The Se7en Deadly Sins Of Thai Football: 2018

The Se7en Deadly Sins Of Thai Football

The Huddle
Absolute nonsense. If you have to do this at all, do it in the dressing room – we don’t want to see it. Did Shankly’s Liverpool do this? NO! Did Busby’s Man Utd do this? NO! Did Cloughie’s Derby & Forest teams do this? NO. Just get on with the game. (See 6. Fannying About)

Foul Throws
Jeez! These are professional footballers. They are also grown ups. Why can’t they take a legitimate throw in? It’s embarrassing. And why don’y the refs clamp down it? Maybe they don’t know what constitutes a foul throw either. It wouldn’t surprise me.

Kicking The Ball Out When An Opponent Goes Down “Injured”
Why, oh why, oh why, oh why? If I was a coach, this would drive me mad! Leave these decisions to the ref. I was always taught to play to the whistle. This was pretty much the first thing I learnt and is still true. Chances are he’s faking it anyway, to try and gain an advantage. Can’t you see that?!

Kicking The Ball Out When One Of Your Own Players Goes Down “Injured”
As above. With bells on!

Fans Serenading The Players At Full Time
Sure, applaud or cheer the team if they’ve won. Or chant and sing in defiance if they’ve lost and played well. But don’t, DON’T, serenade them if they’ve played like drains and lost. Give ‘em stick. Loads of it! You’ll feel better for it. They’ll feel better for it. Trust me.

Fannying About
Following on from the pre kick off huddles – mass and starting XI – we get the fannying about. High Fives. High Tens. Running over to the fans for a wave, a bow and sometimes even a song. More nonsense. If the players put half as much effort into actually playing, we might see some decent football once in a while. (See 2. The Huddle)

Players Feigning Injury
There’s an easy way to stop this – Play on. The physio (or whatever they call themselves these days) can come on and administer treatment, but the game goes on around them. In 90% of the cases, there’s “nowt wrong wi’ ‘im!” – as my old man would say – so they wouldn’t go down if they knew play wouldn’t be stopped. Simple, eh!