Time wasting

[Oldgregg86]

A few weeks ago I read that a top flight game between Burnley and Cardiff had the ball in play for a grand total of 40 something minutes.

Today, Rotherham came and wasted as much time as possible to the point that it's not a tactic but embarrising.

Is it time to review the laws on time wasting and what do people suggest for changes to the game regarding this issue.

Something has to be done. It's just not acceptable

[DanLad]

30 minutes each way, but the clock only runs when the ball is live.

[JHRover]

No point blaming players or coaches for trying it. 

The blame lies at the feet of the officials and their superiors who cannot or will not deal with it effectively.

Last week v QPR was disgusting - they were timewasting throughout the whole game and were not sanctioned - we tried it for 3 minutes when 1-0 up and the yellow cards came out.

Same at Bolton - as soon as we started trying to run the clock down in the 2nd half the yellows were out - we even got booked for taking too long on a throw in! 

Some consistency would be useful, also if referees realised that time wasting occurs when the scores are level and outside of the last 5 minutes. There seems to be an unwritten rule that if the game is level it is not timewasting.

As soon as someone gets sent off for 2 yellows for repeated timewasting then players will think twice about doing it.

Edited November 10, 2018 by JHRover

[blueboy3333]

Sour grapes. The ref actually had a good handle on their keepers antics and made sure he hurried him up probably more than he needed to. Their left-back got the same treatment off the ref. Of course it's frustrating when they slow down the tempo when we are trying to build up a head of steam but teams have always done that. We did the same last week against QPR as soon as we scored.  

My only gripe is that there is never enough time added on at the end of the game for all the stoppages for injuries. 

[Tom]

We used to find it hilarious when Tugay did his antics and I’m sure we deployed similar tactics at Frank Lampards Derby this season.

What does frustrate is the limp hurry up motion the refs usually make without backing it up with action until they bring the yellow out in the last minute usually 

[DaveyB]

It would be so easy to solve if there was any real appetite to do so, but ultimately time wasting only really negatively affects the paying public and we all know that the authorities don’t care one jot about them. 

2 quick suggestions -

1) when the ball goes out of play you have 20secs to get it back in play again. Failure to do so means a booking for the player closest to the restart. Goes for throw-ins, goal-kicks, corners, free-kicks. Any action to impede the restart, e.g kicking the ball away, picking the ball up and walking away etc  is an automatic yellow card

2) For substitutions you have 30secs before play starts again. If your player is still walking off or the sub isn’t in position, tough. 

For both the time could be displayed as a countdown on the scoreboard/screen, in the same way as the NFL have the play clock, so that it is completely transparent and not down to the refs interpretation.

Both would be fairly simple to implement and both would improve the current situation imo

[4,000 Holes]

54 minutes ago, DaveyB said:

It would be so easy to solve if there was any real appetite to do so, but ultimately time wasting only really negatively affects the paying public and we all know that the authorities don’t care one jot about them. 

2 quick suggestions -

1) when the ball goes out of play you have 20secs to get it back in play again. Failure to do so means a booking for the player closest to the restart. Goes for throw-ins, goal-kicks, corners, free-kicks. Any action to impede the restart, e.g kicking the ball away, picking the ball up and walking away etc  is an automatic yellow card

2) For substitutions you have 30secs before play starts again. If your player is still walking off or the sub isn’t in position, tough. 

For both the time could be displayed as a countdown on the scoreboard/screen, in the same way as the NFL have the play clock, so that it is completely transparent and not down to the refs interpretation.

Both would be fairly simple to implement and both would improve the current situation imo

Believe the authorities do care about improving the game for supporters. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have recently spelled out their strategy to develop the Laws of the Game to improve football – with time-wasting being a key issue. IFAB have debated a wholesale change to timekeeping by employing a stop-start clock, in the manner of sports such as basketball and rugby union. Given that 60 minutes is seen as a good match with respect to the amount of ball-in-play time, halves would become 30 minutes apiece with the clock – clearly displayed within the stadium – stopped whenever there was a break in play. Such a radical change will inevitably never be allowed to oust the longstanding 45-minutes-each-way tradition of the game. A more likely improvement would be persisting with normal length halves, which would continue past 45 and 90 minutes until a separate clock shows that 30 minutes of actual playing time has been attained in the half. Then there would be no point to cynical time-wasting.

[Husky]

I don't see why they can't just have running and stopping clocks like they do in some other sports.

The amount of added time at the end is often debatable anyway.

The substitutes in added time is the worst one, and so simple to fix. Just stop the bloody clock, it really is that simple. It's like living in Idiocracy with the football authorities.

[Colt Seavers]

They started noticeably wasting time today with a mere seven minutes on the clock. We aren't exactly tearing this division up, and personally I would be embarrassed as a player if my manager had instructed me to do this (which he clearly had).

I would also be ashamed as a supporter if my team deployed this cowardly tactic so early in a game.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Colt Seavers

[Angry_Pirate]

My gripe is what happened to the "6 second rule" as it seems every goalkeeper takes at least double that before it even becomes a question.

I think there was a Liverpool game in europe last season where the foul was eventually given after something like 23 seconds.

Change it to the "10 second rule" and actually enforce the bloody thing! 

Today, I did notice their GK doing 5-10 kickups with the first 15 minutes but ultimately it's up to us (Amari Bell, Armstong, Dack, Graham) to score in the first half of games and end the time wasting before it starts.

[JacknOry]

Stop-start clock, simples. Amazing that it has not been implemented before tbh. 

Would also stop this made-up number being presented as time-added on.