Only captains to be allowed to speak to the referee

[BensGrandad]

Totally agree. If you want to know why England are crap at football just attend 95% of the U16 and below matches that are played every Sunday. Useless coaches, aggressive parents and neanderthal tactics all contribute to a depressing experience. I want the FA to ban the parents, set far stricter criteria on who can coach and then tell these coaches that winning some plastic trophies by topping the local U9's League is not as important as improving your players as footballers.

I totally agree. When my sons were younger, some 30 years ago I attended a training session of the largest boys teams in Epsom, Epsom Eagles, my son played for the under 11s. I was suprised that the 'manager/coach/idiot in charge was telling them all about how to play the offside but none of the boys, my son included could kick a ball properly.

I went and picked up a case of coke from the pub and offered a coke for anybody who could put the ball on the goal line and kick it outside of the penalty area without bouncing. I gave away 2 cans. That told me something is wrong with the general approach to schoolboy football.

The chaps who look after these boys mean well but they are not helping their football education.

 

[The Large One]

I don't mind players querying a decision, but when it's when it gets ludicrious - eight players surrounding the ref, swearing at him - that it annoys me. At that point, out come the yellow or red cards. We all know that refs make genuine mistakes, although it is fair to say some are just plain incompetent, which leads to frustration.

I don't agree with the notion that if only the captain can talk to the ref that the likes of Terry and Gerrard would be booked every game. It would be taken that the captain has a certain privilege on the pitch and the referee must see to that.

One of the on-field differences between rugby and football is that, in rugby, the ref explains his decision to the players. Indeed, the ref will call to players BEFORE they infringe ("roll away No.8" etc). That can help. However, there is still the mindset within footballers about feeling they've been cheated, rather than getting on with the game.

As has been adroitly pointed out on here, a lot of this is down to education at grassroots level.

Also, I don't agree that 10 or 20-yard penalties are particularly helpful in football. We had that punishment for 'kicking the ball away' a couple of yeas ago, and it didn't really make much difference. It's not much of a deterrent seeing as the punishment is against the team, something that an lifelong, dyed-in-the-wool abrasive yeller at the ref wouldn't generally give a toss about.

Yellow cards will certainly help shut noisy players up, but the rules as they are really ought to suffice. It's all well and good making out that the laws need tightening whereas in reality, all that needs to happen is the laws need implementing. Simple, really.

 

[Beach Hut]

I totally agree. When my sons were younger, some 30 years ago I attended a training session of the largest boys teams in Epsom, Epsom Eagles, my son played for the under 11s. I was suprised that the 'manager/coach/idiot in charge was telling them all about how to play the offside but none of the boys, my son included could kick a ball properly.

I went and picked up a case of coke from the pub and offered a coke for anybody who could put the ball on the goal line and kick it outside of the penalty area without bouncing. I gave away 2 cans. That told me something is wrong with the general approach to schoolboy football.

The chaps who look after these boys mean well but they are not helping their football education.

Very easy to criticise when you are not prepared to give up your weekend time to manage a team.

Still heard it all before for the last 9 years and it doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Referees also need to earn a bit of respect, through not being UTTERLY SHIT.

We had a ref on Sunday who was hopelessly weak, and it completely ruined the game. He allowed himself to be intimidated by our opposition, to the point that one of their players called him a 'Four eyed C*nt' to his face without censure.

He capped his fine performance, by showing a straight red in the last five minutes to our fairly mild mannered CB for telling him 'Ref, you are the worst ref I've ever had in 13 years'. 28 day ban for our player, and Mr. Ref trots off to his Sunday lunch feeling even more pompous and self important than before.

 

[Les Biehn]

Gotta say though Hans, who the feck would be a Sunday league ref. Running the line is bad enough.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Gotta say though Hans, who the feck would be a Sunday league ref. Running the line is bad enough.

I'll tell you who Les - social inadequates, who crave one moment, one sphere, where they have a semblence of POWER.

Little pricks.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Having been in that useless band - I would say each manager gives up an inordinate amount of time - not just Saturday mornings (as it was for us) but evening training, Club meetings, occasional league meetings, who had to sort out the kit, transport, water bottles, bibs and balls, take calls at odd times and spend a lot of time planning training sessions, match tactics, arranging refs etc etc. Of course there was assistance with this - but nothing makes many parents disappear faster than requesting help. Oh and did I mention there were also managing the footballing aspirations of 16 young lads. It is not easy. If coaching was all there was to it.

I don't disagree with much of what Brovion writes - but don't knock the coaches too much. I bet there are lots of wankers with coaching qualifications. One of the first things you need to be able to do is to handle victory and defeat and teach your lads the same. As I say - if coaching was all there was to it.

 

[BensGrandad]

Very easy to criticise when you are not prepared to give up your weekend time to manage a team.

Still heard it all before for the last 9 years and it doesn't surprise me one bit.

I thought much the same so I ran the team for the next couple of years and found that the biggest probl;em was that every dad thought that his Johnny was the next Maradonna or Pele..

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Drug addict or erectile disfunction?

 

[Beach Hut]

I thought much the same so I ran the team for the next couple of years and found that the biggest probl;em was that every dad thought that his Johnny was the next Maradonna or Pele..

So why only two years after U11s then, surely if you knew better you would have managed them all the way to U16s.

 

[BensGrandad]

Would have done but I moved pubs.

 

[Brovion]

Very easy to criticise when you are not prepared to give up your weekend time to manage a team.

Still heard it all before for the last 9 years and it doesn't surprise me one bit.

I don't mean to denigrate your hard work but to be honest I'd rather a lot of them didn't give up their time. I really do think that the whole area of kids' football needs a complete overhaul to bring us in line with the Germans - they wouldn't dream of letting a load of unqualified parents run a team. We need proper clubs with proper coaches. And if we can't do that at least scale back the competitive nature in the early years and give the boys a chance to develop their skills.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Referees making mistakes is no excuse for indiscipline, no matter how frustrating it is. Footballers should be able to keep themselves in check.

.

I agree.

 

[Brovion]

Having been in that useless band - I would say each manager gives up an inordinate amount of time - not just Saturday mornings (as it was for us) but evening training, Club meetings, occasional league meetings, who had to sort out the kit, transport, water bottles, bibs and balls, take calls at odd times and spend a lot of time planning training sessions, match tactics, arranging refs etc etc. Of course there was assistance with this - but nothing makes many parents disappear faster than requesting help. Oh and did I mention there were also managing the footballing aspirations of 16 young lads. It is not easy. If coaching was all there was to it.

I don't disagree with much of what Brovion writes - but don't knock the coaches too much. I bet there are lots of wankers with coaching qualifications. One of the first things you need to be able to do is to handle victory and defeat and teach your lads the same. As I say - if coaching was all there was to it.

I too have helped run a team so I know what's involved. It's having witnessed it that made me realise that the emphasis was wrong. Far too much importance is given to results at far too young an age.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

I thought much the same so I ran the team for the next couple of years and found that the biggest probl;em was that every dad thought that his Johnny was the next Maradonna or Pele..

That is one of the reasons we are running out of refs and the refs we do have are a lower standard.

Why would anyone want to put up with the parents of children moaning and abusing you all the time and then have the local fa do pretty much nothing to look after you?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Drug addict or erectile disfunction?

Would have done but I moved pubs.

It must have been a bit of a seedy pub, BG.


Good move, albeit lightyears too late.

Interesting that a Portuguese player was heavily fined and banned from football for six month, by the Portuguese FA for precisely the same behaviour as John Terry - the untouchable. Whilst, I am not saying he should have been banned for 6 months, the FA should crack down on this sort of behaviour. A pressurised referee is likely to make more mistakes than someone who is able to control the game completely, a la Rugby.

 

[Beach Hut]

I don't mean to denigrate your hard work but to be honest I'd rather a lot of them didn't give up their time. I really do think that the whole area of kids' football needs a complete overhaul to bring us in line with the Germans - they wouldn't dream of letting a load of unqualified parents run a team. We need proper clubs with proper coaches. And if we can't do that at least scale back the competitive nature in the early years and give the boys a chance to develop their skills.

Doesn't bother me the issue is you should have an FA licence to coach (which I have) but the FA now want all clubs to have a charter mark that requires a lot of work to achieve and all done on a voluntary basis.

I have come across crap managers and good ones and I am sure other managers opinion of me is divided !

What really concerns me is the smaller players now and expectation from both managers and parents - you would think some were playing Champions League football the way they go on about it.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

It must have been a bit of a seedy pub, BG.


Good move, albeit lightyears too late.

Interesting that a Portuguese player was heavily fined and banned from football for six month, by the Portuguese FA for precisely the same behaviour as John Terry - the untouchable. Whilst, I am not saying he should have been banned for 6 months, the FA should crack down on this sort of behaviour. A pressurised referee is likely to make more mistakes than someone who is able to control the game completely, a la Rugby.

I thought along the same lines the other day.

If that had been almost any other player that did what Terry did he would have been attacked (rightly) by the media, but for some reason as its Terry its passion.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

I too have helped run a team so I know what's involved. It's having witnessed it that made me realise that the emphasis was wrong. Far too much importance is given to results at far too young an age.

I totally agree. The issue of full sized pitches (and goals) for 11-year old is also laughable as we have discussed in the past.

 

[Les Biehn]

I thought along the same lines the other day.

If that had been almost any other player that did what Terry did he would have been attacked (rightly) by the media, but for some reason as its Terry its passion.

So you think Gerrard or Owen would have been attacked by the media for doing that?