Weekend Football

[paultheroyal]

Pleasantly surprised with Amazon coverage. Good to see Shearer on live Premier League games. In the olden days you never had presenters cross channelling, and not its the norm everywhere.

As for that goal - brilliant. Excellent refereeing too. Any angst should be aimed at De Gea. Let his team down with those antics, either thinking he was stamped by another player and then trying to get the game stopped, totally different to any other scenario gone before it ie Leeds game.

Mind you - still think we win the best go, no goal, aka Watford.

Don't agree with this at all He was down for a good few minutes and it probably did hurt, no matter who trod on his ankle. The ball was cleared and he had no real reason to go down unless he felt he was injured, it wasn't like Arsenal scored, or looked like scoring, immediately after he went down, there were a couple of headers before it came out to Smith-Rowe.

Not having that at all, the foot comes down on the back of the shoe, not enough force to warrant being shot! Reaction utterly ridiculous as proven when up on his feet. At any time that incident happens in normal game time, its play on, unless obvious head injury, goalkeeper or not. There would, and quite rightly be more controversy if Atkinson actually blew when shot was going into the goal. The delay was perfect, lets VAR intervene, VAR rules goal and rightly so.

[Hendo]

Pleasantly surprised with Amazon coverage. Good to see Shearer on live Premier League games. In the olden days you never had presenters cross channelling, and not its the norm everywhere.

As for that goal - brilliant. Excellent refereeing too. Any angst should be aimed at De Gea. Let his team down with those antics, either thinking he was stamped by another player and then trying to get the game stopped, totally different to any other scenario gone before it ie Leeds game.

Mind you - still think we win the best go, no goal, aka Watford.

Don't agree with this at all He was down for a good few minutes and it probably did hurt, no matter who trod on his ankle. The ball was cleared and he had no real reason to go down unless he felt he was injured, it wasn't like Arsenal scored, or looked like scoring, immediately after he went down, there were a couple of headers before it came out to Smith-Rowe.

Not having that at all, the foot comes down on the back of the shoe, not enough force to warrant being shot! Reaction utterly ridiculous as proven when up on his feet. At any time that incident happens in normal game time, its play on, unless obvious head injury, goalkeeper or not. There would, and quite rightly be more controversy if Atkinson actually blew when shot was going into the goal. The delay was perfect, lets VAR intervene, VAR rules goal and rightly so.

I'm not saying the goal wasn't right, it was.

My issue is you saying about his "antics". But I'm glad you're able to see how much pain someone should be in through your TV screen.

[paultheroyal]

Don't agree with this at all He was down for a good few minutes and it probably did hurt, no matter who trod on his ankle. The ball was cleared and he had no real reason to go down unless he felt he was injured, it wasn't like Arsenal scored, or looked like scoring, immediately after he went down, there were a couple of headers before it came out to Smith-Rowe.

Not having that at all, the foot comes down on the back of the shoe, not enough force to warrant being shot! Reaction utterly ridiculous as proven when up on his feet. At any time that incident happens in normal game time, its play on, unless obvious head injury, goalkeeper or not. There would, and quite rightly be more controversy if Atkinson actually blew when shot was going into the goal. The delay was perfect, lets VAR intervene, VAR rules goal and rightly so.

I'm not saying the goal wasn't right, it was.

My issue is you saying about his "antics". But I'm glad you're able to see how much pain someone should be in through your TV screen.

Hendo - come on, you cant defend that - players are utter wet wipes, there was nothing wrong with him - these stoppages are a joke and what is funny, goals are being scored now thank god because game is allowed to go on whilst players roll around on the floor, costing teams. It will soon stop. De Gea wont be doing that again in a hurry.

[Hendo]

Not having that at all, the foot comes down on the back of the shoe, not enough force to warrant being shot! Reaction utterly ridiculous as proven when up on his feet. At any time that incident happens in normal game time, its play on, unless obvious head injury, goalkeeper or not. There would, and quite rightly be more controversy if Atkinson actually blew when shot was going into the goal. The delay was perfect, lets VAR intervene, VAR rules goal and rightly so.

I'm not saying the goal wasn't right, it was.

My issue is you saying about his "antics". But I'm glad you're able to see how much pain someone should be in through your TV screen.

Hendo - come on, you cant defend that - players are utter wet wipes, there was nothing wrong with him - these stoppages are a joke and what is funny, goals are being scored now thank god because game is allowed to go on whilst players roll around on the floor, costing teams. It will soon stop. De Gea wont be doing that again in a hurry.

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

[paultheroyal]

I'm not saying the goal wasn't right, it was.

My issue is you saying about his "antics". But I'm glad you're able to see how much pain someone should be in through your TV screen.

Hendo - come on, you cant defend that - players are utter wet wipes, there was nothing wrong with him - these stoppages are a joke and what is funny, goals are being scored now thank god because game is allowed to go on whilst players roll around on the floor, costing teams. It will soon stop. De Gea wont be doing that again in a hurry.

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

[URZZZZ]

Hendo - come on, you cant defend that - players are utter wet wipes, there was nothing wrong with him - these stoppages are a joke and what is funny, goals are being scored now thank god because game is allowed to go on whilst players roll around on the floor, costing teams. It will soon stop. De Gea wont be doing that again in a hurry.

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

[Winston Biscuit]

Yeah, one of those 'it's the rule so it had to be disallowed', but the rule is stupid and shouldn't be that way.

[paultheroyal]

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

But the laws as I understand them were applied correctly. We might not like it but the referee has that spot on via var.

If one hand is placed on ball with the ball grounded, the keeper is deemed to be in control of ball and therefore belongs to him. That’s exactly what happened. Core g decision.

[Donny Ironside]

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

What happened

[Sanguine]

Yeah it has highlighted, in my view, laws written too strictly.

@DD, the laws state that a keeper has 'control of the ball' if he has applied pressure with one hand on to a surface, which is what Schmeichel did with an outstretched hand. The laws state that an attacker cannot then poke the ball away (and in this case, into the goal).

Seems a stupid law to me.

[South Coast Royal]

Hendo - come on, you cant defend that - players are utter wet wipes, there was nothing wrong with him - these stoppages are a joke and what is funny, goals are being scored now thank god because game is allowed to go on whilst players roll around on the floor, costing teams. It will soon stop. De Gea wont be doing that again in a hurry.

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

When it comes to ankles the real pain often comes later.
I snapped my achillies tendon during a game and played on but suffered that night (at home then at Battle Hospital).
18 months later I played again.

Agree with your general point though and more annoying than the De Geas of this world are those that fall to the ground after a mere touch to their face-IMHO it takes some blow to actually knock you over.

A good thing though that concussion is now being taken seriously.

[South Coast Royal]

Yeah it has highlighted, in my view, laws written too strictly.

@DD, the laws state that a keeper has 'control of the ball' if he has applied pressure with one hand on to a surface, which is what Schmeichel did with an outstretched hand. The laws state that an attacker cannot then poke the ball away (and in this case, into the goal).

Seems a stupid law to me.

Agreed.
Surely you can't be in control of a ball the size of a football with just the one hand?
They can't catch it with one hand.

[paultheroyal]

Dunno, I've had plenty of people stand on my ankle/foot and it can oxf*rd hurt. Does a player have to be subbed off for him to be "allowed" to go down injured?

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

and going back to this - another reason why referee's get so much hate and lack of quality refs coming through. They get absolute dog abuse for a decision that was totally correct whilst "the fan" has no concept of the laws.

[NathStPaul]

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

and going back to this - another reason why referee's get so much hate and lack of quality refs coming through. They get absolute dog abuse for a decision that was totally correct whilst "the fan" has no concept of the laws.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing in relation to the Villa disallowed goal. The laws are there for all to see, it is just laziness preventing people from educating themselves. I saw lots of "BUT HE DIDNT HAVE TWO HANDS ON THE BALL" nonsense on social media, clueless morons.

[URZZZZ]

There are injuries and there are proper injuries - footballers are utter wet wipes - minus the serious ones!!

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

and going back to this - another reason why referee's get so much hate and lack of quality refs coming through. They get absolute dog abuse for a decision that was totally correct whilst "the fan" has no concept of the laws.

Wasn’t really a dig at the ref from my behalf - the point being that goalies are given too much protection in general - yesterday being a prime example where the goal clearly shouldn’t have been disallowed. Similar situation with the handball law at the start of last season. Fully aware that it’s out of the ref’s hands sometimes

Btw this abuse you bring up time and time again is not just limited to referees and more so the players and managers. I agree it isn’t right but unfortunately it’s part and parcel of the game

[paultheroyal]

Back onto this debate, but goalkeepers really are protected more than they should be and all it does is encourage play acting and cheating

Decision on Schmeichel today was just wrong, simply can’t disallow goals for that

and going back to this - another reason why referee's get so much hate and lack of quality refs coming through. They get absolute dog abuse for a decision that was totally correct whilst "the fan" has no concept of the laws.

Wasn’t really a dig at the ref from my behalf - the point being that goalies are given too much protection in general - yesterday being a prime example where the goal clearly shouldn’t have been disallowed. Similar situation with the handball law at the start of last season. Fully aware that it’s out of the ref’s hands sometimes

Btw this abuse you bring up time and time again is not just limited to referees and more so the players and managers. I agree it isn’t right but unfortunately it’s part and parcel of the game

it shouldn't be part and parcel of the game but sadly it is but needs rectifying.

My angst about dog abuse is more aimed at local grassroots level and semi professional. Twitter is a mind field at 4:45pm on a Saturday afternoon with fans posting locations of "local league referee's" and even clubs slating volunteers of the game.

Refereeing is dying, and that will only impact the higher level in years to come, just the tip of the iceberg.

[URZZZZ]

and going back to this - another reason why referee's get so much hate and lack of quality refs coming through. They get absolute dog abuse for a decision that was totally correct whilst "the fan" has no concept of the laws.

Wasn’t really a dig at the ref from my behalf - the point being that goalies are given too much protection in general - yesterday being a prime example where the goal clearly shouldn’t have been disallowed. Similar situation with the handball law at the start of last season. Fully aware that it’s out of the ref’s hands sometimes

Btw this abuse you bring up time and time again is not just limited to referees and more so the players and managers. I agree it isn’t right but unfortunately it’s part and parcel of the game

it shouldn't be part and parcel of the game but sadly it is but needs rectifying.

My angst about dog abuse is more aimed at local grassroots level and semi professional. Twitter is a mind field at 4:45pm on a Saturday afternoon with fans posting locations of "local league referee's" and even clubs slating volunteers of the game.

Refereeing is dying, and that will only impact the higher level in years to come, just the tip of the iceberg.

Fair enough - I just think there’s little that can be done sadly as we’re not talking about a minority here

[URZZZZ]

Finding Rodgers’ treatment of Iheanacho rather bizarre for Leicester who’s been effectively frozen out for a while now despite having very good G/A records since the turn of the year

Sure, they have three good options up top but it’s up to the manager to incorporate that into his decisions rather than leave him on the bench week in week out

[NathStPaul]

Wasn’t really a dig at the ref from my behalf - the point being that goalies are given too much protection in general - yesterday being a prime example where the goal clearly shouldn’t have been disallowed. Similar situation with the handball law at the start of last season. Fully aware that it’s out of the ref’s hands sometimes

Btw this abuse you bring up time and time again is not just limited to referees and more so the players and managers. I agree it isn’t right but unfortunately it’s part and parcel of the game

it shouldn't be part and parcel of the game but sadly it is but needs rectifying.

My angst about dog abuse is more aimed at local grassroots level and semi professional. Twitter is a mind field at 4:45pm on a Saturday afternoon with fans posting locations of "local league referee's" and even clubs slating volunteers of the game.

Refereeing is dying, and that will only impact the higher level in years to come, just the tip of the iceberg.

Fair enough - I just think there’s little that can be done sadly as we’re not talking about a minority here

There is plenty that can be done, it is the funding to do it that cannot/will not be done.

Not enough is done to punish the teams IMO. Individuals are rightly punished but serious referee abuse should also lead to points deductions and fines for the club too. No non-league side wants to lose money to fines, trust me on that one. By going after them as well as their player you would end up creating a culture change at grassroots level. If the fines are high enough to threaten the existence of some of the clubs then action would be taken imo.

[Franchise FC]

it shouldn't be part and parcel of the game but sadly it is but needs rectifying.

My angst about dog abuse is more aimed at local grassroots level and semi professional. Twitter is a mind field at 4:45pm on a Saturday afternoon with fans posting locations of "local league referee's" and even clubs slating volunteers of the game.

Refereeing is dying, and that will only impact the higher level in years to come, just the tip of the iceberg.

Fair enough - I just think there’s little that can be done sadly as we’re not talking about a minority here

There is plenty that can be done, it is the funding to do it that cannot/will not be done.

Not enough is done to punish the teams IMO. Individuals are rightly punished but serious referee abuse should also lead to points deductions and fines for the club too. No non-league side wants to lose money to fines, trust me on that one. By going after them as well as their player you would end up creating a culture change at grassroots level. If the fines are high enough to threaten the existence of some of the clubs then action would be taken imo.

You're probably right, but I'm inclined to think that the lead has to be taken from the top, not the grassroots.
The grassroots players/officials, particularly the younger ones, will copy what they see live in the top level games. Cut it out there and it should filter down quite quickly.

If only I had the solution to make it happen