Time Wasting

With the obvious time wasting that always seems to go on (and under Pulis we were one of the worst offenders) its sometimes tempting just to go to a start and stop timing system like they have in American Football and basketball etc. in order to stop it. The fact that we have a running clock in football is anachronistic and is probably more to do with the fact that in 1870 nobody had stop watches so the ref had no choice but to use a running clock. Obviously, using a pure stop and start system like they do in many other sports is not favoured by many because of the risk it would lead to American style commercial breaks being inserted into the game. I have to admit, if you go to an ice hockey or basketball game in North America, several times during the game everyone just stops for a commercial time out. If you are watching on TV you get to watch the commercial. But if you are in the stadium you sit there twiddling your thumbs for 2 or 3 minutes until the ref gets the signal to start the game again. Its quite tedious and I would hate to see that in football. So I am not suggesting that at all. But perhaps we can learn something from Rugby.

What if we have a running clock until 15 minutes left in the half at which time the 4th official puts up a number for the added time, lets say its 3 minutes for example, and then a stop watch with 18 minutes on it takes over the time. The clock would stop every time there is a substitution or a goal kick or a throw in or an injury (real or imagined) or a foul or whatever. And if the goalie starts doing his "Oh I fell down when I caught that chest high ball and and now I have to clean the mud out of the studs in my boots four times before I can even think of kicking the ball up the field" routine, then the ref could just stop the clock and signal it not to start until 20 seconds after the paly recommences. Then, once the 18 minutes are up, a horn would sound but the play would continue until one team or the other puts the ball out of play in the other teams half. So a corner could not end the game but a goal kick would. It would instantly do away with all the time wasting nonsense that goes on in the last third of the half and also would provide some certainty as to when the game should actually end. Frankly, I find this waiting for the referee to decide if there should be an extra 2 more minutes added, and then just one more attacking play allowed quite annoying and its never consistently applied.

Comments and abuse are welcomed!

Only 4m on Saturday.

You've made some good suggestions. I like the last 15 minutes aspect.
The issue is that during the final stages of a match, teams get up to their antics which are often labelled as time wasting tactics. However they're also designed to break up play, disrupt any momentum a team chasing the game has acquired. So when under the cosh the keeper goes down needing treatment. There's a couple of substitutions. Even if you religiously add on the time it takes to deal with these disruptions, nothing can replicate the pressure built up by one team over the other before the interruption.

I would like to see no subs allowed during the last 15 minutes. If a player goes down and stays down during that time he has to be treated off the field and cannot return for 5 minutes. If a team is reduced to 10 men until the end of the game then tough. I can recall games in the past when an injured player came back on just to receive a pass on the wing etc. Dead ball situations (free kicks, throw ins, corners and goal kicks) have to be taken within 10 seconds of the refs whistle. Otherwise an automatic yellow card and the opposition then restart play.

Like yourself I await the derisive comments. All I can say is that modern football for the most part bores me to tears.

It needs reinventing.

There will always be attempts to waste time or break up play no matter what the rules are. Taking the ball into the corner is one of the most obvious and I can't think of a way you could ever outlaw it but I hate it when they do that even if its us 1-0 up in the last minute. But at least we can get rid of the most obvious cause of the problem and that is the running clock. You never see blatant time wasting in basketball or hockey because its pretty much impossible.

Some interesting ideas and whilst I understand that teams winning by a narrow margin in close run games especially will always resort to various tactics in the closing minutes of a match to disrupt any momentum the opposition may try and build, blatant time-wasting annoys me too. Game management doesn't necessarily have to be like this and the current situation where added time is increasingly closer to 9 minutes rather than 3 can be farcical. I can see how the idea of changing from a running clock to a stop watch for the last 15 may appeal.

Rugby hasa good approach. The ref calls stop and start to the clock. Let him call out "stop" through his mic and the clock stops.
Can't be difficult to implent. Ther are how many ref assistants per game now? Twenty. Let one operate the clock. Retaining ball possession while defending a slender lead is an art in the game Anybody reading our ball possession stats will think it's a black art....cause we are shyte at it.