If you could change one rule in football, what would it be?

Originally Posted by jem

no guarding the ball unless you have established possession by contact. it's £#%&!ing obstruction.

Absolutely correct. This shepherding the ball out of play from 15 yards out is getting ridiculous. In every other area of the game, playing the man instead of the ball is a foul.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

Have a 30 second basketball style 'shot clock' on all dead ball kicks in the penalty area - time runs out it's a corner. Stop the clock for penalty kicks/indirect FKs til the whistle goes.

Don't stop the game for any substitution made voluntarily. Medical teams can enter the field during play but if they ask for the clock to be stopped the player must not continue in the match. Any player found subsequently to have been not injured sufficiently to stop the game will be banned for 3 matches.

Managers to be allowed a maximum of 5 minutes per half in the technical area during live play. Any breach and they are sent to the stands and banned for the next match.

All sound motives, but varying in degrees of difficulty to enforce. Who would be making the assessment of injuries insufficient to have stopped play? And remember, rule changes have to be universal, so whatever body it is would have to cover nearly 50 matches per weekend.

For myself I would like to see walls move back to 12 yards for free kicks, and the ref marking the distance with a device similar to the one they have in MLS, a foam that dissipates after a few seconds. Anyone forward of that when the whistle blows, immediate yellow.

Originally Posted by Sandman

No suspensions for yellow cards, players missing finals and important games because they're competitive, players should only miss games for straight reds.

Then what would be the point of a caution aside from it's in-game context? Technically, a player could get 50 yellows in a season and suffer no sanction. The last few minutes of a game would become like a rugby match.

No subs allowed in the last 5 minutes .
The amount of players that come on for about 30 seconds :shakehead:

Penalty shoot-outs to be replaced with '60 seconds', '3 and you're in' or 'wembley'. Home team decides which. Can't set yourself up.

Players that go to the corner with the ball handing off any nearby players to be fined 4 weeks wages. Shithouse tactics and technically obstruction

no wages over 80k p/w

The awarding of a goal. I'd eliminate that one.

Irrelevant of where it is on the pitch, any player fouling an attacker as a last man to prevent a goalscoring oppertunity should concede a penalty. Take solskjaer for us against Newcastle as an example. Yellow for the player and a penalty given even though the foul occurred outside the box.
Pisses me off that one. (obviously not the scholes one but in general)

Get rid of the offside rule, I want more goal hanging.

Localise the bottom 2 divisions again. Means we can keep 92 league clubs instead of watching established clubs go to the wall. Exeter to York to play in front of 1500

Goalies should wear green jerseys, yellow allowed if they are internationals.

Refs should wear black.

£#%&! the poncey coloured boots off too :shakehead:

We could adopt the taliban rule of decapitating a person at half time. It'd give the half time draw some much needed drama.

Originally Posted by Spiffy

We could adopt the taliban rule of decapitating a person at half time. It'd give the half time draw some much needed drama.

What? You get given a ticket/stamp on the hand when you go in, and if your number's up, you've had it?

I like it, it's got legs.

Originally Posted by utd99

Then what would be the point of a caution aside from it's in-game context? Technically, a player could get 50 yellows in a season and suffer no sanction. The last few minutes of a game would become like a rugby match.

I wouldn't have problem with that, if the last few minutes of a game became a rugby match players would still be sent off for two yellows, so it's not likely. I'm not suggesting they should scrap yellow cards.

Originally Posted by Sandman

I wouldn't have problem with that, if the last few minutes of a game became a rugby match players would still be sent off for two yellows, so it's not likely. I'm not suggesting they should scrap yellow cards.

Right, but my point was that any player caution free within the last ten minutes, which would be the majority of the 22, effectively gets a freebie. The number of yellows would explode.

Originally Posted by utd99

Absolutely correct. This shepherding the ball out of play from 15 yards out is getting ridiculous. In every other area of the game, playing the man instead of the ball is a foul.



All sound motives, but varying in degrees of difficulty to enforce. Who would be making the assessment of injuries insufficient to have stopped play? And remember, rule changes have to be universal, so whatever body it is would have to cover nearly 50 matches per weekend.
.

Simple really, the clock doesn't have to be stopped if the player is able to limp off. If he is stretchered off then the 4th official is told on the spot the nature of the precaution/injury. There's no need to call in PI's to follow them round for 3 days or whatever, it's quite simple. Players are currently stretchered off in 2 situations, one of which is obviously injured and the other which is obviously not really injured.

If they turn out to be some egg chasing @#%&! chewing fake blood then they get banned.

Originally Posted by HarkNowHear

Localise the bottom 2 divisions again. Means we can keep 92 league clubs instead of watching established clubs go to the wall. Exeter to York to play in front of 1500

There were reasons that was done away with - and the likes of Exeter and Carlisle will be a long way from most places, whatever way you arrange it. I favour the staus quo here.

Originally Posted by Sumo

Get rid of the offside rule, I want more goal hanging.

That's an interesting one and I think they should trial it in youth games or similar. I'm not sure it would result in more goal-hanging because defences would be forced to play deeper, so you would more likely end up with very open games. It would be interesting to see how managers approach it tactically.

No threads over 2 pages , or extra time multiball , if nobody mentioned it on page 3 , or monkey tennis , or Sin binns in all srysness

Originally Posted by Kaos

That's an interesting one and I think they should trial it in youth games or similar. I'm not sure it would result in more goal-hanging because defences would be forced to play deeper, so you would more likely end up with very open games. It would be interesting to see how managers approach it tactically.

Hard to say how the pros would handle it, but the openness of midfield would IMO be ruined by a clogged penalty box, even a clogged six-yard box. Goals would be ugly - tons of deflections and own goals, unsighted keepers beaten by nothing shots, every free kick within 60 yards just lumped directly in front of goal, too many bodies for keepers to deal with, tons of fouls, etc. Seems like it would reward size/strength/great big oafs. Big no for me.

My serious suggestion is to do away with the away goals rule in international competition.