Lost The Love Of Football.

You are right I was not talking about the connection with the club / players etc, that is a different issue.

Lots of good points made by other posters, let me clarify my point.

When I say from the 70's, I started going to Watford in GT's first season, so grew up in the Taylor years when most things were good and enjoyable. But I have followed Watford ever since and after the Taylor years WFC has had as many bad as good seasons.
As others have said the general quality of play has improved over the years due to improvements in pitches, fitness etc. My issue is that the amount of active play seems to get less and less due to players being determined to do as much as they can to use up time without the ball being actively in play.
I have no problem in teams taking the ball into the corner or just passing it around the back in the last 10mins of a game to protect what they have. That is good game management, and as long as the ball is in play it is up to the opposition to work out how to get it back. But this season we have had Refs warning players for taking too long over throw-ins and goal kicks in the first 10mins of games. Every free kick is delayed by players kicking the ball away and then another player standing over the ball so the kick can't be taken.
Adding on minutes at the end is not the solution, applying the current laws and booking players for these things is the answer. But there seems to be no interest from the governing body to do this. As someone mentioned this is not an issue for the TV audience as they see replays of action while the time is being wasted, but for us who actually go to games it is ******* annoying and sucking all of the enjoyment out of attending matches.

Sorry for the ramble, but this has been building up for a while and quite nice to get it off my chest!

 

Football refereeing is so resistant to change, whilst the sneaky, win at all cost tactics get more and more advanced.

Most of it is relatively simple.

Mic and cam refs. Anyone surrounding, questioning the ref or using any abusive language gets an instant yellow card. Footage is monitored and anything not dealt with on the pitch by the ref gets a subsequent punishment.

Any player who fouls and stands over/ touches the ball after conceding a free kick gets a yellow, unless they are passing it directly to the opposition player (miskicks also get a yellow). None on this run away, do a bit of a dribble and then kick the ball sideways nonsense.

Instant yellow card and ball turnover if a goal kick or throw in is not taken within 20 seconds of being held by the keeper in the box, or placed in the 6 yard box.

Punishment if there is a discrepancy between the time the ball boys give the opposition the ball or cynically throw two balls on the pitch (as has been increasingly happening).

Timekeeping is taken out of the referees hands (also made a lot easier by the 20 second rule).

Publish a list of players who are being monitored, with the list shared with referees, for going down under minimal or no contact i.e. that seems insufficient to take them down. None of this he tapped my arm, it isn't a dive nonsense.

Players down on the ground 'injured' is the trickiest problem to solve, as you can't have e.g. a losing team injuring a winning teams defender, and then playing on with an advantage. The only real solution I can see is the time definitely being added at the end. If the ref suspects time wasting, they should clearly tell the team to play on and the opposition should not be expected to give the ball back if it is kicked out of play.

 

Can I add to this bit the players who concede a free kick then pick up the ball and walk away with it until eventually throwing it as high as they can back to the oppo

 

What gets me is when a goal is scored and the keeper grabs the ball preventing the opposition from getting to it. Just yellow card any keeper or opposition player doing it and it stops overnight.
Even worse is when a keeper grabs the ball, the opposition try to get the ball and the keeper goes down as if shot. Send the **** off.

 

I would add to that list the "There was contact.....he had every right to go down" logic applied to free kicks and penalty decisions.

 

Here's some stats for the Premier League over the last decade - not sure if the data exists for the Championship (probably not).

It's not been consistent, but on average ball in play time for the last couple of seasons has generally been a bit lower than the preceding seasons (probably due to VAR, Newcastle and, apparently, Brentford), but only by about 1 minute or so. Across the 2010s it was pretty consistent I've no idea what the ball in play time for 40 years ago would have been though for a comparison.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ue-seeing-lowest-ball-play-time-12-YEARS.html

 

Since Des Lyneham retired I've only watched MotD on catch-up so I can fast forward past Lineker and the other pundits droning on endlessly about refereeing decisions. But recently I've started watching the highlights of the actual footy at double speed so I can get through it as quickly as possible. I'm sure that says something

 

Here’s a thought - don’t bother watching it at all.

 

Eh? Miss Match of the Day? No way

 

Tbf Brentford like set pieces and long throws, so that might explain why the ball isn't in play for very long in their games? Seem to get a lot of penalties too, often from those set pieces

 

I've detuned myself from football. I still love this sport, debating it and going to matches but it no longer ruins my week if Watford lose as it used to.

Now if we lose I'm annoyed and if we win I go to sleep happy, and then after that I don't give it too much thought.

It feels a lot healthier relationship with the sport and this club.

 

To quote Slaven Bilic from one of his punditry appearances: "To be fair, I don't care"

Sacking/losing a manager and bringing in a new one used to fill me with excitement - is it the beginning of a new era?

No. It's just another day. I think we're all quite numb to it now and that's not the way it is supposed to be.

 

The key to enjoying supporting any football club is to enjoy every win, every success, and quickly forget/ignore every defeat, every failure. Take it too seriously and it could easily make the whole life of WFC fans miserable right now.

 

The opposition captain - or other pre-allocated player - should be allowed to punch the keeper in the face if he grabs the ball after a goal has been scored

 

FIFA going for the 'add a load of time on' solution for timewasting apparently:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64908229

 

More work for no extra pay? They’ll all go on strike,

 

Why don't the ref's just apply the current laws and book players. This will stop them wasting time more than adding a little more time to the half.

 

So another total waste of time and money for no enjoyment.
Another game watching the opposition waste as much time as possible over everything and the ref doing nothing about it.
Our terrible performance and inability to look remotely like a team who knew what they were doing just added to the disappointing day out.
It's certainly looking like this season will be my last of watching football.

 

People on here say ohh I got so much better, nice pitches, better surfaces. I say bollox to that. Give me a muddy pitch in the 70's when teams manned up and went at eachother. Doesn't matter what anybody says football today if fookin embarrassing. Players who couldn't give a flying about what club they're at aslong as they're scooping the money up. Half of them are not even very good, just unbelievably fit.

 

Eye of the beholder and all that but aside from Okoye, Porteous and Hoedt they’re a pretty ugly bunch.

 

Harsh on Ferreira, I'd say.

 

Chrissy Wilder is a hotty.

Can’t wait till April as he is next up on my Charity Saucy Northern Managers calendar Santa got me for Xmas .

Neil Warnock was Feb and Sean Dyche was Mar fml.

It’s been a long winter

 

That diving around from Wigan yesterday.

The one that faked getting elbowed.
The one that faked a calf injury, got up, went down again. Got treated then ran off the pitch.
The one that kicked the ball at the LGT (one of ours) when he couldn't stop it going for a corner.

Yep modern football is absolutely dreadful