Change the rules....
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:42 pm
Is it time for a big shake up and a total change of strategy in football?
I love and respect tradition and the history of the game and its clubs,not least our own Bolton Wanderers who I've supported for seventy years; but it isn't any of these things that have brought the game to where it is now; a combination of a rich man's toy and a massive business venture, and all about greed, personal gain and even blackmail by self-serving individuals in what has always been a team game.( Read about certain individuals and their mindlessly greedy agent who are doing that right now holding out for a highest bid wins auction where, just like in a poker game the player with most money can nearly always force the lesser opponent out) A full season of endeavour to be lost and clubs relegated on goal difference alone; how ridiculous is that really with so much at stake. Ninety minutes of physical effort for no reward except to a shabby goal that took the points? If a team loses fairly nobody can complain (they will, but that's sport and human nature), but why not have the rewards based on a set of targets achieved by something more than a ref's bad decision? Points awarded for possession in attacking areas (not a La Ligue or Seria A style game or we'd never see a fair winner), shots on goal/target and goal quality?
I'm not suggesting any set-in-stone rules as such, but surely the Football League could set up a committee to do that and change the game back to a sport where money isn't the only criteria. If somebody doesn't change things the football pitches could all be real estate in another ten years and teams like Bolton with a hundred year record could be just searches on Google and Wickipedia..
Extreme? Well, maybe, but something needs to change. We're living proof of it. If we don't change things ourselves by January, that might be sooner than we think.
Amen.
I love and respect tradition and the history of the game and its clubs,not least our own Bolton Wanderers who I've supported for seventy years; but it isn't any of these things that have brought the game to where it is now; a combination of a rich man's toy and a massive business venture, and all about greed, personal gain and even blackmail by self-serving individuals in what has always been a team game.( Read about certain individuals and their mindlessly greedy agent who are doing that right now holding out for a highest bid wins auction where, just like in a poker game the player with most money can nearly always force the lesser opponent out) A full season of endeavour to be lost and clubs relegated on goal difference alone; how ridiculous is that really with so much at stake. Ninety minutes of physical effort for no reward except to a shabby goal that took the points? If a team loses fairly nobody can complain (they will, but that's sport and human nature), but why not have the rewards based on a set of targets achieved by something more than a ref's bad decision? Points awarded for possession in attacking areas (not a La Ligue or Seria A style game or we'd never see a fair winner), shots on goal/target and goal quality?
I'm not suggesting any set-in-stone rules as such, but surely the Football League could set up a committee to do that and change the game back to a sport where money isn't the only criteria. If somebody doesn't change things the football pitches could all be real estate in another ten years and teams like Bolton with a hundred year record could be just searches on Google and Wickipedia..
Extreme? Well, maybe, but something needs to change. We're living proof of it. If we don't change things ourselves by January, that might be sooner than we think.
Amen.