The Mail Bag
Easy Game
Comments (22)
Did you see the stewards pushing Johnson away from the fans and then the ref booking him. Sad.
All the ref has to do is stop the clock. We play football to score a goal, simple as that. So why when you score should you be booked for celebrating after completing the task you have been trying to do for 90 minutes? The clock should stop when the ball enters the net and then started again when the opposition kick off.
I just don't get it. How anyone can waste time apart from the ref is beyond me coz THE REF HAS THE FECKIN' WATCH. It makes me laugh it is that stupid. Booking players for 'time-wasting' is simply ridiculous. All the ref has to do is add 30 seconds on to the end of the game; easy you would think. No ? it never is. This game has been made over-complicated and petty by people who don?t, nor ever have, played the game.
Goal-line technology should be used and football should have been the first to utilise it. It just beggars belief that a ball can pass over the goal-line and a goal not be given. This is because they don?t use video to review the decision. It would take 10 seconds for the video ref to say yes or no.
Yet the FA will use video to ban someone for 3 games if for example they have stamped on someone, but the ref ?didn?t see it?. Nonsense. In this respect why doesn?t the FA use video after the game to ban someone that dives to cheat the ref, all the players and everyone that has paid to get in the ground?
The off-side rule is the same; overly complicated. No one in the world knows what the fuck is going on in this department anymore. In my opinion you are either off-side or your not. Again, easy.
The issue surrounding the steward is a safety issue I?m sure, but there was no need for him be so aggressive. I personally would have poked him in the eye for his trouble? But that is another story. Up the blues!
Andy Callan, Posted 17/12/2007 at 13:28:17
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Chris Gallagher
2 Posted 17/12/2007 at 14:59:04
2 Posted 17/12/2007 at 14:59:04
I don’t think that video technology is the answer to everything (a la American football) but I do think that technology has a part to play in major decisions (a la Rugby League).
For example, consider a sat nav system. Your unit triangulates it’s position from three or more ’static’ (relative to Earth) satellites in space.
We could have have a much more localised version with the ’satellites’ positioned around the goalposts along with one behind the line by a couple of feet.
An RFID tag (a few may be required to be more accurate) could be implanted into the match balls. This would activate when it was near the goal line, triangulating with the satellites and giving an immediate, unequivocal ’Yes’ (the whole of the ball has crossed the whole of the goal line) or ’No’ decision to the referee.
Personally, I don’t like this retrospective almost microscopic examination of every refereeing decision (but then, I might have had a different answer after the Liverpool game!!).
For example, consider a sat nav system. Your unit triangulates it’s position from three or more ’static’ (relative to Earth) satellites in space.
We could have have a much more localised version with the ’satellites’ positioned around the goalposts along with one behind the line by a couple of feet.
An RFID tag (a few may be required to be more accurate) could be implanted into the match balls. This would activate when it was near the goal line, triangulating with the satellites and giving an immediate, unequivocal ’Yes’ (the whole of the ball has crossed the whole of the goal line) or ’No’ decision to the referee.
Personally, I don’t like this retrospective almost microscopic examination of every refereeing decision (but then, I might have had a different answer after the Liverpool game!!).
John Lloyd
3 Posted 17/12/2007 at 15:40:44
3 Posted 17/12/2007 at 15:40:44
The only tiem technology should be introduced is for goal line incidents & no more.
Referee’s should be free to actually referee the game without over zealous rules. Its sad where you can get the same punishment for celebrating a goal (AJ) and a possible career ending injury (kuyt)?? Where is the parity in that & until the FA realise this & give more fredm/discrecion to the referees then the game will suffer. Nobody respects football referees & to be honest a lot of the time they dont deserve it. The way they speak to grown men like they were schoolchildren is awful!! If they treated people like adults then players would start to respect them & you wouldnt see people like Rooney, gallas, most chelsea players shouting & screaming all sorts right in thier face without punishment.
Referee’s should be free to actually referee the game without over zealous rules. Its sad where you can get the same punishment for celebrating a goal (AJ) and a possible career ending injury (kuyt)?? Where is the parity in that & until the FA realise this & give more fredm/discrecion to the referees then the game will suffer. Nobody respects football referees & to be honest a lot of the time they dont deserve it. The way they speak to grown men like they were schoolchildren is awful!! If they treated people like adults then players would start to respect them & you wouldnt see people like Rooney, gallas, most chelsea players shouting & screaming all sorts right in thier face without punishment.
Joe Jennings
4 Posted 17/12/2007 at 15:56:13
4 Posted 17/12/2007 at 15:56:13
Imagine if goal technology would have been introduced season 1997/1998
Header at Bolton over the line
We would of been relegated
Pro’s and cons to the argument but I’m personally against it, crucial decisions are part and parcel of the game and add to the excitement etc
Header at Bolton over the line
We would of been relegated
Pro’s and cons to the argument but I’m personally against it, crucial decisions are part and parcel of the game and add to the excitement etc
Dan McKie
5 Posted 17/12/2007 at 16:17:54
5 Posted 17/12/2007 at 16:17:54
Johnson got booked for going into the crowd, not for time wasting, it is seen as crowd incitement! How you can incite trouble by running to a group of people who couldnt be happier of what you have just done is beyond me but hey....now if he had ran over to the west ham fans shouting ’have that ya cockney bastards’ I could understand him being booked! (even tho he is cockney himself)
Andy Ellams
6 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:04:18
6 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:04:18
Andy Johnson isn’t a Cockney. He’s from Bedford, in Bedfordshire. 40+ miles from London.
Art Greeth
7 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:00:57
7 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:00:57
I’ve only seen the highlights on evertonTV, so I don’t know if it has been edited out, but for those of you at the game did AJ do anything particularly provocative that merited the (what I saw) heavy-handed tactics by the stewards?
I saw no disrespectful gesture towards the WHU bench or supporters, I did not see any over-exuberance even on AJ’s part - he just ran towards his own supporters (NOT at top speed!), arms aloft, he did not get particularly close to the perimeter of the stands. I have never seen the like of the immediate man-handling that the stewards applied. And again, I don’t know if it was edited out, but... just what was AJ booked for??? I just did not see anything out of the ordinary that merited either the stewards reaction or his subsequent booking...
I saw no disrespectful gesture towards the WHU bench or supporters, I did not see any over-exuberance even on AJ’s part - he just ran towards his own supporters (NOT at top speed!), arms aloft, he did not get particularly close to the perimeter of the stands. I have never seen the like of the immediate man-handling that the stewards applied. And again, I don’t know if it was edited out, but... just what was AJ booked for??? I just did not see anything out of the ordinary that merited either the stewards reaction or his subsequent booking...
David Barks
8 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:12:48
8 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:12:48
I was shocked, but more telling is that my wife was shocked. We were watching the match on TV and I stood up and was screaming with joy at AJ’s goal. Then my wife said, "oh shit, the security guards are attacking Johnson!!" I have a DVR so I recorded it to show her it didn’t happen, but when I replayed it I thought they were about to throw him to the ground and arrest him!! It was way over the top and uncalled for. He was going to his supporters, what’s the problem with that? And the camera cut away from it rather quickly, as if they got the call to cut away. Luckily nothing ended up happening, but I could have easily seen a player taking offense to being pushed around while on the pitch by the other teams stewards. Bitter grapes is what I think it was. Just pissed off at being beaten twice in 4 days.
Tony Pratt
9 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:17:22
9 Posted 17/12/2007 at 17:17:22
Time wasting problem? Easily solved, give timing duties to the fourth official and use a hooter like the oval-ball game does. Maybe have 80 minutes actual playing time if some of the pampered boys couldn?t manage the full 90.
Neil McKinney
10 Posted 17/12/2007 at 18:16:27
10 Posted 17/12/2007 at 18:16:27
I am not surprised to see a couple of threads about this on TW. I too watched the incident with disgust. It is very hard for players when they score goals to think of all of these things that you’re not supposed to do.
Can’t argue with the yellow card really. Players know that if they take off their shirt, or run into the crowd (that is amongst the fans not just over to them) then they will receive a yellow card. However, the treatment he got from the stewards was nothing short of abuse. I might be wrong, but these guys are just average blokes with little or no training and they were acting like fucking riot police! Short of batons and tear gas. I have never seen it before at any other ground.
As you say, more sour grapes from the Hammers, who for me have been less than gracious in defeat on both occasions. I would have made a formal complaint if I were AJ, but then he probably would have got a ban for bringing the game into disrepute knowing our luck!
Stewards? Power hungry, jobsworth thugs in this instance.
COYB!!
Can’t argue with the yellow card really. Players know that if they take off their shirt, or run into the crowd (that is amongst the fans not just over to them) then they will receive a yellow card. However, the treatment he got from the stewards was nothing short of abuse. I might be wrong, but these guys are just average blokes with little or no training and they were acting like fucking riot police! Short of batons and tear gas. I have never seen it before at any other ground.
As you say, more sour grapes from the Hammers, who for me have been less than gracious in defeat on both occasions. I would have made a formal complaint if I were AJ, but then he probably would have got a ban for bringing the game into disrepute knowing our luck!
Stewards? Power hungry, jobsworth thugs in this instance.
COYB!!
James Byrne
11 Posted 17/12/2007 at 18:23:59
11 Posted 17/12/2007 at 18:23:59
I was amazed when I first seen AJ being manhandled by those nasty stewards!!!
But when I watched it a couple of times over I started to think it was a little bit OTT for AJ to attempt to get into our fans to celebrate; the stewards where gobshites, don’t get me wrong but imagine being at home to Manure or the shite and the samer thing happened, I would be annoyed if one of our stewards didn’t do the same thing and flatten the twat.
Was a great goal and we had just made a complete mockery of West Ham in the space of three days, so let’s wash it under the table hey?
COYB.
But when I watched it a couple of times over I started to think it was a little bit OTT for AJ to attempt to get into our fans to celebrate; the stewards where gobshites, don’t get me wrong but imagine being at home to Manure or the shite and the samer thing happened, I would be annoyed if one of our stewards didn’t do the same thing and flatten the twat.
Was a great goal and we had just made a complete mockery of West Ham in the space of three days, so let’s wash it under the table hey?
COYB.
Mark Pendleton
12 Posted 17/12/2007 at 19:39:14
12 Posted 17/12/2007 at 19:39:14
Whilst i hate to see players booked for celebrating a goal by running into the fans, as it is one of the only times that these highly paid stars are truly seen to integrate with the fan on the terrace, i was under the impression that bookings are on safety grounds rather than for any incitement. Like i said, i hate it but i do understand that.
Ray Roche
13 Posted 17/12/2007 at 22:36:42
13 Posted 17/12/2007 at 22:36:42
Joe Jennings
Point of order, Joe. If,as you suggest, technology had been used in season 1997-98 it would be clear that Southall was fouled as he went to clear the ball, which was then put over the line. You can?t have it both ways; if you can call it a "goal" because the ball crossed the line you can call it a foul 2 seconds before.
Point of order, Joe. If,as you suggest, technology had been used in season 1997-98 it would be clear that Southall was fouled as he went to clear the ball, which was then put over the line. You can?t have it both ways; if you can call it a "goal" because the ball crossed the line you can call it a foul 2 seconds before.
Gavin Ramejkis
14 Posted 18/12/2007 at 00:05:35
14 Posted 18/12/2007 at 00:05:35
The fourth official could eaily be watching televised images of the match and have ready access to a goal line cam without it interfering with play, they are all connected by ear piece and a simple microphone for the ref would get a simple and rapid decision on incidents they have missed. Rocket science it isn’t but having seen years of favouritism would it help?
Jack Calvert
15 Posted 18/12/2007 at 00:37:20
15 Posted 18/12/2007 at 00:37:20
It doesnt even need technology for goal line desicions. Again taken from super league, in non-televised games there are 2 extra officials who ALWAYS ref the in-goal area to determine whether a ball is properly grounded. In football why not have the 2 extra lines man to specifically referee each goal line from the goal line simply to say yes or no if a ball crossed over - i mean 2 hours at nmw would’nt be to large an expense would it
Albert Woodbine
16 Posted 18/12/2007 at 01:37:55
16 Posted 18/12/2007 at 01:37:55
In my day a nod from the linesman was considered to be technology, and then they gave them flags! The game’s gone mad.
John Carlson
17 Posted 18/12/2007 at 01:39:12
17 Posted 18/12/2007 at 01:39:12
re: Proper explaination from me :)
Players get booked for running into are towards the crowd at close quaters for safety reasons. It creates a crowd surge towards the front rows. I think two seasons ago at Chelsea a kid in the fonrt row had his arm broken when Drobga jumped in and people around and behind him tried to pat/touch/congratulate Drobga.
shame but actually it makes sense...although i thought the WHU stewards were out of order, Aj was running towards not into our crowd.. they got hold of him and this gave the ref the wrong impression - stewards shouldnt touch players, they are there to police fans not players - everton should appeal.
Players get booked for running into are towards the crowd at close quaters for safety reasons. It creates a crowd surge towards the front rows. I think two seasons ago at Chelsea a kid in the fonrt row had his arm broken when Drobga jumped in and people around and behind him tried to pat/touch/congratulate Drobga.
shame but actually it makes sense...although i thought the WHU stewards were out of order, Aj was running towards not into our crowd.. they got hold of him and this gave the ref the wrong impression - stewards shouldnt touch players, they are there to police fans not players - everton should appeal.
Ste Birkett
18 Posted 18/12/2007 at 01:54:14
18 Posted 18/12/2007 at 01:54:14
I imagine they were trying to prevent AJ revealing the t-shirt underneath his kit, which presumably read: "You could NEVER pay me enough to come play footy at this shithole".
That would have given good old Curbs something to whinge about.
That would have given good old Curbs something to whinge about.
Steve Linden
19 Posted 18/12/2007 at 08:35:14
19 Posted 18/12/2007 at 08:35:14
Should the stewards (and the club) not be investigated for the man-handling of AJ? If that had been Stevie G they’d be in jail by now!
Jack Calvert
20 Posted 18/12/2007 at 13:50:35
20 Posted 18/12/2007 at 13:50:35
Only at west ham...
remember tevez’s first goal for the hammers against spurs last season
shirt off and flying, (arguably nearly as dangerous as a certain mr. cantona, without the intent) into the crowd - and the west ham stewards...?
oh only too happy to join in the celebrations!!!
AJ WALKS to the crowd as all of his teammates are 70 yards behind him - as has been said just a load of hypocritical sore losers
remember tevez’s first goal for the hammers against spurs last season
shirt off and flying, (arguably nearly as dangerous as a certain mr. cantona, without the intent) into the crowd - and the west ham stewards...?
oh only too happy to join in the celebrations!!!
AJ WALKS to the crowd as all of his teammates are 70 yards behind him - as has been said just a load of hypocritical sore losers
John Lloyd
21 Posted 18/12/2007 at 12:08:07
21 Posted 18/12/2007 at 12:08:07
What is the letter A shaped celebration that a lot of players (including Anichebe & Johnson) have been performing recently.
I've seen a few doing it now & I am curious as to what it means??
Answers on a postcard lidders
Terry Maddock
22 Posted 19/12/2007 at 13:56:45
22 Posted 19/12/2007 at 13:56:45
Does anybody know the reason behind Andy Johnsons recent celebration. For those who havent seen it he spells out the letter A with his fingers. Various other players have also done it. Any ideas?
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1 Posted 17/12/2007 at 14:35:59
Barwick, Crozier before him, blatter, johansson, dein, right down to poll, winter, clattenburg, riley etc etc all fall under that comment & then to make matters worse an ex player who HAS played the game at the very highest level Platini turns out to be an absolute twat with no common sense whatsoever.
Its amazing how often people who are seemingly without common sense arrive at the top jobs & positions within important organisations.
Memo to self - act like a lying ignorant prick, make daft promises & you could probably end up running a major organisation or worse be prime minister.