Norwichshrimper
Can you hear Talvin Singh
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2010
- Messages
- 2,421
The trouble with stopping the clock is that football is essentially a very fluid game instead of being one that is broken down into specific "plays" like NFL. If the clock stopped in football, where would the incentive be to restart quickly? You'd just have longer gaps when the ball went out of play. Players would have a bit of a rest, the winning team would just delay things anyway because it helps to break up any momentum and you would have to abolish the quick free kick or throw because the game would have to restart once the clock did. It would be torture.
There are things that can be done; for instance, why can the 4th official not manage the substitutions? Why does the game have to stop? The rule was presumably brought in to assist the man in the middle, but these days the game is officiated by a team, so why not use them?
Secondly, how about awarding free kicks for time wasting? Any team, in the ref's opinion, that is time wasting gets one warning, and then it's a booking and an indirect free kick. I think it would soon stop.
Agreed...and on the subject of substitutions...why on earth if a team makes a double or triple substitution, why does the procedure have to be repeated...the number board goes up...player walks off, shakes hands...sub jogs on, gets into position. Then the board goes up again and the whole procedure starts again for the second sub....why can't they just all come off together??