2014 FIFA World Cup (contains spoilers)

Glenn

Hall of Famer
There is too much tradition to change how the clock is used and as most soccer/football is played where there is no clock to be seen, it couldn't be a universal change.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
If for no other reason that would lead to commercial breaks and time outs I am glad that isn't implemented. MLS tried a firm clock where 90 minutes was 90 minutes and the fans hated it and it was scrapped.
That makes no sense to me. Stopping the clock for 30± seconds here and there throughout a game as necessary for subs or out of bounds or whatever is not going to lead to commercial breaks, as long as they keep playing.

I get "tradition" but when the teams and fans don't know when the final whistle is coming, that isn't a good system. Unless you are talking baseball where both teams have equal opportunity. But in any game where the clock is a component, not having an "official" one for the teams and fans is just insane. Rife for abuse or the appearance of abuse. And doesn't make sense.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
That makes no sense to me. Stopping the clock for 30± seconds here and there throughout a game as necessary for subs or out of bounds or whatever is not going to lead to commercial breaks, as long as they keep playing.

I get "tradition" but when the teams and fans don't know when the final whistle is coming, that isn't a good system. Unless you are talking baseball where both teams have equal opportunity. But in any game where the clock is a component, not having an "official" one for the teams and fans is just insane. Rife for abuse or the appearance of abuse. And doesn't make sense.
The fans DO know when the final whistle will blow as the extra time is announced with a nice pretty sign.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
The fans DO know when the final whistle will blow as the extra time is announced with a nice pretty sign.
Not really. They announce extra time but there is no official clock the teams or fans can see. The unofficial clock the TV station runs never seems to be all that accurate, at least on the few games I have watched.

And maybe that is the option, is to just have an official clock and add the time there. But the system they use now is kinda silly. Imagine doing that for basketball or football.
 
That makes no sense to me. Stopping the clock for 30± seconds here and there throughout a game as necessary for subs or out of bounds or whatever is not going to lead to commercial breaks, as long as they keep playing.

I get "tradition" but when the teams and fans don't know when the final whistle is coming, that isn't a good system. Unless you are talking baseball where both teams have equal opportunity. But in any game where the clock is a component, not having an "official" one for the teams and fans is just insane. Rife for abuse or the appearance of abuse. And doesn't make sense.
Need extra time. What happens towards the end of games if a team is up is they usually start faking injuries, maximizing time on the ground after a challenge, taking their sweet time subbing off, just generally doing all they can to waste time. A ref keeps track of how much time is being wasted, 15 secs here, 30 secs there, then adds it on at the end.

It's a means to protect against time wasting. Imagine the NBA without a shot clock like in the old days. If you're up, you can just sit back and waste as much time as you can. Or imagine the NBA without a 5 sec inbound rule where the clock just ran and you could run off 10-15+ secs taking your time inbounding the ball. And soccer players will try to get away with as much time wasting as possible. In basketball, everything is timed and refs hand the ball to players immediately to get the next possession going.

In football everything is timed too. The clock stops. Can't waste time. Not the case with soccer. That's why extra time is needed.
 

Glenn

Hall of Famer
Not really. They announce extra time but there is no official clock the teams or fans can see. The unofficial clock the TV station runs never seems to be all that accurate, at least on the few games I have watched.

And maybe that is the option, is to just have an official clock and add the time there. But the system they use now is kinda silly. Imagine doing that for basketball or football.
I can't believe I am debating an issue about a sport I have little interest in. The clock absolutely needs to be known to the tenth of second in basketball. As there will be no scoring in soccer, I don't need to know the countdown to the end. Having a rough idea is good enough for me. ;)
 
It's also for time taken to attend to players throughout a half. Imagine if in the NBA every time a player had blood on his jersey and got cleaned up by the team's doctor, or every time a player spent time on the ground after a hard foul at the rim, the actual game clock kept running. Players would take as much time as they want getting back up if they're ahead in the game.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Need extra time. What happens towards the end of games if a team is up is they usually start faking injuries, maximizing time on the ground after a challenge, taking their sweet time subbing off, just generally doing all they can to waste time. A ref keeps track of how much time is being wasted, 15 secs here, 30 secs there, then adds it on at the end.

It's a means to protect against time wasting. Imagine the NBA without a shot clock like in the old days. If you're up, you can just sit back and waste as much time as you can. Or imagine the NBA without a 5 sec inbound rule where the clock just ran and you could run off 10-15+ secs taking your time inbounding the ball. And soccer players will try to get away with as much time wasting as possible. In basketball, everything is timed and refs hand the ball to players immediately to get the next possession going.

In football everything is timed too. The clock stops. Can't waste time. Not the case with soccer. That's why extra time is needed.
I understand that. My recommendation is that they have someone who stops the clock on every injury or every slow substitution, etc. Easy. No extra time added arbitrarily, no wondering when the whistle will blow, no confusion. Just like the NBA or NFL. And the clock is visible for all to see. Why is that unreasonable? And why would any fans be against that???
 
I understand that. My recommendation is that they have someone who stops the clock on every injury or every slow substitution, etc. Easy. No extra time added arbitrarily, no wondering when the whistle will blow, no confusion. Just like the NBA or NFL. And the clock is visible for all to see. Why is that unreasonable? And why would any fans be against that???
Money and tradition, but mostly money.

It's not a league like the NFL or NBA. FIFA oversees and implements the same rules for soccer at all levels, in all countries. It's the same rules for everyone, everywhere. To do that, it couldn't just be implemented at the WC level or in the EPL or Serie A, it would have to be implemented through every division and the entire pyramid of every country going down to the English 6th division and 7 yr olds playing in their local AYSO league on the weekends. The NBA and NCAA can't even agree on a shot clock, 3pt line or how long a half/quarter is. It's a fair bit more to ask for every soccer league in existence to change.

To an extent, an extra 30 secs to a min of extra time is left to the discretion of the ref, like the ball/strike zone in baseball is up to the discretion of the ref. It's confusing to some, just as one ump calling a ball where another calls a strike, but that's part of the tradition the game was built on.
 

Warhawk

The cake is a lie.
Staff member
Money and tradition, but mostly money.

It's not a league like the NFL or NBA. FIFA oversees and implements the same rules for soccer at all levels, in all countries. It's the same rules for everyone, everywhere. To do that, it couldn't just be implemented at the WC level or in the EPL or Serie A, it would have to be implemented through every division and the entire pyramid of every country going down to the English 6th division and 7 yr olds playing in their local AYSO league on the weekends. The NBA and NCAA can't even agree on a shot clock, 3pt line or how long a half/quarter is. It's a fair bit more to ask for every soccer league in existence to change.

To an extent, an extra 30 secs to a min of extra time is left to the discretion of the ref, like the ball/strike zone in baseball is up to the discretion of the ref. It's confusing to some, just as one ump calling a ball where another calls a strike, but that's part of the tradition the game was built on.
Ah, that would be kinda problematic. Still a stupid system though. ;) And I personally don't equate a call like offsides with not being able to have a system to keep track of time effectively. Maybe that's just me.
 
Honestly the early MLS days were filled with a lot more problems than the clock (ESPN2 tape delays, stupid shoot outs, contraction, DC United being so far ahead of the game early on, team "owners" "owning" multiple clubs, etc), but it was tried to go to a fixed clock system and it was an utter failure.