Is it time to take the fear out of losing

[davieG]

by creating a fear of not winning/stroke scoring.

Nearly everyone in this league thinks their team is crap and that the football being played is horrible, a lot of this can be put down to negative tactics due to a fear of losing. 3 points for a win no longer seems to be working, it seems to have had the effect of making sure the other team doesn't get the 3 points rather than trying to get 3 points.

It used to be away teams that played like this but more and more teams seem to be ultra defensive home and away. Obviously fear of relegation/sacking is the driving force for most managers and that wont change nor should it.

Now I'm not usually one for wanting to change the rules, but I'm being bored into any early grave with the mind numbingly crap football I've been watching both at LCFC and on the box.

Is there a solution out there or would any change eventually be nullified by this overbearing fear of failure?

What is the solution?

4 points for a win?

An extra point if you score 3 or more goals?

A more stringent use of penalties, e.g shirt tugging etc?

Limiting the number of players/defenders in your own half?

Move the off side line to the edge of the box?

Make throw-ins into one handed throws or kick-ins, after all it is football?

All hyperthetical I know or should we leave it as it is.

Any thoughts?

[vanfox12]

by creating a fear of not winning/stroke scoring.

Nearly everyone in this league thinks their team is crap and that the football being played is horrible, a lot of this can be put down to negative tactics due to a fear of losing. 3 points for a win no longer seems to be working, it seems to have had the effect of making sure the other team doesn't get the 3 points rather than trying to get 3 points.

It used to be away teams that played like this but more and more teams seem to be ultra defensive home and away. Obviously fear of relegation/sacking is the driving force for most managers and that wont change nor should it.

Now I'm not usually one for wanting to change the rules, but I'm being bored into any early grave with the mind numbingly crap football I've been watching both at LCFC and on the box.

Is there a solution out there or would any change eventually be nullified by this overbearing fear of failure?

What is the solution?

4 points for a win?

An extra point if you score 3 or more goals?

A more stringent use of penalties, e.g shirt tugging etc?

Limiting the number of players/defenders in your own half?

Move the off side line to the edge of the box?

Make throw-ins into one handed throws or kick-ins, after all it is football?

All hyperthetical I know or should we leave it as it is.

Any thoughts?

Some good points raised i think we should follow the lead of Rugby Union where you can get up to five points for a win by for example Win by 3 Goals or more and keep a clean sheet you get Five points. Also even if you lose you could pick up points say lose 4-3 away from home you get a point for scoring 3 goals but also an extra point for positive play away from home because the home team have failed to keep a clean sheet.

[lookwhaticando]

4 points for a win? - Don't think this would change a whole deal, to be fair

An extra point if you score 3 or more goals? - this is a suggestion Mark has made, and I like it. Really think it would do the trick

A more stringent use of penalties, e.g shirt tugging etc? - probably little effect

Limiting the number of players/defenders in your own half? - sounds unworkable to me. Do you want coppers on the touchline ready to run on and give a defender an on-the-spot fine if he falls back into his own half when the team is already at quota?

Move the off side line to the edge of the box? - dunno if it would help or not

Make throw-ins into one handed throws or kick-ins, after all it is football? doubt this would change all that much, some players already have long throws and others wouldn't like the idea of tampering with one of the fundamentals of the game - the throw-in.

All hyperthetical I know or should we leave it as it is.

Any thoughts?

[RowlattsFox]

i like the bonus point idea for scoring 3 or more goals

[JoeyB]

we treid following rugby with moving free kicks forward 10 yards if the wall refused to move etc and it was terible just tsick with the rules as they are

after all its football not rugby

[davieG]

we treid following rugby with moving free kicks forward 10 yards if the wall refused to move etc and it was terible just tsick with the rules as they are

after all its football not rugby

If it was only terrible, although I'm not sure it was it's because they didn't apply it properly or stick with it, just like they no longer penalise obstruction, shirt tugging, goalies holding the ball longer than 5 seconds, abusive language (well selectively) or making injured players go off the pitch to be nursed rather then sending them off after they've been nursed. Doesn't mean to say they're are bad rules just means they're not followed.

[davieG]

we treid following rugby with moving free kicks forward 10 yards if the wall refused to move etc and it was terible just tsick with the rules as they are

after all its football not rugby

Frankly it's not much like football at the moment either

[Ultra]

Withdraw points for a 0-0 draw.

If teams knew they HAD to score in order to earn a point, a lot of the current defensive mindsets would be ended at a stroke!

[Leonisco]

Withdraw points for a 0-0 draw.

If teams knew they HAD to score in order to earn a point, a lot of the current defensive mindsets would be ended at a stroke!

That's the best idea yet.

[vanfox12]

That's the best idea yet.

Trouble is even with that kind of incentive we would probably still not win considering our current form.

[Guest]

I don't think the actual game itself needs to change. Years ago, you used to get 2pts for the win, 1 for the draw. It didn't make teams any more defensive, and if you look at some of the scorelines, there was no shortage of goals!

In my opinion, money has ruined the game. The divide between the top and bottom clubs in the Premiership is shocking enough, without looking outside the top flight. My plan would revolutionise world soccer. For me, making football exciting means getting everyone onto a level playing field, or as near as.

I would put a wage limit on teams; no more than £10m Premiership £5m Championship, and so on. If you want to pay a prima dona a hefty salary fair enough, but you'll lose out elsewhere. I would cap transfer fees. I would make finances transparent, and I would ban agents. This would level out ticket prices to some extent.

Once teams are more equal, there would be more chance of promotion or even winning the league. I think the days of an unfashionable side winning the major prizes is gone. I think it is sad. Get rid of the money.

There endeth the lecture.

[Leonisco]

I don't think the actual game itself needs to change. Years ago, you used to get 2pts for the win, 1 for the draw. It didn't make teams any more defensive, and if you look at some of the scorelines, there was no shortage of goals!

In my opinion, money has ruined the game. The divide between the top and bottom clubs in the Premiership is shocking enough, without looking outside the top flight. My plan would revolutionise world soccer. For me, making football exciting means getting everyone onto a level playing field, or as near as.

I would put a wage limit on teams; no more than £10m Premiership £5m Championship, and so on. If you want to pay a prima dona a hefty salary fair enough, but you'll lose out elsewhere. I would cap transfer fees. I would make finances transparent, and I would ban agents. This would level out ticket prices to some extent.

Once teams are more equal, there would be more chance of promotion or even winning the league. I think the days of an unfashionable side winning the major prizes is gone. I think it is sad. Get rid of the money.

There endeth the lecture.

That would be the perfect solution, but unfortunately it will never happen, it's just not feasible.

[davieG]

I don't think the actual game itself needs to change. Years ago, you used to get 2pts for the win, 1 for the draw. It didn't make teams any more defensive, and if you look at some of the scorelines, there was no shortage of goals!

In my opinion, money has ruined the game. The divide between the top and bottom clubs in the Premiership is shocking enough, without looking outside the top flight. My plan would revolutionise world soccer. For me, making football exciting means getting everyone onto a level playing field, or as near as.

I would put a wage limit on teams; no more than £10m Premiership £5m Championship, and so on. If you want to pay a prima dona a hefty salary fair enough, but you'll lose out elsewhere. I would cap transfer fees. I would make finances transparent, and I would ban agents. This would level out ticket prices to some extent.

Once teams are more equal, there would be more chance of promotion or even winning the league. I think the days of an unfashionable side winning the major prizes is gone. I think it is sad. Get rid of the money.

There endeth the lecture.

if my memory serves me correctly the reason they introduced 3 points for a win was precisely because teams were playing for 0-0 draws, around the early to mid 70's the game had become boring, the risks of not winning were not great enough.

You're right though money has corrupted the game in more was than we would imagine, now it's not just the fear of losing the odd game it's the fear of being relegated, which as we know can be devastating. Managers' now play the percentage game more than ever, trying to pick up points at home at not losing away is not particualarly new but it's now got to the stage where teams are just trying not to lose home and away.

[Guest]

if my memory serves me correctly the reason they introduced 3 points for a win was precisely because teams were playing for 0-0 draws, around the early to mid 70's the game had become boring, the risks of not winning were not great enough.

You're right though money has corrupted the game in more was than we would imagine, now it's not just the fear of losing the odd game it's the fear of being relegated, which as we know can be devastating. Managers' now play the percentage game more than ever, trying to pick up points at home at not losing away is not particualarly new but it's now got to the stage where teams are just trying not to lose home and away.

Just before my time It would have been after Jimmy Hill and his players revolution, and at a time when some footballers thought that they were playboys. This was when money was starting to take over the game, I would guess, and at a time when the upper hand had shifted from the clubs to the players.

Like I say, it would need a radical shake up to rectify. It will never happen as there is so much to lose for players and for agents. I also fear that if they did do something, then the corruption that already exists would see more bungs and backhanders than ever before. Silly me.