The problem with the 5 second rule for throw ins is the way they’re contested in the EFL. In the Premier League and international football the opposition allow you to throw it to an unmarked player whereas below that level it’s a battle to get possession at most throw ins. We’ll see more throws aimlessly down the touch line I imagine
That would be an improvement on our current tactic of standing around until eventually someone runs forward and plays it awkwardly back to the thrower who is immediately under pressure.
Our throw-ins have been an amateur-hour joke for years and (while it was to be expected under Lowe) it's incredible that a proper professional coach such as PH has done feck all about it. 🤯
As for stopping time-wasting at throw-ins, it's a great idea in principle.
In practice, anything that relies on the ref subjectively deciding '
the point they're seen to begin delaying the restart play' (
@baysidepne) is doomed to failure.
We'll see every trick in the book;
different players stepping up/or no-one stepping up, pre-planned pantomime 'confusion', balls being collected slowly, excessively wiped down, pretending not to hear the ref, checking the position of the throw, etc etc.
Every time a ref does decide to award it to the opposition, there will be a massive fuss from players and the bench.
I fear refs will soon decide it's not worth the bother and it will be quietly dropped by Christmas, sadly. 🙁
Same with the '
cooling off period' being trialled in the lower leagues, which again sounds like a good idea.
In practice, Team A is getting on top on Team B and has real momentum, crowd rocking, etc.
Team B wins a free-kick and instead of getting on with it, manufactures a scuffle that leads to a five-minute break, by which time they've re-grouped, had a chat and killed both the other team's momentum and crowd noise.
Anything,
anything,
anything that teams can exploit to their own advantage, they will do.
Don't forget, we are talking about people who think feigning a serious head injury is perfectly legit if it stops an opposition attack.
Road to hell, good intentions, etc. 😕
