MATCH FACTS
MATCH OFFICIALS Referee
M Haywood
Assistant Referee (yellow) R Fletcher
Assistant Referee (plain) K Hayward
Fourth Official G Johnson
ELSEWHERE IN THE LEAGUE Barnet v Gillingham
Bradford v Accrington Stanley Burton Albion v Aldershot Chesterfield v Oxford Utd Lincoln City v Bury
Macclesfield v Cheltenham Rotherham v Northampton Stevenage v Southend Stockport v Port Vale Wycombe v Torquay
THE LAST WORD
There are some people in this life that no matter how hard you try, you just cannot take to. There are some who fall into this category with me, and I suppose by the same measures there are those who are not too enamoured with me neither, and I can live with that! You can imagine therefore my surprise at for once being able to agree with Wolves’ boss Mick McCarthy with his recent statement on the ‘art’ of talking. Football has always been a physical sport and the tackle to rob an opponent of the ball has always been considered a part of the sport,, until of course some namby pamby do- gooder decided in their ultimate wisdom that tackling is too rough in the ‘big boys’ game and that it should stop before it all ends in tears. Now, I’ve no problem at all with outlawing the through-and-through tackle from behind that catapults an opponent into orbit, nor am I in agreement that the two footed lunge – studs showing – at any part of a players’ anatomy that could cause broken bones or a serious injury, but come on, dumbing down the tackle just because of the risk of a teeny weeny bo-bo being sustained by some poor little lamb who’s mummy is not around to kiss it better is taking things a bit too far don’t you think? The problem of course is that no real coaching manual exists with regard to the art of tacking, or none that I can find anyway. There are coaching methods for goalkeeping, manuals in abundance on passing, dribbling, ball control and shooting, as are there on heading, volleying and tactics, yet nothing, absolutely nothing, with regard to practicing the tackle. Of course, unless you are in an actual match situation, tackling is a drill-less type of exercise, one that players cannot practice alone, yet who’s going to volunteer to be tackled over and over again, when by a players very nature you are going to try to avoid and evade any tackle made, hence rendering the whole exercise pointless anyway, as well as frustrating for the tackler should his target – or perhaps that should read victim – show him a clean pair of heels eight times out of ten.
NEXT
Town v Cheltenham Town Npower League 2
Saturday 11th December 2010 Kick-off 3.00pm | Greenhous Meadow
Town Reserves v Oldham Athletic Reserves
Totesport.com West Division
Tuesday 30th November 2010 Kick-off 7.00pm | Greenhous Meadow
Town Youth v Wrexham Youth Youth Alliance
Saturday 4th December 2010 Kick-off 11am | Sundorne Sports Village
Block tackles used to be the way to go, players staying on their feet as they met an opponent head-on, but this sort of tackle seems to have been made somewhat redundant with the passing of time, the now more prevalent sliding tackle coming to the fore, perhaps because players believe it to be more flamboyant or effective, the latter being true only if the act is considered legal and not reckless.
The art of dribbling is perhaps a root cause of what some consider dangerous tackles, players – defenders obviously – under the illusion that a free-kick conceded is much better than looking a complete and utter numpty every time they are beaten by pace and a bit of twinkle-toes. Perhaps then we should go one step further and ban dribbling if we wish to eliminate the tackle, because technically dribbling the ball is a bit unfair to the other team. I mean, there you are hogging the ball, keeping it all to yourself and not letting the other boys share it, not giving them a kick. If you’re not going to play properly then who’s going to complain when you pick up your ball and go home in a huff? You see, you can make an argument out of anything given the
opportunity, and although the above is a bit tongue-in-cheek, where is it all going to end? To band the tackle is laughable. Ban the tackle, ban this, that, and everything, until you have a sport you do not recognise, or stop bitching and whinging as Mick says and get on with a man’s sport if you are man enough.
Kevin Davies 66 wrexham & shropshire | direct trains to london |
www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk
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