cynical opposition seems to be doing a good job of cramping Wolves' crowd-pleasing style.
SO, my note to Mr Elleray and those like him, who want to tamper with the game until they can determine whether one of Jack Grealish's eyelashes was offside before he rounded the keeper and backheeled that ball into the net, is try doing something to make the game more fun to play and more enjoyable to watch. My suggestion is SCRAP BOOKINGS. If a a player commits a serious enough offence to have been worth a booking, especially if it is done to benefit his team, let Mr Atkinson wave his yellow card at that team's bench. Instead of having THREE substitutions available they are down to two, so the team suffers and if you take one for the team you literally do. Referees will still be able to send off players for one serious offence or for persistent infringements. Managers will be far less willing to instruct their players in the dark arts, if the flexibility of the team is immediately reduced. Players will have more respect for the game and opponents and, if of course, the referee waved his yellow card when a player simulated being fouled then that player would have disadvantaged his own team by cheating (a much greater risk than a potential booking for something he could easily avoid repeating).
Of course if a player commits an offence after all substitutions available have been used then that does have to carry over to the next game, so the team would be allowed only two subs next time out...... which would involve some minor administration. And yes apparently David Elleray has apparently been involved in 184 changes so far.
