Time For A Change Of Rules?

Ok guys I know I’m sounding like a broken record but there is a real problem with the Premiership – it’s boring, really boring, it’s negative, cynical and teams try not to lose rather than try to win – all it takes is one side to set out with a negative mentality, and then the other side are screwed, for an entertaining match you need both teams competing, not one side just trying to break down 10 men for 90 mins.

Premiership attendances are down, there are more teams who don’t play football than those that do, and the phrase anti-football is starting to do the rounds, even those who thought the only ones highlighting this anti-football were just whinging Arsenal fans are starting to realise that this is indeed a real problem that goes above and beyond any single club.

I see the anti-football trend set to continue for the next couple of years at least, this inevitably mean attendances will continue to drop and the entertainment value of the Premiership will also reduce. Eventually something will have to be done, a few months back I put up a list of rules designed to promote positive football and eradicate anti-football, most people thought my suggestions just wouldn’t work, and some put forward their ideas. I`ve analysed my previous rule changes and I’ve come to the conclusion that they are too open to abuse, teams could easily exploit the new rules, plus my rule changes added further complications to what should be a simple game.

Me and a few mates have had a brainstorming session and have now come up with what we think is a workable and simple rule change which should be introduced if this anti-football trend continues (which it will). This new rule should be tried for one season with the possibility of scrapping it if it just doesn’t work.

The new rule is so simple that I’m sure it must have been suggested elsewhere, but I have yet to see it:

> A team is awarded a point for every goal they score.
> This is on top of the three points or one point they are awarded for a win or a draw.

So if a team continues to win 1-0 the challenging team which wins 3-0 will gain more points. A team that wins 1-0 picks up four points, three points for the win and another one point for the goal, however, teams that draw 3-3 will also pick up the same amount of points, one point for the draw and three points for the three goals scored. A team that loses but puts in a good performance can also walk away with something, this gets interesting when boring bastard teams who purposely set out to try and sneak a win are caught by more adventurous teams who lose but score more goals. essentially the new rule change awards teams that go out and play, yet this new rule doesn’t actually change the game of football itself, it just promotes a brand of football which would be good for the fans, good for the Premiership and good for the national team – scoring goals in open play is something England cannot do against any half decent sides, a league that promotes attacking football has a knock on effect to the national game. Anyone can put out a bunch of well organised donkey’s who are hard to beat, but scoring goals at the highest level requires skill, attacking flair and inspiration, all three are currently missing from the majority of teams in the premiership and it’s no coincidence that the national side lack the same qualities. Other national sides that have many of their players playing in the Premiership are not affected by it’s anti-football style because they come here already trained, cultured and educated by their home country and because their country produces players that play around the world in various leagues. England players tend to stay in England and therefore only experience Premiership football, it is their only example, and exclusive anti-football is not a good experience for any player, it’s like living off pot noodles only, and of those English players in the Premiership how many of them experience Champions league football? The Premiership philosophy of purely focusing on a back four and midfield that is hard to break down requires little skill and will not get you far in Europe, just like it won’t get England far in any major tournament, yet the majority of Premiership clubs use this negative brand of football week in week out, this can’t be good for anyone.

Is it fair that Man Utd get the same amount of points for their thrashing of Bolton as Chelsea’s uninspired victory yesterday? I don’t think it is. Likewise, why should 0-0 warrant the same points as 3-3? Goal difference rarely has any impact on the league table come the end of the season; this new rule actually gives goal ratio some meaning and influence. We’ve fully applied any given scenario to this new rule change and it doesn’t appear to throw up any nasty surprises, if this new rule had been applied 10 years ago then the Premiership champions throughout those years would have remained the same until now, it doesn’t allow flukey teams to worm their way through, it simply promotes positive football.

We are putting together a credible package illustrating this new rule change and sending it to the FA, we doubt we will get any reaction but you never know, the seeds might get planted and get them thinking, the good thing is that money talks, and as attendances drop and world viewers start looking to other leagues for entertainment, the FA will have to do something, lowering ticket prices is not going to completely solve the problem.

Anyway, what do you guys think of the new rule?



Article submitted by Proffessor Calculus.