I've been reading today, a lot of media reports in the aftermath of the Reading "game". What has been interesting is to see who believes that protection for GK's needs to be adressed, and who doesnt think any more protection is needed.
You get old farts like Bob Wilson and some long forgotton Sunderland keeper from yesteryear, proclaiming that " its a mans game" or "It was much more physical when I used to play", and adding that getting brain damage for a GK, is just "part of the game", or "Thats a risk of the job of a GK". Idiot.
Now I understand Wilsons problem. He is a gooner, an ex footballer with a chip on his shoulder, and he is probably the most biased "pundit" that any TV Channel or newspaper could turn to. He despises Chelsea and I think the sad man has really sunk to a new depth in using the Petr Cech / Carlo Cudicini injuries as an opportunity to slate Chelsea. The guy is SCUM.
Protection for GK's ( or maybe just for Lehmann?) demanded by Wilson, prior to the Readin game.....
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1766_1546497,00.html
No more protection for GK's demanded by Wilson after the Reading game...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/10/17/sfnbob17.xml
In opposition to Wilson's and other "retired" GK's opinions, you have todays players and managers with their opinions.
Arsene Wenger and Jens Lehmann of Arsenal believe sonething has to be done soon, before a GK ends up spending his life in a wheelchair, brain damaged for life.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/tm_he...objectid=17943017&siteid=94762-name_page.html
or, the opinions of Martin O'Niell on the subject....( further down in the text)
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article1879347.ece
Now I. like you have my opinions about the Hunt/Cech challenge, but thats all they are, opinions. They mean NOTHING. Only Hunt knows what his intent might have been, and he is claiming innocence, so this is not about handing out blame or villifying anyone.
We have had FOUR Premiership GK's seriously injured so far this season, with only EIGHT games played. Gordon Taylor (another idiot), of the PFA, says maybe its about time for protective headgear for GK's. He talks to Bob Wilson a lot so there goes Taylors credibility for starters.
I suppose in some ways, GK's DO have too much protection, but it is in situations that do not endanger the health or the life of GK's.
For instance, when a corner comes in, attacking players should be able to attack the ball and challenge ANY oppossing player for the ball, including the GK. As it stands at the moment, if just one of those attackers even brushes up against the GK, the ref blows for an infringement on the GK.
Now that is protection that the GK does not need to ensure his well being. That to me has nothing to do with protecting the GK at all. That was something that was introduced to take out some of the physical contact from a game of football and not specifically brought in to protect the GK.
Of course there will still be fouls on the GK in these situations. The Sonko/Cudicini incident is an example where an attackers irresponsible challenge causes injury to the GK and that kind of challenge is not only clumsy but irresponsible too. Those are the type of challenges on GK's that need to be dealt with, and not some hustling within the penalty box.
I think, to a player it is patently obvious at ALL TIMES when a ball is there to be won and when its a lost cause. At the moment, although it might be clear to a player that a GK has, or will, have the ball in his hands before a challenge can be made, the player will still go for it, and damaging the keeper is the furthest consideration on his mind.
I've played a lot football, I know about adrenalin and heat of the moment incidents too, but I always knew if chasing down a GK was a lost cause or not. Plenty of times I was tempted to stick my boot in between his neck and the ball and attempt to prise it from his grasp, hoping that he didn't have a firm enough grip on the ball.
Plenty of times I decided that I would not do that. I could kick him in the throat and kill him quite easily, so that challenge was not even worth thinking about. This rationalising all took place in the micro seconds before I could have hit the keeper, I still would find time to pull out if it endangerd the GK's life.
Its all about self control. Proffesional players should maintain self control at all times and not turn into psychopaths on a football field. Once again I'n not talking about the usual bump and grind of a game. I'm talking about situations where the health or life of a fellow player is to be put at risk.
I am not accusing Stephen Hunt of anything other than losing that self control. Watch the video and you will have to admit that there was NO CHANCE that Hunt would get that ball before Cech had it in his hands. Hunt would have realised with time to spare, that he had time to pull away from the challenge completely. He chose not to and that, was a deliberate action on his part.
Now Hunt is no angel, that we know, but there are many players like him who are either uninterested in the consequences of such a challenge, or who think too slowly to be able to make a decision in the time given.
I played lower league football when I played, and it was a hard hard game. Players who would go in on a GK and "damn the consequences" were in a minority. A huge majority of players I played with and against knew the limits and would consider the for/against argument before getting stuck in to a GK.
Its time that a rule was in place that, once a ball is in the GK's hands, that ball is out of play and a GK is not to be considered fair game just because a forward might think that the GK "might possibly" drop it.
We have seen FOUR goalkeepers hospitalised so far this season for very similar challenges on them. The idiotic reasoning was that "the ball was there to be won". It wasn't there to be won at all. The ball was already lost but that will not stop some players until there is a rule forbidding such challenges.
Scrap or update the the other silly legislation that affords GK's the protection that they do not need, that is in place at this moment in time, and bring in some safeguards that will ensure and GUARANTEE the lasting physical health or indeed the life of a goalkeeper.
Its not about softening up the game but to make players in this country behave as most players abroad already do, with regards to respecting where the line is drawn when considering challenging a goalkeeper.
You get old farts like Bob Wilson and some long forgotton Sunderland keeper from yesteryear, proclaiming that " its a mans game" or "It was much more physical when I used to play", and adding that getting brain damage for a GK, is just "part of the game", or "Thats a risk of the job of a GK". Idiot.
Now I understand Wilsons problem. He is a gooner, an ex footballer with a chip on his shoulder, and he is probably the most biased "pundit" that any TV Channel or newspaper could turn to. He despises Chelsea and I think the sad man has really sunk to a new depth in using the Petr Cech / Carlo Cudicini injuries as an opportunity to slate Chelsea. The guy is SCUM.
Protection for GK's ( or maybe just for Lehmann?) demanded by Wilson, prior to the Readin game.....
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1766_1546497,00.html
No more protection for GK's demanded by Wilson after the Reading game...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/10/17/sfnbob17.xml
In opposition to Wilson's and other "retired" GK's opinions, you have todays players and managers with their opinions.
Arsene Wenger and Jens Lehmann of Arsenal believe sonething has to be done soon, before a GK ends up spending his life in a wheelchair, brain damaged for life.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/tm_he...objectid=17943017&siteid=94762-name_page.html
or, the opinions of Martin O'Niell on the subject....( further down in the text)
http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/premiership/article1879347.ece
Now I. like you have my opinions about the Hunt/Cech challenge, but thats all they are, opinions. They mean NOTHING. Only Hunt knows what his intent might have been, and he is claiming innocence, so this is not about handing out blame or villifying anyone.
We have had FOUR Premiership GK's seriously injured so far this season, with only EIGHT games played. Gordon Taylor (another idiot), of the PFA, says maybe its about time for protective headgear for GK's. He talks to Bob Wilson a lot so there goes Taylors credibility for starters.
I suppose in some ways, GK's DO have too much protection, but it is in situations that do not endanger the health or the life of GK's.
For instance, when a corner comes in, attacking players should be able to attack the ball and challenge ANY oppossing player for the ball, including the GK. As it stands at the moment, if just one of those attackers even brushes up against the GK, the ref blows for an infringement on the GK.
Now that is protection that the GK does not need to ensure his well being. That to me has nothing to do with protecting the GK at all. That was something that was introduced to take out some of the physical contact from a game of football and not specifically brought in to protect the GK.
Of course there will still be fouls on the GK in these situations. The Sonko/Cudicini incident is an example where an attackers irresponsible challenge causes injury to the GK and that kind of challenge is not only clumsy but irresponsible too. Those are the type of challenges on GK's that need to be dealt with, and not some hustling within the penalty box.
I think, to a player it is patently obvious at ALL TIMES when a ball is there to be won and when its a lost cause. At the moment, although it might be clear to a player that a GK has, or will, have the ball in his hands before a challenge can be made, the player will still go for it, and damaging the keeper is the furthest consideration on his mind.
I've played a lot football, I know about adrenalin and heat of the moment incidents too, but I always knew if chasing down a GK was a lost cause or not. Plenty of times I was tempted to stick my boot in between his neck and the ball and attempt to prise it from his grasp, hoping that he didn't have a firm enough grip on the ball.
Plenty of times I decided that I would not do that. I could kick him in the throat and kill him quite easily, so that challenge was not even worth thinking about. This rationalising all took place in the micro seconds before I could have hit the keeper, I still would find time to pull out if it endangerd the GK's life.
Its all about self control. Proffesional players should maintain self control at all times and not turn into psychopaths on a football field. Once again I'n not talking about the usual bump and grind of a game. I'm talking about situations where the health or life of a fellow player is to be put at risk.
I am not accusing Stephen Hunt of anything other than losing that self control. Watch the video and you will have to admit that there was NO CHANCE that Hunt would get that ball before Cech had it in his hands. Hunt would have realised with time to spare, that he had time to pull away from the challenge completely. He chose not to and that, was a deliberate action on his part.
Now Hunt is no angel, that we know, but there are many players like him who are either uninterested in the consequences of such a challenge, or who think too slowly to be able to make a decision in the time given.
I played lower league football when I played, and it was a hard hard game. Players who would go in on a GK and "damn the consequences" were in a minority. A huge majority of players I played with and against knew the limits and would consider the for/against argument before getting stuck in to a GK.
Its time that a rule was in place that, once a ball is in the GK's hands, that ball is out of play and a GK is not to be considered fair game just because a forward might think that the GK "might possibly" drop it.
We have seen FOUR goalkeepers hospitalised so far this season for very similar challenges on them. The idiotic reasoning was that "the ball was there to be won". It wasn't there to be won at all. The ball was already lost but that will not stop some players until there is a rule forbidding such challenges.
Scrap or update the the other silly legislation that affords GK's the protection that they do not need, that is in place at this moment in time, and bring in some safeguards that will ensure and GUARANTEE the lasting physical health or indeed the life of a goalkeeper.
Its not about softening up the game but to make players in this country behave as most players abroad already do, with regards to respecting where the line is drawn when considering challenging a goalkeeper.
