Whitey Grandad

Not a wind up at all. These ‘professionals’ cheat all the time at throwing themselves to the ground. Stoke lad runs across Bedders and slows down to create a collision. Players cheat. It’s only one arm, not two, and it is not holding the player. Not a sensible thing to do, mind you, and probably unnecessary. If you think it’s a penalty then you have been conned.

Please don’t try to insult me. Benarek’s left arm is not in use. His right hand is open palmed and flat across the player’s chest. Whether that was enough to count as ‘holding’ I wouldn’t agree. Is that player held back by Bednarek? Clearly not. As soon as the player feels the contact he stops running and trails both legs behind himself thus initiating his fall. This is a common ploy by professionals who use it all the time to try to engineer a penalty. Some of them are very good at it which is not surprising when they practise it all week. I watched the replays of the incident again and they all confirm my view. The referee at the game felt the same way too, but there again he sees this sort of gamesmanship all the time.

No he didn’t. You have been fooled by the attacker throwing himself to the ground as soon as he felt an arm touch him. There are multiple signs there if you know what you’re looking at.

Nowhere near it, and the referee agreed.

Nowhere near it. That’s the problem with watching on TV. There was nowhere near enough there to take the player down.

They’re still going on about those ridiculous penalty claims.

Strollbone daydreaming there.

We’re defending too deep.

No left foot.

Brings tears to my eyes.

These commentators are getting on my wick. They spend all the game questioning the refereeing decisions. Neither of those incidents were anything near a penalty.

Didn’t they benefit last season when Salah was well offside when the ball was deflected to him off the head of a defender?

The images are a long way from having the resolution necessary to identify body parts to anything accurate enough to compare positions on different parts of the pitch, in some cases over 50 metres apart. Bearing in mind that you are projecting a three dimensional scene onto a flat sensor surface typically less than 9mm across through a significant lens then distortions are unavoidable. There is no such thing as ‘matter of fact’. There will always be an area of uncertainty in any measurement process and in the case of offside that is probably more than half a metre or so.

The first part of the Law is not worth repeating because I’m sure everybody knows that, or thinks they do. The problem is in defining the exact moment that the ball is ‘kicked’. Then there are occasions where a defender might have touched it. TV cameras are typically 50 frames per second so the time difference between shots can be 20ms. The offside law as introduced was never meant to be implemented by pseudo-scientific methods. The general principle is whether the player is nears to the opponent’s goal than the second to last defender. That’s the player, not his nose or his toenail. It is intentionally imprecise and is expected to be adjudged by some standing at the side of the pitch holding a flag. Football in general is an imprecise sport. If you want something more definitive then you should play Russian Roulette.

Being in an offside position is not an offence in itself. It’s what action that this player does next that determines the decision. Such player might also be interfering with an opponent, for instance. Here is the full Law. There are also some explanatory notes. 2. Offside offence A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is played or touched* by a team-mate is only penalised on becoming involved in active play by: interfering with play by playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate or interfering with an opponent by: preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball or clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball *The first point of contact of the 'play' or 'touch' of the ball should be used or gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has: rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent been deliberately saved by any opponent A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played* the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent. *‘Deliberate play’ (excluding deliberate handball) is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of: passing the ball to a team-mate; gaining possession of the ball; or clearing the ball (e.g. by kicking or heading it) If the pass, attempt to gain possession or clearance by the player in control of the ball is inaccurate or unsuccessful, this does not negate the fact that the player ‘deliberately played’ the ball. The following criteria should be used, as appropriate, as indicators that a player was in control of the ball and, as a result, can be considered to have ‘deliberately played’ the ball: The ball travelled from distance and the player had a clear view of it The ball was not moving quickly The direction of the ball was not unexpected The player had time to coordinate their body movement, i.e. it was not a case of instinctive stretching or jumping, or a movement that achieved limited contact/control A ball moving on the ground is easier to play than a ball in the air A ‘save’ is when a player stops, or attempts to stop, a ball which is going into or very close to the goal with any part of the body except the hands/arms (unless the goalkeeper within the penalty area). In situations where: a player moving from, or standing in, an offside position is in the way of an opponent and interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball this is an offside offence if it impacts on the ability of the opponent to play or challenge for the ball; if the player moves into the way of an opponent and impedes the opponent's progress (e.g blocks the opponent) the offence should be penalised under Law 12 a player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalised as it has occurred before the offside offence an offence is committed against a player in an offside position who is already playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the offside offence is penalised as it has occurred before the foul challenge

To provide more fuel for arguments.

You are so wrong. I recommend that you lookup the Laws relating to offside decisions.

Not true. Being in an offside position is just a part of it. There are many other factors in the final decision and they are all subjective.

"compared to pre-pandemic level" But you never were any good at reading.

Wow! This lad is really good.

A well placed shot.

And our population has grown by more than that,

Might have drawn it.

Indeed it was, but he also scored a second great one when the ball was headed back to him and he flicked it up off his knee and volleyed it in over the keeper’s head.

Branfoot was about to substitute MLT and even had the number 7 card ready. When Matty scored he turns round to ‘Moods’ and says “sit down” with a wry smile on his face.