Posted October 2, 200717 yr http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7023193.stm I think this is an excellent idea (the captain being the only one allowe dto speak to the ref one) so why bottle out of it and introduce it at grass roots level first. Grass roots level where it will never be seen, there will be little pressure to conform and it will disappear without trace the way all these pilot schemes do. If anything is ever going to change in football (be it a nidea like this, or video technology, or moving a free kick 10 yards forward for dissent, etc etc etc) then it has to be introduced at the top level first so it gains huge visibility. Bring it in the Premiership so it gets seen on TV week in week out, so that kids at grass root level see their idols having to conform to it, so that refs at grass roots level can see adequate backing of it to allow them to take action at amateur level. I dare say the FA will come back with excuses about having to get it agreed by FIFA/UEFA which is why they can't bring it in at the top level but at leastr have the balls to be the country that make a noise about it and pushes for it. The Scottish FA are doing the same with this idea of retrospective yellow cards for diving (a good start but not harsh enough as far as I am concerned) and they are facing this very problem that it might not be allowed by FIFA however at least they are having the courage to tackle the problem head on and not shoving it off to pub football leagues.
October 3, 200717 yr I couldnt agree more with this rule!! I play fieldhockey at the highest standard in scotland and if there is any backchat to refs/umpires its quickly dealt with, the ball either being moved up 10 yards or a warning that if you speak to the official like that again your sinbinned for a minimum of 5 mins. Beleive me it works it can be very frustrating but you soon realise you cannot get away with shouting or moaning at officials, as the ball is moved up 10 yards and they have more advantage!! There is also a rule that only the captain of the team may talk to the officials regarding a decision, it also works very well as there nobody running up and moaning to officials to take action as they are simply told to go away and the captain to come across.
October 3, 200717 yr Author For me it boils down to the fact that if the authorities are fully committed to eradicating a certain thing from the game (be it back chat, surrounding the ref, diving, etc etc) then whatever punishment they bring in has to be severe enough to make the manager stand up and take note rather than the players. Once a manager starts to get affected then you will see player's behaviour change in a very short space of time. The moment key players start to get steadily rising 3,5,7,9 game bans for diving and the moment free kicks are moved 10 yards forward (and thus bringing them into scoring range), and the moment players are booked on mass for surrounding the ref (placing them at risk of a red card for a challenge later in the game - like Drogba on Saturday) - that is when managers will take players aside and make it clear their behaviour has to change. However whilst players are allowed to get away with it, or the maximum penalty for a dive is a yellow card (meaning the potential gain far outweighs the potential penalty) and refs put up with petulant kids hassling them very few managers are ever going to do anything about it as they see this behaviour as being potentially beneficial to their team.
