August 30, 2009 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
And here’s my next article!
Would football benefit from Goal Line Technology?
By Aidan Parr
We’re just two weeks into the new Championship season, and already controversy reigns. Last Saturday saw Crystal Palace denied what seemed to be a cast iron goal in their game against Bristol City. Freddie Sears’ shot had beaten the keeper and hit the stanchion in the goal and bounced straight out again. Instead of awarding the goal, referee Rob Shoebridge awarded a goal kick.
This incident has sparked new questions over the lack of goal line technology in games, with the argument against them suggesting it would take too much time to make a judgement, thus disrupting the game too much. However, many advocates of the system can look towards rugby union and tennis as a prime example of how this kind of technology can help the game and ultimately provide the right result.
In rugby union, there often comes a time when the large mass of bodies throwing themselves around can block the officials’ view of the ball, at which point the referee can call for the video referee to make the call after viewing the incident from various angles. The judgement is then relayed back to the referee via a microphone/earpiece combination, and also to a big screen at the ground to inform the fans. The process takes a matter of minutes, saving a lot of time and ill feeling between the two teams.
In tennis it works slightly differently. If a player feels that the umpire has gotten a call wrong then he or she gets to challenge the decision, at which point a video referee is called in. Interestingly, each player gets a set number of challenges, preventing them from contesting every close point, so if they challenge and get it wrong, they lose a challenge for later in the game.
None of these sports have suffered from the introduction of the technology and it has since become as much a part of the game as the balls with which they are played, and although they cannot guarantee perfection (think back to the ‘Try that was’ in England’s semi final at the rugby world cup), they can at least preventthe scenes we saw last weekend.
Harry Redknapp said: “It’s the 21st century - how long since we put a man on the moon? And yet Fifa won’t let us have cameras on the goalposts?” Surely it’s only a matter of time now?
There ya go!
Should be another one coming soon!!
August 29, 2009 at 11:58 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
As promised, here is the first of my articles written for www.football.co.uk - hope you enjoy it!
Patrick Viera – Return of a legend?
Patrick Vieira - Can he return?
By Aidan Parr
In a transfer window that has seen two record smashing transfers in as many weeks, and enough money to clear the debt of a small nation change hands, it is surprising that one of this seasons biggest transfers could be done for comparative pennies!
In a move that no one expected, Arsene Wenger seems to be trying to resign club legend Patrick Viera back to Arsenal. The move, which could only be eclipsed by the return of Theirry Henry, could see Viera make the move back to North London for almost nothing, four years after leaving for Italy.
Viera had been rumoured to return to London with Arsenal’s arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but a move to champions league football and a hero’s welcome would obviously be his preferred choice. After being voted as Arsenal’s fifth greatest player ever in 2008, Viera would be a popular signing by Wenger, although there is some debate over the motivation for the move.
Over the course of the last season, many experts agreed that Arsenal were lacking in a natural leader and dominating force in the centre of midfield, to hold the team together and provide a platform for the more attacking players to launch off. Currently the Arsenal midfield can be considered quite lightweight, and Viera’s presence would certainly harden their resolve. However, Wenger has already signed Belgian midfielder Thomas Vermaelen, so one questions why another defensive midfielder is needed, especially one in the autumn of his career.
Although players like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Claude Makalele have all shown in recent years that older players can still compete in the Premier League, signing a 33 year old player certainly does not fit Wenger’s ethos of signing young talent, despite the signing of Mikael Silvestre last season. Instead, Viera may be seen as a back up player, whose main role is to help nurture the development of players such as Alex Song and Abou Diaby rather than an immediate solution to Arsenal’s midfield problems.
Although there is huge debate over whether Viera can perform in the league, his possible signing could very well be one of the signings of the season, up there with Michael Owen’s move to Manchester United. Viera’s last appearance in the famous red shirt was the 2005 FA Cup final, in which he scored the winning penalty; it would be poetic justice, and huge testimony to Arsene Wenger’s vision, if Viera was a key part of the squad that ended Arsenal’s four year trophy hiatus.
Check back soon for the next one!!