Town boss Kieran McKenna says referees need to be mindful of making sure fans see the ball in play with opposition time-wasting having been a major frustration for the Blues this season, particularly at Portman Road.

All too regularly visiting players have regularly taken to the turf suffering convenient injuries in the second half of matches in order to break up the flow of the game.

More widely, FIFA has proposed the introduction of ‘effective playing time’ rules - tracking how many minutes the ball is in play, setting a limit to ensure that that amount of football is played during a game - with a CIES Football Observatory study having shown that on average the ball was in play only 60.2 per cent of time in the Champions League.

Asked about the debate around time-wasting, one which has been ongoing among Town supporters for most of the season, McKenna was asked whether he believes there should be rule changes in order to keep the ball in play for more of a match.

“I think you have to understand that football is a spectacle and everyone has to respect that and the people who come to pay to watch a football match,” he said.

“And I think that’s responsibility of all the clubs to provide that and to provide a spectacle and make sure there’s a level there for the supporters who come to games.

“On top of that, everyone wants to win and teams are within their rights to try and use different means if they think that’s going to help them get a result.

“I’m not sure about rule changes, but I think it’s something certainly that the referees and the fourth official especially need to be really mindful of and try and manage well in games.

“I think it’s really important that they continue to do that to try and manage the flow of the game so that the supporters who are coming to pay to see the match, they get to see a football match and they get to see the ball in play for a good amount of time and they get to see action.

“I’m not sure there need to be rule changes but it’s certainly something that referees and officials need to be very mindful of.”

Photo: TWTD

Suffolkboy added 16:55 - Apr 7 Too B true ; but Refs ,like many in life and sport , are becoming hide- bound by an ever increasing and burdensome rule book ,with a real multitude of changes ‘inspired' by Mr Elleray who has let his fascination with technical detail and interpretation get right in the way of simplification and common sense . Honesty and integrity in performance has been allowed to evaporate ,with many quite deliberately taking advantage of the rule book to exploit the game to their own advantage . We need to believe much more in the rulings on the pitch , get on with the game but set up a much more open and public set of avenues for post match discussions without ‘officialdom ‘ feeling threatened . Lots to be improved upon ,but K M clinically makes the point for general consumption ! COYB

2

kpblues added 16:55 - Apr 7 Maybe when an unfouled player goes down the trainer comes on and ,if medically safe, the player is taken off the pitch. Being a player down might reduce the incentive for these fake injuries.
2

CornardBlue added 16:57 - Apr 7 Referees at this level are well below the standard we should expect. Cambridge keeper was wasting time from the first minute, it was not until the last 10 minutes the referee spoke to him, Oxford and Plymouth were at it all the game.
3

USA added 17:40 - Apr 7 Any treatment required should be done off the pitch if medically safe (as above), or as in Rugby play on with the trainer on if not in penalty box. It's really frustrating when someone just decides to sit down to when clearly they could've gone to the sideline for treatment.
5

Cakeman added 18:44 - Apr 7 Fully agree Kieran. The standard of officials has been unacceptable apart from the odd one or two. It is also time for refs to start brandishing a Yellow card the very first time dissent is experienced. Likewise for blatant time wasting. The players are also starting to become annoying by holding their head when fouled at times just to waste time fully knowing the refs are instructed to stop games for potential head injuries. All very annoying but needs clamping down on.

2

chepstowblue added 19:01 - Apr 7 Time wasting is scandalous nowadays. But what is worse is the officials inability to add the time on. More times than not the half time board should be going up from 3 or 4 minutes....and we get 1. Goal celebrations (once the morons have got off their knees and put their shirts back on are taking at least a minute and a half). Players should be told..."you've got 30 seconds to grope each other, have a nibble, get back inside your own half before the other team kick off". Football is basically 46+49 mins, regardless of whether there's 1or 6 goals, 1 or 4 injury stoppages. The clock should stop each time the ball goes out of play, because at present we're watching about 58mins per game. We as fans who attend are being seriously shafted and the impotent powers that be do nothing to address the issue. Add to that the blatant cheating and simulation and its become an almost unwatchable spectacle devoid of integrity and sportsmanship. If it wasn't for my bond with Ipswich I'd have f*#k all to do with the game !

6

AlanG296 added 19:25 - Apr 7 Agree with you re goal celebrations Chepstow blue, but not much of a time waster in our games as we don't get man, for or against.
2

dusth added 21:05 - Apr 7 Rugby Union has the right idea. The ref puts his hand up to stop the clock. Doesn't matter if there's cheating or not. There is no way round that one. If it means "Final Score" gets delayed - too bad - and the fans get more football.
5

MickMillsTash added 23:09 - Apr 7 Don't stop the clock- play on Injured ? trainer comes on and play continues - player misses next 3 minutes of the game to recover, ball hits trainer - free kick to opposition 95% of players receiving medical treatment are running freely in the next 2 minutes*. *made up fact Cramp in the last 10 minutes ? leave the pitch and don't come back on If a player can't take a throw in after 20 seconds (Fleetwood) then it goes to the opposition. Free Kick - 20 seconds to take it or booking and goes to opposition Goal kick - 20 seconds to take it or booking and corner Head injury? -we'll need to check that mate - 5 minutes off if the world cup can go to Qatar the above is possible and BETTER for the game Referees are weak and pretty poor in this village football league but need rules to support common sense decisions. Burns play acting at Oxford included, Burns, Bonne shouting at linesman on Saturday - sent OFF. All games involoving Fleetwood, Oxford and any other cheating boring time wasting jokers to be erased from football records due to their antics. I've fixed it !

2

Help added 07:49 - Apr 8 Time wasting would not be a problem if we were winning, we only get frustrated when our own team has not done the business themselves so we blame the opposition/ref/ etc. We need to not be in the position of moaning about time wasting by doing the business on the pitch in the first place.
1

braveblue added 08:06 - Apr 8 Help. Teams don't tend to waste time when they are losing!!!!
0

SouperJim added 09:14 - Apr 8 FIFA doesn't need to act, referees do. It is blatantly obvious when one team is time wasting and sh!t housing, refs just need to have no tolerance for it. Warning first time, yellow card second time. None of this pointing at your watch or waving your arms at the keeper as he takes the long way round the net, repositions the ball twice etc. Just use your cards, that's what they're there for.

1

hadleighboyblue added 10:47 - Apr 8 Football needs to look at how Rugby deals with things . Stop the clock if trainers are called on . Keepers should have to get the ball back in play within a certain time - wasn't that a rule once ? likewise standing over the ball to stop a free kick being taken ....just move the ball 10 yards forward and the same for arguing with the ref ....it works in rugby !
0

AlanG296 added 10:52 - Apr 8 Noticed when Walton gets the ball he gives the opposition time to get back in their defensive formation before starting the build from the back move. Very gentlemanly of him, but still time wasting.
0

AlanG296 added 11:11 - Apr 8 But that's the point Braveblue, if we're winning it takes time wasting out of the game. We need to stop blaming opposition tactics for our inadequacies at putting the ball in the net. There's plenty of time in a game for us to score goals, if we were as good as some people think we are. But we're just a mid table third division team, no better, no worse.
0

BobbyBell added 12:38 - Apr 8 If a player claims to be injured but is then seen by the ref to be running free seconds late then he should be booked or better still sent from the field for 10 minutes. A real injury takes time to run off, that's if you can run it off, but we see supposedly injured players get up and sprint to chase the ball just seconds later. That should be an offence and 10 minutes off the field would stop it.

1

Cheshire_Blue added 13:15 - Apr 8 This is all in he hands of the referee. If he shows a yellow card immediately there is any hint of time wasting that puts a stop to it. The referee against Cambridge was clearly not up to the job. If he had shown a yellow card to the Cambridge goalkeeper immediately he started to waste time we would have seen another 10 minutes football. Similarly with throw ins and corners.

0

Orraman added 13:42 - Apr 8 This blatant time wasting is endemic everywhere.. I read that a recent game involving the supreme masters of the dark arts, Atletico Madrid , the ball was actually in play for a total of 18 mins in the second half. The real culprits however are totally incompetent referees. To be at the level they are they must have worked their way up the pyramid so have quite a bit of experience, so time wasting must be obvious but they just turn a blind eye to it until the last 5/10 mins. I still maintain that an early yellow card would focus the mind before others try it. Time limits need to be placed on certain set pieces. As mentioned above 20 secs is ample time to take a throw in and should also be incurred from the time the ball is placed for a goal kick. I remember over past years when goalkeepers were allowed either 10 or 12 secs to hold on to the ball and another scheme where they were allowed four bounces before they had to release the ball. Something the 4th official could keep an eye on so the ref can concentrate on other forms of cheating going on. Al5hough I cannot understand why a player wants to whip his shirt off when he scores a goal (are you listening Bersant) this currently warrants a yellow but cheating/time wasting goes unchecked. Our players are no angels either. Morsy's right hander against Accrington only one of many nasty niggles by our captain and more recently Norwood's body block on a Cambridge player right in front of the 4th official went unpunished. Back in the 60's/70's the game was much rougher and tougher but there was none of the continuous cheating that goes on in every game now. Kevin Beattie, Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Dave Mackay etc….did they need to cheat? No and neither did the players they whacked as they just got up and carried on and exacted revenge later in the game

0

Marinersnose added 19:24 - Apr 8 I like so many other posters find the time wasting from many opponents tiresome, but it is now an important part of game management especially when playing better opponents away from home. It happens in every league and our potential for success has in my opinion caused this deplorable tactic to be used more frequently than ever seen before at PR. Either a ruling is made to eradicate such spoilers tactics or we have to get used to it. The issue is compounded by poor refereeing in league one imo. Maybe we should've utilised the tactics at Oxford.

0

Blogs 295 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls