What innovation would improve the league in the future?

[stealthpapes]

I would have a panel of five - seven ex-pros, ex-managers and ex-refs look over them and be completely transparent with it. Each team gets a small number of referrals a game and its all done after the game when tempers have cooled. Comedy referrals mean you get less in later games.

[PieEater]

/fewer

[Royalcop]

I would have a panel of five - seven ex-pros, ex-managers and ex-refs look over them and be completely transparent with it. Each team gets a small number of referrals a game and its all done after the game when tempers have cooled. Comedy referrals mean you get less in later games.

But doing it after the game would make it futile and the aggrieved team wouldn't benefit from any subsequent ban, indeed other teams would instead. As said previously I think you either go the whole hog with in-match video referrals, as in rugby and cricket, or don't bother as any half-measure will likely be a complete fudge. The main issue will be how this is introduced without ruining the flow of the game, i.e. how long can a ref let the play go on before going back for a referral - what if a goal is scored or foul committed in that time? Who decides on the referral? Do we let each team have a few per match - as in cricket and tennis, where spurious referrals can be used tactically, or leave it to the referee's discretion as in rugby?

[genome]

I would ban pundits using unnecessary pluralisation. It would improve the standard of punditry from your Hoddles, your Shearers, your Hansens.

[Sutekh]

Scrapping the PL and kicking SKY out of the country.

[harry]

Scrapping the PL and kicking SKY out of the country.

Like this idea

[Terminal Boardom]

Having an official to provide support to the match officials would be excellent
Scrap goal music
Introduce safe standing
Have all matches reviewed by a panel of match officials which will issue retrospective punishment for cheating
Where a player has to leave the field of play having received treatment following a foul, the player who conceded the free kick also has to leave the field of play
Point deductions for red cards
Introduce 10-15 minute sin bins

[tmesis]

Same debate different angle.

My gripe is that pretty much all fouls in the penalty area are seen as red cards whereas a) it's not limited to the penalty area and b) they're not

its not a mandatory red for giving away a penalty and that needs the refs to be slightly more lenient there.

I'd only send the player off if the ref thinks the foul was intentional, and intended to stop a goalscoring chance.

It's bad enough to see the number of penalties given these days because of "contact", but the rule was brought in to try to stop professional fouls. It wasn't brought in the doubly punish players who lightly brushed against Ashley young's thigh.

[harry]

Any players subsequently shown to have clearly dived to be punished in a suitably harsh way so as to deter them from trying it again.
In an effort to stamp it out I was thinking they could be "Partridged". Maybe that's a bit too medieval....

How about being publicly humiliated in some way? Maybe by being forced to miss a game, and instead of playing have to stand in the centre circle at half time of their team's biggest rivals' next home game. Then to watch repeated videos of their dive on the big screen while the home crowd explain the error of the diver's ways.

[harry]

I would ban pundits.

That sounds more like it. When was the last time any of them added value. Most don't even know the rules

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Make shepherding the ball out a foul for obstruction if the ball isn't within 6-12 inches of the defenders foot.

I fookin' hate it

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Actually punish the foul throws that seem to be allowed nowadays

[From Despair To Where?]

I would have a panel of five - seven ex-pros, ex-managers and ex-refs

The one downside to this is that managers and players are the last people I'd expect to know and understand the rules.

There weren't half as many contentious decisions when we didn't have 1,000,0001 instant replays in super slo mo to prove that Player A's laces brushing Player B's ankle is justification for player B to make like Willem Defoe getting shot in Platoon.

Just let the referees ref the game and accept that, like players and managers, they sometimes make mistakes.

[YateleyRoyal]

Where a player has to leave the field of play having received treatment following a foul, the player who conceded the free kick also has to leave the field of play

I like this

[Sanguine]

Would be abused by teams happy to sacrifice a player needing 'treatment' if it means the opposition's best defender is off the pitch for the ensuing free-kick.

[Hoop Blah]

Managers and players held to account for talking absolute rubbish, especially when being critical of match officials.
All players to go through the referee training course and youth team members to actively have to referee in the local kids and mens leagues between the ages of 16-18.
Interfering with and 'phases of' play to be removed from the offside law.
Retrospective punishment for play acting and diving.

[Snowball]

Make shepherding the ball out a foul for obstruction if the ball isn't within 6-12 inches of the defenders foot.

I fookin' hate it

Totally agree. I would like to see a rule which said that players should attempt to play the ball.

The rule could be that if it's clear the "defending" player merely obstructed, and allowed the
ball to go out of play then the opposing side gets the throw or corner.

Getting rid of the pass-back to the keeper made for a faster and less dull game. This would too.

[Snowball]

SIN-BINS


The professional foul yellow "take one for the team" could be changed to

a red

an amber (one foul of any description in the rest of the game and you're off)

or 5-10-15-20 mins in the sin-bin (unused minutes carried into next game)

[Snowball]

I'd love to see some kind of official sign for time-wasting and the ref able to add TWICE the wasted time.


Like in rugby, allow trainers to treat players while the game continues


Would like to see the clock stopped while the ball is dead (corners, throws, goal-kicks, free-kicks)

That would probably mean that the official play-time would need to be shortened to 30/35 minutes




When the time hooter goes, the game continues until the ball goes out of play. Make for exciting finishes when a team is losing by one goal and in possession

[Hoop Blah]

When the time hooter goes, the game continues until the ball goes out of play. Make for exciting finishes when a team is losing by one goal and in possession

Surely that would just lead to any game in that scenario ending in a foul by the defending team.

I kind of like the idea though, it always seems slightly daft to stop a passage of play because of the ref deems that exact second to be the last of his time added on.