Unusual/Notable stuff from around the football world.

[DeLorean]

Ah ref!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C7DJWu0OVk


Edit- bit more on it here - https://www.motherwelltimes.co.uk/sport/football/motherwell-fc-women-s-gaffer-donald-jennow-bewildered-by-disallowed-last-gasp-goal-at-forfar-farmington-1-4876282

[NeverFeltBetter]

As far as I am aware, the Laws don't actually say when a ref should blow for full time, in terms of "favourable position" etc, it's all just "understood". It could do with being defined.

[DeLorean]

You'd see it blown up when the ball goes out for a corner sometimes. I guess it depends on what's been added on already, if there was time wasting, etc.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I'll admit that, before yesterday, I had no idea that a player can refuse to be substituted, and have that refusal backed up by the laws: http://theifab.com/laws/the-players-2018/chapters/substitution-procedure-2018

That seems a widely under-noticed example of player power over those in nominal charge of the team.

[OwlsFan]

Interesting. Didn't know that. It was a ****-up by the Chelsea management though as the player was obviously fit to continue but the physio must have said that he wasn't.

[jbyrne]

Interesting. Didn't know that. It was a ****-up by the Chelsea management though as the player was obviously fit to continue but the physio must have said that he wasn't.

didn't the GK go down with cramp a couple of times?
either he had cramp and should have come off as instructed or he was faking the cramp (more likely) and deserved to have his bluff called.

[OwlsFan]

Yes, he was down with cramp twice. Probably wanted it to go to penos so he could show off. Delighted when he fluffed one of the penalties. The Chelsea manager was caught between a rock and a hard place in the shoot out. I suspect he wanted to see the penalties missed by Man City rather than saved.

[osarusan]

Over the weekend, we had 3 instance of fans getting on the pitch and getting close to/having a go at players - Tavernier at Hibernian, Grealish at Birmingham, and Smalling at Arsenal.

A big fine on the way for Birmingham no doubt. I wonder though, is it actually possible, apart from fences, to eradicate this completely. I suppose a wall of beefy security staff around the perimeter of the pitch might do the job.

[pineapple stu]

You'd need a big number of guards to form a wall. 300-400 to ring the pitch anyway. Sounds completely impractical

We need to stop tying the game into inherent self-actualisation, so people don't be getting as worked up by derbies as this. But football's worth is tied up in giving self-actualisation, so that's not going to happen.

Interesting to compare the final of Euro 76, when there was a ring of fans the whole way around the pitch for the last ten minutes. Unthinkable now.

(Obviously it's dangerous too to draw conclusions on one highly unusual day's events)

[osarusan]

Most of the suggested solutions seem to be just to hit the home club so hard (points deduction, games behind closed doors) that they will be forced into their own actions...but I'm not sure you can ever guarantee that security measures will prevent it, short of perimeter fences.

Maybe punishment so severe that a potential invader/attacker would know they are going to be utterly vilified by their own fans? But there are no doubt some Birmingham fans somewhere who think the guy's a 'legend' (to use the most serious of the confrontations as an example).

[NeverFeltBetter]

Is this a very prevalent problem though, or are the instances in the last few weeks a major aberration? A fence about the only cast-iron (ha!) guarantee, but very harsh punitive measures on the people doing it should be tried as a deterrent first. Aside from whatever criminal prosecution they may face, a serious ban from the clubs should do the trick and I say "serious" because I think there is a perception that it's just talk when clubs ban people, that they can't or won't make a serious effort to actually prevent certain individuals from buying tickets and getting into the ground consistently.

[pineapple stu]

"Good enough for you Grealish, you utter scumbag" - a post I saw on a rare trawl through my Facebook feed. Irish Birmingham fan. So yeah, there's people who'll see a ban as a violation of their own freedom of speech (or some such bull****)

Do behind-closed-doors bans really work? There seems to be enough of them to suggest not

[NeverFeltBetter]

That was quick: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2019/0311/1035714-grealish-fan-attack-could-have-been-so-much-worse/

[NeverFeltBetter]

Jersey refs go on strike owing to repeated incidents of abusive and violent conducts towards them: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47720839

[SkStu]

This is just fantastic.

https://twitter.com/ndrsport/status/1107296757862535169?s=21

[pineapple stu]

PAOK win the Greek league for the first time since 1984.

Calm celebrations ensue.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1120040078410227713

[NeverFeltBetter]

Maltese league decided by penalty shoot-out: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48193097

[NeverFeltBetter]

Saw this while reading up on Salford's play-off win: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-48220443

Their defeated opponents, AFC Flyde, had over 200K stolen from them by an accountant, who spent a good portion of it on a webcam girl. It nearly killed the club, and they can't recover the money. 32 month sentence.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Henrikh Mkhitaryan will miss the Europa League final over safety concerns regards Armenian citizens in Azerbaijan: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48348207

[pineapple stu]

Erling Haaland this afternoon scored 9 goals against Honduras in the U20s World Cup. I presume that's a record for any World Cup (5 is the record in the senior one; Salenko v Cameroon in 94)

Haaland is the son of Alf Inge Haaland, and has an LoI connection in that he was part of the Molde team that beat UCD on penalties in the UEFA Youth League two years ago. Leo Oestigaard, who scored the third goal for Norway today, opened the scoring in the UCD Bowl as Molde lost 2-1.

Despite that win, it's quite possible Norway won't reach the last 16 (of 24 teams). They lost their other two games to finish third in the group, and are currently third best of the third-place teams, with the three teams below them all still to play.

[NeverFeltBetter]

CAF Champions League Final, second leg, to be replayed after bizarre series of events: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48533905

What that article doesn't mention is that the ref for the first leg was suspended for poor performance.

[pineapple stu]

Mad. Ayman Ben Mohamed involved of course - ex UCD, Longford and Bohs

[NeverFeltBetter]

Journalists surrounding the Turkish team arriving in Iceland included a man holding a scouring brush in place of a mic (not sure of the source though): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48580770

Just as suitable for entry here in that report is news that Turkish President Tayyip Ordogan was Mezut Ozil's Best Man last weekend.

[DeLorean]

Poor Turks, such a welcoming bunch themselves.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Mentioned original story in the WC 2022 Qualifying thread, now an unusual update: After Macau's FA refused to travel to Sri Lanka to play a qualifier, against their players' wishes, a Macau Cup game has 39 goals scored as part of a player-driven protest: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48660097

[NeverFeltBetter]

Korean fans file a lawsuit after Ronaldo failed to play at least one half of a friendly match: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2019/0730/1066083-fans-to-sue-after-ronaldo-sits-out-juventus-friendly/

Apparently the contract for the match stipulated Ronaldo's involvement. If my math/conversion is right, they're looking for around €800 each.

[pineapple stu]

Wycombe's Joe Jacobson scored a hat-trick of set pieces earlier this season - one free-kick and two direct from corners.

DJtesCA4c04

[CraftyToePoke]

Ref banned for headbutt on GK

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/0211/1114691-ref-banned-for-butt-on-goalkeeper/

[pineapple stu]

On a slightly similar note - Warrenpoint v Ballymena in the Irish Cup last month ended with the Point keeper fighting fans in the terrace.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/51489772

[osarusan]

Substitution after 13 seconds in Estonian league.

Thier rules are that each team must start with 2 homegrown players, and due to Covid-19 isolating among the squad, they were forced to start a 16-year old homegrrown player who was immediately substituted for (I assume) a non-homegrown senior player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=verHZJvIUBE

[pineapple stu]

Andorra 3-3 England (https://www.livescore.net/soccer/euro-under-21/qualification-group-3/andorra-u21-vs-england-u21/192971/) in today's U21 qualifer. England equalised in first-half injury-time, and Andorra equalised in second half injury-time

[pineapple stu]

VVV Venlo 0-13 Ajax in the Dutch top flight today. Venlo were missing one player due to covid, but other than that it seems a legit result.

Their twitter - @VVVVenlo - started getting a bit fed up towards the end, which I always like to see :)

[tetsujin1979]

Ajax striker Lassana Traore scored five goals and got three assists

[NeverFeltBetter]

VVV Venlo 0-13 Ajax in the Dutch top flight today. Venlo were missing one player due to covid, but other than that it seems a legit result.

Their twitter - @VVVVenlo - started getting a bit fed up towards the end, which I always like to see :)

45 attempts at goal!

Some sides really do just fall to pieces when a man gets sent off, similar thing with Man Utd against Spurs a few weeks ago. This is extreme though.

[pineapple stu]

This article (https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/1111/1177584-chilean-team-score-penalty-a-month-after-it-was-given/) on RTÉ caught my eye -


Catolica were trailing 2-0 at Curico Unido on 15 October when the spot-kick was given but, while incident was being reviewed by VAR officials, the scoreboard caught fire causing a power failure and the match was called off.

Four days later, the Chilean league (ANFP) confirmed that a penalty had been awarded and ruled that the game would be played on Wednesday, resuming at the point where it left off.

And it gets better from there.

Just another black mark for VAR in my eye :p

[John83]

Ah, here. It's as much a black mark against electricity as VAR.

[pineapple stu]

Electricity is slightly more useful in a broader context, so I'll forgive it. :)

[pineapple stu]

Orlando v New York City. One of the most bizarre shoot-outs you will ever see. The fun starts at the ninth kick, with the score at 3-4.


https://youtu.be/CbZx4XZrnX4

[BonnieShels]

A yellow for coming off your line? That's new for me.

[osarusan]

A yellow for coming off your line? That's new for me.
Do you not remember much the same thing happening to the Irish underage keeper in an important game? Second yellow so got sent off. Without the happy ending though.

Also, this thread was started with an incident that was almost exactly the same.

[pineapple stu]

Yep. Have to say the commentators were excellent in that US game. They're right that (a) you need to take a step to push off to dive for a penalty and (b) the rule can be very arbitrarily applied. If a goal is scored, I think the ref just warns the keeper, but you can see the save after the yellow/red card where other the keeper does almost exactly the same thing. What's the difference? Is it that his backwards foot it maybe still touching the line? Do we really want to get into that level of pernicketiness (as the commentators suggest)?

[BonnieShels]

Do you not remember much the same thing happening to the Irish underage keeper in an important game? Second yellow so got sent off. Without the happy ending though.

I didn't at all.


Also, this thread was started with an incident that was almost exactly the same.

Spookeh!




Yep. Have to say the commentators were excellent in that US game. They're right that (a) you need to take a step to push off to dive for a penalty and (b) the rule can be very arbitrarily applied. If a goal is scored, I think the ref just warns the keeper, but you can see the save after the yellow/red card where other the keeper does almost exactly the same thing. What's the difference? Is it that his backwards foot it maybe still touching the line? Do we really want to get into that level of pernicketiness (as the commentators suggest)?

I think in the second incident the keeper seemed to keep one foot on the lone when he jumped?

Also, it's persnicketiness... ;)

[osarusan]

YWhat's the difference? Is it that his backwards foot it maybe still touching the line?

This is exactly the difference.

When we are talking about a heel being an inch off the line, it looks silly to treat them differently, but if it were a foot off the line, it wouldn't be an issue.

I think what happened is similar to other laws like offiside and handball. The wording seems sensible when it's only human eyes involved and they'll never spot the inch off the line or kneecap offside - they will only spot the 'clear' ones - but with VAR having the power to freeze things in HD, we end up with these decisions that are correct accoring to the letter of the law, but are not in line with what people think 'should' be the right decision.

[littlebray]

... it's persnicketiness... ;)

Persnickety is the American word for fussy, fastidious, or highly detail-oriented. 'Pernickety' is European and older, with early instances dating from e.g. 1808. Its exact origins are mysterious, though it may be related to the Scots pernicky. The American spelling dates from the late 19th century, and is rarely used outside North America.

Just being pedantic.

[pineapple stu]

I was thinking I'd never heard of it with the s!

[NeverFeltBetter]

Ukrainian ultras stick club director in a bin over plans to move stadium (will need Google translate): https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.blick.ch/sport/fussball/international/eklat-in-der-ukraine-fans-stecken-eigenen-stadion-direktor-in-muellcontainer-id16213155.html

[BonnieShels]

Persnickety is the American word for fussy, fastidious, or highly detail-oriented. 'Pernickety' is European and older, with early instances dating from e.g. 1808. Its exact origins are mysterious, though it may be related to the Scots pernicky. The American spelling dates from the late 19th century, and is rarely used outside North America.

Just being pedantic.

I love lobbing that out there in the hope that no one bothers to check. Damn you littlebray!

[BonnieShels]

Ukrainian ultras stick club director in a bin over plans to move stadium (will need Google translate): https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.blick.ch/sport/fussball/international/eklat-in-der-ukraine-fans-stecken-eigenen-stadion-direktor-in-muellcontainer-id16213155.html

If only Shams fans had thought to do that to Louis Kilcoyne.

[pineapple stu]

PSG v Istanbul Basaksehir currently suspended after both teams walked off.

It seems the fourth official may have been flagging an incident to the ref and indicated he should send off "the black guy" (on the coaching staff) or something similar.

Though to be honest, is it really much different to identifying someone as "the red-haired guy" or "the fat guy"? If it was just used as an identifier, then there's no racist intent to it.

I suspect we'll be hearing a lot more about this.

[pineapple stu]

Kazu Miura signs on for another season with Japanese second-tier side Yokohama (https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2021/0111/1188999-japan-great-miura-to-play-on-at-age-of-54/).

He's 54.

Elsewhere, Derby fielded 11 debutants in the FA Cup against Chorley at the weekend after their entire squad and backroom team had to isolate due to covid. Chorley won 2-0, and are now just five covid outbreaks away from Europe.