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Scottish Sun
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Premier League will see more rule changes next season – when will this ever end? I have NO idea what football rules are
Goalkeepers will be penalised in one of the most bizarre changes next campaign REFFING HELL Premier League will see more rule changes next season – when will this ever end? I have NO idea what football rules are CLAUDIO RANIERI earned the nickname 'Tinkerman' during his spell at Chelsea as he was forever changing his player line-ups but that meddling moniker should surely now be passed on to football's governing bodies. Next season there will be more new rule changes. When will this ever end and are you, like me, baffled and bamboozled in equal measure as to what the actual rules of football are? Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Referees will punish goalkeepers for time-wasting with a corner for the opposition next season Credit: Getty 2 SunSport columnist Karren Brady thinks if it aint broke, don't fix it Credit: Getty From next season goalkeepers will be penalised for holding on to the ball for more than eight seconds, with the punishment a corner to the attacking team. Referees are supposed to indicate when a keeper has held the ball for three seconds, giving him five more seconds to release it. Apparently, this new rule has been tried and tested and will be in place for next season. So what was wrong with the old rule which gave keepers six seconds to release, with punishment in the form of an indirect free-kick? Beats me. It was hardly ever enforced anyway. The body which has come up with this latest daft tinkering, I meant well-researched brainstorm, the International Football Association Board, must have spent ages on it. Probably in a well-stocked five-star hotel somewhere near Fifa's Swiss Alps headquarters. Read more football news NEV SHOCK Gary Neville BANNED by Nottingham Forest for last day of Prem with Sky furious The purpose of this newest change is to cut down on time-wasting but how can extending possession from six to eight seconds do that? And also the fact that the 'old' rule was almost never imposed surely means it was a good rule. A bit like competent refereeing, if you don't know they are there, chances are the official is doing a decent job. Every year we are told greedy water companies will clean up their act and every season football makes changes which confuses the hell out of fans. Dirtying the waters, so to speak. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS We have had 'golden' goals, 'silver' goals, the advance ten-metre rule, you name it. If anyone can successfully tell me what the current rules around handball are, please let me know. As for VAR, well let's just say the jury is still out on that one. We have been told the introduction of Semi-Automated Offside Technology will solve the ridiculous amount of time it has taken Stockley Park assessors to actually reach a decision. 'In one year the decision will be made' - Wenger demands new offside rule that will be 'impossible to defend against' Well, that wasn't true last weekend at the West Ham v Forest game, as that quick check we were promised turned into an excruciating six-minute delay as the offside technology was not working. And don't get me started on the financial fair play rules. Professor Brian Cox might be able to name all the stars in the sky but even he would struggle with that. I'm the first to admit that some changes have been of great benefit. In 1992, the introduction of the backpass rule where keepers cannot handle the ball when it has been deliberately kicked to them by a team-mate is one. When will this ever end and are you, like me, baffled and bamboozled in equal measure as to what the actual rules of football are? Karren Brady Goal-line technology came in 2012 following the uproar over the Frank Lampard World Cup 'goal-that-never-was'. That was another. But in recent seasons the dribble of rule changes has become a downpour. From allowing the kick-off to be taken in any direction, to teams now requiring a mandatory captain, complete with armband, to additional subs if a player has received a concussion injury. Have any of these actually improved fans' enjoyment? Just leave the game alone please. The International Football Association Board should adhere to the wise man, more likely wise woman, who said, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Or to put it another way, stop bloody tinkering. I'm just waiting for the first referee next season who awards a corner after a keeper has transgressed this newest rule change. Cue hundreds of examples by irate fans where the 'offence' was not spotted. Football. They say it used to be a simple game which involved two jumpers and a ball. Not any longer.
New Straits Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Ranieri set to bow out on a high as Roma edge closer to Champions League spot
CLAUDIO RANIERI is insisting, once again, that this is his last season in football management, and if the 73-year-old stays true to his word then he could bow out having taken his beloved AS Roma to an unexpected Champions League place. Ranieri announced his retirement from management at the end of last season after avoiding relegation with Cagliari but could not resist when Roma, the club where he began his playing career, came calling. "I've given my all. Football is my life, but the moment comes to say enough is enough," Ranieri said on Monday after picking up an 'Inside the Sport' award for his career. "I had said that at Cagliari, with my heart, and everyone believed me, including my wife, until Roma called." In November, Ranieri became Roma's third manager this season, with the club in the bottom half of the table. His third spell at Roma began with three defeats in four league games, but since then his side are unbeaten in the league, a run of 18 matches going back to December. Ranieri has never won a Serie A title, but looking at Roma's form since he took over, he could well have been involved in the Scudetto race had the club brought him in sooner. Since Ranieri took charge, and despite his inauspicious start, only one club has bettered Roma's haul of 47 points, with leaders Napoli outscoring them by one point. Roma are undefeated in Serie A in 2025, and in that period no other team has come close to their form, with the next best side, Napoli, collecting seven points fewer. When Ranieri, who also managed the likes of Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Juventus, replaced Ivan Juric, Roma were 12 points off the top four, but now in sixth place, they find themselves only two points away from a Champions League spot. Given Roma's current form, Ranieri, who took Leicester City to a Premier League title, could well pull off another miracle before he heads back into retirement, at least from management, as he gets ready for a new role at the club. "I said yes, for a year as a coach and then as a senior advisor, I don't even really know what that is," Ranieri said. With four games remaining, Roma host Fiorentina on Sunday, before finishing the season against Atalanta, AC Milan and Torino.
