SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

Perhaps belatedly,I’ll offer my congratulations to the England women who lifted the title for their country. It’s not grudged or anything,the reason for being a tad late is that other topics take priority.

It was interesting to read Chris Sutton’s article which congratulated the players for their nous in playing out the game beside the corner flag,as well as their manager for the substitutions. Both goals were scored by subs,and a third was only just passed up.

So let’s rewind thirty years then. Actually,let’s rewind forty years. On occasion,if I wasn’t heading to the pub on a Sunday,my Dad and I would plank ourselves in front of the telly to watch that new-fangled Channel Four,and its coverage of American Football. My Dad and I will watch football anywhere,eleven ants playing another eleven,we would be enthralled. It didn’t happen that often,to be honest. Most of the time,my Mum commandeered the telly,plus my Dad worked shifts.

But when it did,we had a great time.

But it wisnae fitba!

For starters,how many players are they allowed to have during a game? I used to pish myself laughing because players had numbers like 83 on their back,or 99. I was used to the 1-12.

But heyho,times evolve. And now,the winner of the women’s Euros can field five substitutes in a match,as can we. In any game. And with a squad as strong as ours-domestically,at least-I reckon that is a starter for ten. We can have the likes of Kyogo or Maeda running the opposition into the ground,then making way for the brutal finishing of G-Mak. Or Abada,Forrest. We can have the mids putting in their all,and bring on David Turnbull et al,or the ever willing Tony Ralston coming on to replace one of the full backs.

Previous managers didn’t have the luxury of actually using a squad effectively during a game,though it was always necessary to have one for the season ahead. But it led to a lot of dissatisfied players who never got a game,and worse,to the signing of squad fillers. Players who you went-aw,f..k-when their number came up as they strolled onto unfamiliar territory.

Aye,the expansion of the substitutions has been a benefit. Not just to England the other night,but to teams like ours with big squads,and to the players too. But the biggest change to the game in my lifetime-back to the thirty years ago that I mentioned,if you can remember it!-is the backpass rule.

Thirty years ago,England could have played the game out by passing back to the keeper all night. Admittedly,keeping the ball in the corner isn’t much fun to watch either,but there is a definite skill in doing so successfully. How many times have we seen teams try it and come unstuck? Or a player taking a flying kick at an opponent,having reckoned that the game’s over anyway?

Caveat-that would be me. I’d put him in the stands and be in the showers before him,with a mere shrug of my shoulders.

But thirty years ago? Naw,just pass it back to the goalie. 

Then a change of rules,and not by coincidence,the game speeded up. Packy Bonnar was not the only goalkeeper who found it difficult to adapt,they all did. Packy,bless him,could only kick the ball as far as he could,and in the same direction it came from. Some just adapted better than others. That’s why we have the likes of Allison these days. (Wot,Allison’s a bloke? With a name like that? Can he not sue his parents?)

I shake my head every season at the new tweaks introduced by IFAB,and my best pal,a referee in his spare time as you know,probably tore his hair out over the summer when he saw them. But they are generally a force for good. And by banning the pass back thirty years ago,I would say that they moved the game into the modern era,to the fast paced display of sheer athleticism that we now enjoy so much.

Even to the extent that a winger will make an arse of things by trying to keep the ball in the corner,screwing up,watching his side lose a goal. Simple theatre,aye-but that’s because there’s a skill to it. There was never any skill in a pass back.

Is the ban on the pass back the most important tweak to the rules in the history of the game? I do not think that there is any doubt about that.

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Above article by BMCUWP