They’re still going on about that bloody goal-that-wasn’t-allowed in the England match against Germany. No one seems able to accept we lost because we were crap! Oh, and that the Germans were brilliant.
What makes me laugh is that the system they are proposing is not exactly simple. I mean, let’s face it. All you need is a camera at the side of the goal and some bloke up in the stands with video playback and wireless connection to the referee to say “yes, it was in” or “no, it wasn’t”.
From The Stone Age To This
But no. The solution to years of insisting that the referee guessing is better than using any form of technology is about to be replaced with something at the other end of the spectrum – one which it would appear is likely to need several dedicated satellites, and which will be required to bounce signals off Jupiter and Saturn to give an answer. One possible system even has a microchip in the ball – what a pointlessly stupid complication that would be!
I also love the suggestion that the FA has been pushing for this for years. I stand to be corrected, and I am probably getting so-called “football experts” mixed up with the FA, but the clowns who pass as commentators on the British media have always seemed to be opposed – as have many of the managers being touted as prospective England managers. If the FA was heavily in favour, these comedians would have been, too.
Personally, I have always thought that whether the ball actually crossed the line or not is far more important than whether people think it did. I have been in favour of goal line technology for at least 20 years – a camera at the side of the posts, if nothing else. I also believe the same technology should be used for deciding throw-ins and goal kicks/corners (and the cheats who falsely claim them or who dive penalised accordingly).
But then again, I was always in favour of Sky and its dramatic transformation of the game through live broadcasting and massive injections of cash. The dinosaurs who deride this would have us back to muddy pitches, flat caps, and wellington boots if they had their way.