Time issues solved at the touch of a button

Injury time boards could be a thing of the past with stop the clock.

On successive weekends in the Barclays Premier League the issue of stoppage time has divided opinion up and down the country.

First of all we had an incensed David Moyes and Everton.

The Toffees clawed their way back from a two-goal deficit against Manchester United scoring both two goals deep into injury time.  With the score locked at 3-3. 30 seconds remained and United created one last chance to score the winner.

The corner came in from Nani and was cleared. With time basically up the ball dropped to Arteta who released Steven Pienaar. With all eyes on the referee play was allowed to continue as Everton stormed towards United's goal.

Pienaar Squared to Arteta, who released Jagielka on the edge of the penalty area. The crowd wait in anticipation of a shock winner for the home side but Martin Atkinson had other ideas. The final whistle goes with Everton in full flow. Cue the Moyes rage.

The Scotsman is furious and he has every right to be.

Atkinson has a history with stoppage time mishaps. He was in charge of last seasons Manchester derby at Old Trafford when Michael Owen scored the winner for United in the sixth minute of a suggested five minutes of added time.

At Goodison Park, Atkinson allowed United a chance to score the winner but then denied Everton the same goal-scoring opportunity.

Any right minded person could feel Moyes’ frustration but not the FA who fined him and his assistant Steve Round £8,000 for their outbursts at the official.

Everton boss David Moyes vents his frustration at referee Martin Atkinson.

The same happened to Arsene Wenger, who has been fined £8,000 and serves a one match touchline-ban at White Hart Lane tonight, after watching his Arsenal side squander a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of added time against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The Arsenal boss was furious Phil Dowd failed to blow the full-time whistle after the proposed four added minutes were up.

Sunderland won a corner in the final minute of added time. It was their final attack, or so it should have been. Arsenal cleared their lines and Bolo Zenden picked up possession 40 yards out and with his back to the Arsenal goal.

By this point the clock had ticked past the minimum of four minutes added time (watch added time again, there is no reason for any extra time). Dowd decided to play on and the rest is history.

Once again there is no consistency when refereeing the game. Both incidents are fairly similar. The passages of play both come from corners which were both cleared.

The referees of both games could have both blown up at this point and no-one would have complained.

Everton would have been overjoyed at their remarkable comeback instead of being given hope of a winner.

Sunderland would have no complaints as they had 94 minutes to score but they blew their chance.

What followed were two different outcomes to similar passages of play, showing the lack of consistency amongst referees.

Take nothing away from Sunderland. They fought hard until the final whistle and got what they deserved. But you can understand the Arsenal manager’s frustration.

Sunderland cannot be blamed. Neither can Arsenal, nor Everton or Manchester United for the way their players and manager’s reacted.

The referee’s are also blameless to a certain extent because the men in charge at football’s governing body need to take a long hard look at themselves.

The issue of stoppage time is not a two week old problem. Injury time goals and time discrepancies are an age old problem but there is a solution staring the game in the face.

Both codes of rugby have used the time-keeping method which they have used to great success for many years.

In rugby the referee indicates to a master time keeper when to stop the clock.

When there is a stoppage the referee indicates to the master time keeper to stop the clock and when play re-starts so does the clock. Then when the clock reaches 80 minutes (the length of a rugby match) the next time the ball goes dead or a try is scored the match is over.

Simple.

Obviously there are differences between the two sports and critics have suggested football is a faster game than rugby so stop the clock would slow the same down.

But when has the stop the clock system ever stopped a player taking a quick tap penalty just like it would not stop a quick free kick.

The clock only needs to be stopped for significant pauses in the game like substitutions and injuries, not quick occurrences such as throw-ins.

This would allow everyone at home watching on television, the crowd, the players, managers and referees exactly how long is left in the game. There would be no added time and no fluctuations on the length of matches.

The system would solve the problems of the last two weeks. It may even stop players from wasting time and feigning injury because they would soon realise the clock has stopped and their antics are not making a difference to the match.

Whether you like it or not, stop the clock makes complete sense in football but getting FIFA to recognise this is a battle in itself. Just look at the issue of goal line technology and how stubborn the governing body have been in putting cameras on the goal line. Instead we have six officials in all European games, which is a total waste of time.

The governing body need to embrace ideas from other sports because they have ideas and concepts which could improve football.

The touch of a button could wipe away all the confusion surrounding injury time. Everyone who loves the beautiful game would know exactly when a match starts and when it ends. There would be no arguments about a second here or a second there.

Stop the clock is the answer and it would rid football of “Fergie time” forever.