Originally Posted by
Shilts
The "old rule" was ridiculous.
If a player said - "leave it" - free kick against him.
If the same player said "leave it, Jimmy" - no free kick against him.
What if the opposition player's name was Jimmy?!
Which shout gave the advantage???
Frees were given even though no disadvantage/foul was made against the team given the free.
How did this work in international games where the ref couldn't speak either language???
The new rule is more player friendly, and the ref still can use his discretion if he feels somebody is being cute and really trying to gain an advantage.
The game gets stopped enough, this change helps to keep it flowing in my opinion.
Also, the offside rule is better now too!!!
Nothing worse than a goal of the month contender from 30 yards being dssallowed because somebody else was standing in an offside position away from play and not interfering.
I'm no spring chicken Horse 24, but you must be from the W-M brigade if you prefer the older versions of these rules ;)