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    Guest
    À partir de la semaine prochaine, la FIFA mettra en place une série de tests pour la technologie de ligne de but. Les tests seront effectués sur dix technologies différentes du 7 au 13 février par l'institut de recherche EMPA en Suisse.
    Bien entendu, ce sujet sera à l'agenda de l'assemblée annuelle prévue le 5 mars 2011 au Pays-de-Galles.
    En collaboration avec l'IFAB, la FIFA discutera également de l'utilité des arbitres additionnels, tels qu'on a pu voir dans les matchs de ligue des Champions cette saison, et qu'on pourra potentiellement voir à l'Euro 2012.
    Puis, dans un autre ordre d'idée complètement loufoque, la FIFA a également mentionné qu'elle discuterait des dangers que pourrait causer le 'snood'.
    La FIFA va s'asseoir autour du table pour parler d'un cache-cou. Sérieusement.
    Une dizaine de messieurs qui vont analyser et débattre la présence du snood. Wow.
    Bienvenue en 2011! Vive le soccer moderne.
    source : FIFA, BBC
    Guest
    Today, we're joined by Noel Butler, from Oranges at Halftime and TSN, to discuss what Quebec's role is going to be in this weekend's CSA reform vote as well as what he's hearing from the top and what's to be expected this weekend.
    We're also joined by Ben Knight, who will fill us in on all the goings on from the week and what's being cooked up behind closed doors ahead of the vote.
    We'll also get into the motivations for Carolina Morace's sudden departure, discuss what's happening with Nick Dasovic and reveal some information on a Vancouver Whitecaps radio deal in the works.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Guest

    Morace to step down

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    This e-mail was sent to several journalists today that cover Canadian soccer. It appears to be an internal memo that was leaked:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    When contacted, CSA officials said that they would not have any further comments until after the weekend. They did not confirm or deny the report.Sources close to the team have long suggested that Morace was frustrated by the lack of financial support the women have received. It has been reported to CSN that the money received for winning the CONCACAF championship was not distributed to the players. Rather, it was absorbed into the CSA general fund.
    In the past, the Canadian men's team has had prize money distributed amongst the players.
    Attempts to reach the manager of the women's program were unsuccessful.
    We will continue to follow this as it develops.
    Guest
    From the league's press release:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    NASL officials are currently at the league combine where, according to a league official I spoke to Friday morning, they are all working under the assumption that things are going to get figured out and there will be a season to play in.It was thought that the two biggest problems USSF had with the sanctioning were in Carolina and Puerto Rico. In both cases the issue was with money -- specifically not enough of it. The league official said that today's announcement likely would satisfy concerns in Carolina. The Islanders are restructuring their ownership to meet the USSF standards.
    Others, however, are suggesting that the Carolina announcement is nothing more than Traffic Sports propping up another club and that the NASL combine (and release of its schedule) is nothing more than a show.
    Meanwhile we continue to move towards the Feb 12 general meeting. Both NASL officials and their critics agree that things will become clearer after that meeting.
    Guest
    Apologies for the time-delayed release of Long Balls, but at least the tardiness provides an excuse to tailor the column to Thursday's naming of the Canada team that will face Greece next week.
    If the straightforward listing of the European-based players on the roster hints at desperation, it's only because there was so little else of note to report on from Canadian footballers this week. To put it starkly, Long Balls contemplated a focus on Gavin McCallum's match winner for Lincoln City in the English fourth division.
    One third of Canada's 18-man roster is made up of German-based players (or at least it was until we were informed during the conference call with Stephen Hart that Kevin McKenna had suddenly pulled out due to injury). The next largest provider of players is the English Championship with three.
    Below is a player-by-player guide to what kind of action the 14 Euro-based players on the squad are getting with their respective clubs and how that works them into the Canada picture.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The German contingent
    Rob Friend
    He's got 15 appearances and four goals for 2.Bundesliga table-topping Hertha Berlin this season. The problem is that all four goals came a month apart in August and September. His last match was 90 minutes against Arminia Bielefeld on January 30.
    Marcel de Jong
    He also has 15 appearances for 2.Bundesliga 2nd-place side Augsburg. One goal this season back on September 12. His last match was 90 minutes against Bochum on January 31.
    Adam Straith
    Four appearances (all starts) for 7th-place 2.Bundesliga side Engergie Cottbus. A lot of Canada supporters want him in the starting eleven, but if he's there it's got to be at centreback. Four games for your club does not warrant taking the rightback spot vacated by Paul Stalteri when Jamie Peters is also on board. Last match was 90 minutes against Ingolstadt on November 5.
    Nik Ledgerwood
    The 26-year-old has 11 appearances this season: nine with Wehen Wiesbaden in the German third division and two with the Wehen Wiesbaden B-team in the Regionalliga. No goals, and his last match was 90 minutes against Unterhaching on February 2 in the third division.
    Olivier Occean
    He's got 15 appearances and a whopping 10 goals with Kickers Offenbach in... the German third division. He played 90 minutes and scored against Sandhausen on January 22.
    The England lads
    Jamie Peters
    Twenty league appearances for Ipswich Town + 1235 minutes + almost all of those minutes at rightback = starting in Paul Stalteri's former spot against Greece on February 9. His last match was 90 minutes against Milwall on January 15. Since it's Canadian soccer we should probably close on an alarmist note, and that is to say that Peters was clipping along pretty good in terms of playing time until recently. He has been an unused sub for the past three matches (including the second-leg Carling Cup tie versus Arsenal).
    Simeon Jackson
    My co-writer Squizz loves him. But what's love got to do with it when you haven't scored since October 23 and your coaching staff can't decide whether you're a sub or a starter? Four goals, 25 appearances and 1,117 minutes in the English Championship still isn't all that bad though. Stephen Hart says Jackson was called primarily because he can play out on the wing, a position to the best of my knowledge he often does not play with Norwich City. Last match was 49 minutes against Milwall on February 1.
    David Edgar
    Canada supporters should hope this loan to Swansea City works out for Edgar. Five appearances and 186 minutes for Burnley so far this season in the Championship seems to indicate that Edgar clearly wasn't working out for his former coaches. Should he start ahead of Straith?
    The rest
    Pedro Pacheco
    He's struggled with injuries, which partly explains only nine appearances and 282 minutes for Santa Clara in the Portuguese second division this season. He came on as an 82nd sub against Trofense on January 22.
    Atiba Hutchinson
    Twenty Eredivisie starts for PSV this season, and according to the information I have he's never been subbed off. He only has one goal, but that could partly be explained by the fact he's played several matches as a fill-in rightback. Likely Hart's easiest choice for the starting eleven along with Josh Simpson.
    Josh Simpson
    Speak of the devil! He has 18 Süper Lig appearances with Manisaspor and eleven goals in all competitions this season. Fifth in the Turkish league goal scoring race, his last match was 90 minutes against a Mike Klukowski-less Ankaragücüon on January 30.
    Tosaint Ricketts
    The Romanian league doesn't get rolling until February 17, but Ricketts has been involved in recent club friendlies as recently last weekend, when the forward played 45 minutes against Sparta Prague.
    Milan Borjan
    The Serbian league is still on winter break, so his last league match with Rad was on December 4 when he was oddly subbed out in the 60th minute.
    Lars Hirschfeld
    The Norwegian league doesn't start its new season until March 19. Considering that neither of the keepers Hart called are currently in-season, an already difficult decision as to who starts is made even dicier. The most reasonable solution seems to be starting Hirschfeld and putting in Borjan for the second half.
    Guest
    Last week, I wrote about the TSN effect and how the network, when it puts its full promotional weight behind a property (no matter how backwater it is – read: CFL, WJHC) it can turn it into a corporate winner. In it, I revealed how TSN was the front-runner to win the MLS broadcast rights in Canada and since, that information has become common knowledge through various other media outlets.
    Today, sources close to the situation further told Canadian Soccer News that MLS has favoured the TSN bid and its ‘game of the week format’ from the outset. Garber et al are said to not be looking for a big payday, but, instead believe that the national exposure TSN offers through its flagship program Sportscentre, will do more to reach into the corporate community here than any previous initiatives.
    Corporate support is necessary, long overdue and eventually will be the force that carries Dwayne DeRosario and Terry Dunfield’s image into homes across Canada, but what about cultural support?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    A growing game
    Football supporters are a fickle bunch and if TSN’s coverage doesn’t pass the smell test (and certain Canadian commentators here have a reputation for reeking) then it runs the risk of cutting off the bud of a blossoming football culture.
    I can’t speak for Vancouver or Montreal (although, I expect it will be much the same) but I can tell you that the transformation in Toronto over the last four years has been remarkable. Watching casual sports fans turn into dyed-in-the-wool football supporters is something I never thought I’d see in Canada – let alone, the kind of support that bleeds for its hometown team.
    And what helps that kind of support grow – and lord knows the cultural success here hasn’t been born out of a winner on the field – is access to football media that accurately reflects, promotes and represents coverage in the way fans want to see the game.
    If you’ll allow me to get philosophical for a second: when fans have a mirror to look into - see themselves and their team - it reinforces their views and makes their community tangible. Or to use corporate speak – drives brand loyalty.
    I know of no football supporter in the world who thinks, acts and engages in a game in the way that a talking-head-suit does. Someone sitting behind the desk, who once a week spouts stats and statistics for that two-minute highlight package, will never represent or reflect the game. And I worry what effect that kind of straight-laced coverage – while corporately successful – will have on the growing football cultural here in Canada.
    Look to Score
    When TSN begins its coverage next year, if it is interested in fostering that ‘brand loyalty’, they would be wise to study the way the Score handles its football coverage.
    On the whole, the Score network has re-invented itself over the past two years – morphing from a traditional broadcaster, with limited reach, to a multi-platform property (TV, satellite radio, online and mobile applications) with massive scope. Always cut from a different cloth (if TSN was bound tight in Armani they were rocking Banana Republic) the Score moved even further away from that traditional scores-and-stats approach and into the sports infotainment business.
    Nowhere more effective has the Score been at reaching fans, than has it been with its football coverage. Through the Footy Show crew, the Score generates daily content that not only reflects the tone of the football culture, but also challenges it in ways the mainstream media here often misses. The stories they write, break and report appeal to football supporters because it comes across more like a conversation you’d have at a bar than one that you’d have in a boardroom. And while the focus generally lays with EPL, Seria A and the like, their daily radio show, TV broadcast and online videos keep the hardcore hooked.
    If TSN is serious about getting into the domestic footie market and succeeding – it’s already shown it knows how to grow television numbers - it should consider that these sports fans are a different beast from those of the NHL or CFL variety and that it won’t be enough to have Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole spitting stats and clever quips once a week. They need to invest in the culture side of things, across many platforms (TV, TSN radio and online), to cultivate and cash in on the corporate side of things.
    A straight-laced national broadcaster won’t be the death of football culture in Canada, but it won’t mean the growth of it either.
    Guest
    Canadian head coach Stephen Hart has revealed that defender Kevin McKenna will not be available for next week's friendly against Greece. Though he was named to the roster, McKenna informed Hart about an hour ago that a back injury he picked up in a game is worse than expected, and he'll be unable to take part in the game.
    Hart couldn't immediately say who might take McKenna's place at centre-back -- "we're scrambling at the moment" -- though he said there's "a very big possibility" that Toronto FC's Nana Attakora or Adrian Cann could take his place, seeing as how they're already over in Europe for pre-season games with the Reds. (Update: Cann will indeed be the one to take McKenna's place).
    This is especially unfortunate for McKenna as he was likely to be wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Paul Stalteri. And McKenna's absence isn't the only question mark surrounding the Canadian roster looking forward.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]When asked about the ongoing absence of Mike Klukowski, Hart said that the fullback has some "personal issues" that are restricting him from traveling away from home for any extended period of time. The coach didn't elaborate on what those issues might be, but we certainly wish Klukowski all the best.
    And as for David "Junior" Hoilett... same old story.
    "He said, 'give me some time'," said Hart. "I'll keep knocking on the door."
    Any chance Junior might come around by the time the Gold Cup arrives?
    "I don't think I can answer that. ... He knows exactly how we feel about having him on board. He is the only one that can answer that."
    Hart then reiterated his stance that he wants "players who want to play for Canada."
    Paul Stalteri, the team's long-time captain, undoubtedly wants to play for Canada. But the fact he isn't seeing minutes with his club team meant that Hart wasn't going to have him aboard for this friendly.
    "I told him I wouldn't be bringing him into the game," said Hart. "He understands the situation completely."
    With Stalteri not there, I asked Hart who might wear the captain's armband. Hart referred to a "difficult situation" surrounding that decision, and then later went on to reveal that he'd learned of McKenna's injury only an hour before today's media conference call.
    So while Hart didn't explicitly say Big Kev was set to wear the armband, I'm going to put two and two together and assume that was probably the case. Who wears it now? Dwayne De Rosario (who's worn it before)?
    DeRo may not have even made the roster under Hart's original plan for this game, which was to avoid calling any North American-based players. But he said his "hand was forced" at positions where the team is a bit "lighter"; hence, three domestic-based players (DeRo, Jakovic, Johnson... and possibly four, if Attakora or Cann replace McKenna) got the call.
    One more interesting roster note: Hart said Simeon Jackson got the call over Iain Hume because "we felt we need someone in the wide right position". Seems like the Simeon Jackson As Canadian Winger Experiment is still in full effect.
    As for the game itself, Hart emphasized (as he did prior to the game against Ukraine) that getting experience and seeing what individual players are capable of is more important than getting a result. This game, he says, was "a good opportunity to mix the squad up" and get experience against a Greek squad that is "of a very different quality" (p.s. by different, he means "better").
    When asked about the possibility of another friendly in late March, a Canadian Soccer Association official said "we do have a game that we're looking at in late March", which would be "us against another team in another country".
    The other team would be Belarus, and the other country would be Turkey, but the game is "not official yet", and the CSA is still "waiting for sign-off" from all involved parties.
    In the meantime, we've got Canada v. Greece on Wednesday, February 9. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT), live on Sportsnet One (and streaming at www.sportsnet.ca, with a special edition of Soccercentral coming on a half-hour prior to the game).
    If you're in the Toronto area, come over to Scallywags and join us for a breakfast Caesar, won't you?
    Guest
    After much theorizing and speculating, we finally know who'll be traveling to Greece with the men's national team for the friendly next Wednesday. The 18-man roster is as follows:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1- GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
    2- D- Jaime Peters | ENG / Ipswich Town FC
    3- M- Marcel de Jong | GER / FC Augsburg
    4- D- Dejan Jakovic | USA / DC United
    6- M- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / SV Wehen Wiesbaden
    7- M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / CD Santa Clara
    8- M- Will Johnson | USA / Real Salt Lake
    9- F- Rob Friend | GER / Hertha BSC
    10- F- Simeon Jackson | ENG / Norwich City FC
    11- D- David Edgar | ENG / Burnley FC
    12- D- Adam Straith | GER / FC Energie Cottbus
    13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | NED / PSV Eindhoven
    14- M- Dwayne De Rosario | CAN / Toronto FC
    15- M- Josh Simpson | TUR / Vestel Manisaspor
    16- M- Tosaint Ricketts | FC Politehnica Timiþoara
    17- F- Olivier Occean | GER / Kickers Offenbach
    22- GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Rad
    D- Adrian Cann | CAN / Toronto FC
    Update Thurs. 1:50 p.m.: Kevin McKenna was originally named to the roster, but picked up an injury and will not be in the game. Head coach Stephen Hart has not confirmed his replacement, but suggested that Toronto FC's Adrian Cann or Nana Attakora may get the call.
    Update Fri. 9:46 a.m.: The CSA just confirmed, via Twitter, that Cann will be replacing McKenna.
    Two players yet to win their first senior cap (Ricketts and Borjan) and, somewhat surprisingly, three North American-based players (Johnson we already knew about, plus Jakovic and, perhaps most controversially, De Rosario).
    Stephen Hart has a conference call set for 1 p.m. ET to discuss the game. We'll have more thoughts on the lineup later today.

    Guest

    Time to count the votes

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    Even if we end in a state of compromise, I must admit I never thought the fight to reform the Canadian Soccer Association would get this far – or, that the embattled, over-matched provincial soccer association presidents themselves would be the ones to vote themselves out of the national soccer business.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    If – as now seems all but inevitable – we are left with a streamlined, largely professional CSA board of directors with no more than three provincial presidents sitting in, that should signal a bold new time of possibilities for the biggest victims in Canada’s entire sad and soggy soccer governance standoff – our national teams.
    As the second-last day to do any dealing dawns:
    - Quebec isn’t returning messages.
    - Neither is Alberta.
    - We still don’t know how Ontario will wield its massive vote block, should the original, all-out, no-provincial-presidents-at-all reform motion be defeated on Saturday.
    Oh, and it’s a secret vote. We won’t know who did what until the gleeful or disgruntled start answering journalistic follow-up questions. (But that’s been true all throughout this debate. Clarity shouldn’t be much of a problem.)
    What we will see (or hear second-hand rumours of) on Saturday is – simply put – history. Canada will vote (in some form) to hand its global soccer fortunes over to professional soccer and business people.
    That should (soon, one dearly hopes) put an end to the mockable situation of Canada trying to pay for World Cup runs using amateur player registration fees.
    It should (In whole, or in part) kaibosh the reign of amateur directors from the provinces, who serve two masters and have no real experience (or ability) to run a professional, ambitious national soccer program.
    And even though they didn’t really ask to be in this situation, the provincial presidents are to be admired for stepping up to vote on a motion which boots all (or most) off the CSA board forever.
    I believe – on the balance – that they know what needs to be done, and that they will find a way to accomplish it. The two provincial presidents who agreed to my interview requests – Ontario’s Ron Smale and Charlie Cuzzetto from British Columbia – know it is finally time for change.
    Quebec is said to be adamantly opposed to the full, no-presidents reform, but did (apparently) back the compromise model when it was drafted in December.
    What Alberta will do is baffling. They will be represented by rookies – the last men standing from the hated and deposed Mario Charpentier anti-reform regime. Their membership just passed local reforms even more sweeping than the CSA proposals. Whose lead will their reps follow?
    The smart money’s been saying for the last two months that the compromise plan is the only one that can pass. As an added bonus, the compromise also includes the elimination of the National Teams Committee, which will further distance the well-meaning yet unqualified from booking any more blizzardy friendlies in Estonia, or long leg-wobbling boat rides to Martinique.
    Unless Quebec or Alberta (or Manitoba) start answering their e-mails, this is likely the last you will hear from me until after the voting is complete.
    I leave you with this:
    Please contact your local provincial or territorial soccer association, and stress to them the importance of passing these reforms. The time has long-since come to hugely reduce the regional agendas hampering our national soccer dreams.
    Yes, there will still be regional representation on the new, streamlined board. But no more than three of those people will be allowed to answer to a smaller, more regional association – none at all if the main reform is passed.
    We must get either the original plan, or the compromise. The third option – compromise with a one-year delay – is massively and hopelessly inadequate. And any possibility that all three governance blueprints could fail is too awful a consequence to consider.
    Make your voice heard – today. Canadian Soccer News will keep you fully informed of everything that happens next.
    Onward!
    Guest
    Some might call it a meaningless scrimmage, others might even call it an opportunity for coaches to watch rusty players trip guys other then their own teammates. Here at the Vancouver Insider we're going to call it what it really is; The 'Caps second preseason whipping of the Claret and Cobalt in as many years. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The game was spread out over three, 45 minute periods. Vancouver got goals from Canadians Russell Teibert and Terry Dunfield. I can't pretend like I was at the game so here are a couple great links to coverage of the actual match.
    SBI have the best in game coverage. Solely based on the fact that they were the lone unbiased observers on hand.


    Soccer By Ives
    Vancouver Whitecaps FC
    Real Salt Lake
    Terry Dunfield had the following comments with regards to the match...



    "For the most part, I thought we competed very well, and there were a lot of positives to take from today's game. Real Salt Lake have some quick and clever players, so if you switch off at any point, they have the ability to hurt you, which is what they did for their goal. This season will be a big step up for most of us, but based on today's performance, it looks like we have a squad that can compete well in MLS."
    Guest
    The Whitecaps First Overall selection in this year's MLS Superdraft, Omar Salgado, is apparently being followed closely by Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal coaching staff. The Daily Mirror is reporting that...[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    "Arsenal are also keeping tabs on the “new Chicharito” - Omar Salgado, a 17-year-old striker with Vancouver Whitecaps."
    Arsene Wenger and Teitur Thordason have a lot of history, so if a deal eventually goes through someday on this kid don't act too surprised. He can't play in a country outside his national homeland (aka USA) until he is 18 (September 2011). Unless his family decides to pack up and leave El Paso don't expect any moves to London, or anywhere else overseas for that matter.
    Guest
    Gerry Dobson of Sportsnet tossed this out into the Twittersphere around noon today, and the Voyageurs did the legwork to find a corroborating source, but it appears the Canadian men's national team will play a friendly against Belarus on March 29, in a neutral location (Antalya, Turkey).
    Obviously there's no word yet on who will be in lineup -- hell, we've got a friendly in a week and we don't know who's playing in that -- but considering that they both play in Turkey, I'm guessing we'll almost certainly see Josh Simpson and Mike Klukowski in that one. (The fact that they're integral parts of the CanMNT line-up going forward will help too.)
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    We'll keep you updated on any developments around this game (and whether or not there will be another friendly on March 25, as has been rumoured)... as well as the line-ups for Canada-Greece, whenever they're released.
    Guest
    The CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli will appear on Oranges@Halftime tonight to discuss this weekend's reform vote.
    The show kicks off at 7:30pm EST and host Noel Butler is asking supporters to submit questions via his Twitter account. The best questions will be put to Montopoli and those who have their questions read will also win a $40 gift certificate to 3 Brewers.
    Given my love for their giant beers I'll be flooding his account with questions all afternoon. Follow and tweet your questions to http://twitter.com/TheSoccerNoel
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    Welcome to this week's edition of Don't Fight The Laws, in which I combine my years of being a referee with my years of being a smartass to provide my answers to your questions about the Laws of the Game, controversial decisions and other odds and ends relating to referees and what they do.
    Got a question? Send it over to canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com. But for this week, we have the following...
    Saha's goal for Everton against Arsenal. Offside or not? -- Various people
    It was as offside as Atiba Hutchinson's goal against the U.S. in the 2007 Gold Cup semi-finals was. Which is to say, it wasn't.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Don't be swayed by how earnestly various commentators on the game implore you to believe their version of events. Because unlike fouls (which can be subjective), personal opinion doesn't enter into a decision like offside, any more than it enters into the discussion of whether a ball is in or out of play. All that matters is what the Laws of the Game say.
    And the Laws say... well, fuck. They're classically, frustratingly ambiguous here... and open to subjective interpretation. God damn it.
    Louis Saha was certainly in an offside position at the moment teammate Seamus Coleman played the ball, and certainly gained an advantage from being in that position. But Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny deliberately played the ball in between those two events occurring. Not well, mind you, but he did, negating Saha's original offside positioning.
    People are confused because Koscielny's touch was an acrobatically shitty failed clearance. But what if he'd, instead, gotten a firm head to Coleman's attempted cross and -- thinking he was nearer to goal than he was -- attempted a pass back to his keeper? We couldn't possibly consider Saha offside in those circumstances, could we?


    Now, in the case of Hutch in '07, the point is rendered moot -- sorry, Ives, but it's true -- by the fact that the Canuck striker is onside at the moment of the original pass. Whether or not Onyewu's touch is intentional, the call is absolute horseshit.
    But back to the present day (that is, yesterday). Nowhere in the Laws is there any mention of "resetting" offside or any such thing. The closest we get to this situation being addressed is the explanation that if a pass "rebounds" off of a defending player, to an attacking player that's in an offside position, they are, indeed, offside.
    But the word "rebound" implies an accidental deflection or bounce. The touches by Koscielny and Onyewu certainly don't meet that description.
    The wording of Law 11 itself is also idiotically vague: A player is offside if they're in an offside position "at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team". Taken to the absolute, ridiculous extreme, this could be interpreted to mean that if Coleman's ball had been intercepted by Koscielny, then passed around five times by the Arsenal defence, then intercepted by Saha, he would be considered offside, since he was in an offside position at the moment the ball was last touched by a teammate.
    So, anyway, the point is... in this case, the referees from the Everton-Arsenal match don't have any bulletproof backing from the Laws of the Game, but they have "common sense" (whatever that's worth) on their side, and the knowledge that nothing in the Laws of the Game renders their call indisputably incorrect.
    As for Archundia and crew back in '07... yeah, we still got jobbed.
    I saw a lot of people wondering about Michael Dawson's sending off on Sunday. What do you think? -- Sairax
    Dawson, for those who missed it (myself included), got the ol' heave-ho in Tottenham's 4-0 meltdown against Fulham in the FA Cup:
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    That seems like an exceptionally harsh sending-off, all things considered. But that call -- like every other in soccer, or any other sport -- didn't exist in a vaccum. A few minutes earlier, Dawson's teammate, Alan Hutton, had also given away a penalty for the following challenge:
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    Hutton's challenge on Clint Dempsey seemed, to me, infinitely more cynical than Dawson's shirt-tug on Moussa Dembele. In fact, when I first watched the highlight pack, I assumed Hutton's challenge was the one that had earned a red card, and figured "well sure, that's about as clear-cut a professional foul as you're going to see."
    But Hutton wasn't sent off. He wasn't even cautioned. And that may have doomed Dawson to an early shower.
    See, it doesn't matter that I thought, upon replay, that Hutton may have deserved a red. Referee Phil Dowd obviously didn't... or at least, he didn't at the moment the foul occurred, and for 60 seconds afterward. But perhaps, once play continued, doubt crept into his mind. Perhaps he figured that Hutton should have been sent off, and that Tottenham should have been down to 10 men at that point.
    Luckily, the opportunity for atonement presented itself mere minutes later, in Dawson's challenge on Dembele. Now, don't misunderstand me: Dawson's sending-off was completely justifiable under the Laws of the Game, as he denied an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by committing an offence punishable by a direct free kick. But Hutton had certainly done the same minutes earlier, without entering the book. "Make-up call", anyone?
    I can't read Dowd's mind -- nor would I want to, really. But I can't shake the suspicion that Dawson ended up being punished for a foul committed by his teammate. And considering the transgressions routinely committed by some of my teammates here at CSN, I'm really, really worried about a precedent like that being set.
    On a kick-off, is there a rule which limits the number of offensive players in the centre circle? -- Coach
    Nope. The circle only exists to keep opponents away. The kicking team's players can all pile on to within two feet of the ball, if they'd like -- though that'd be a fairly imprudent strategy.
    They'd be well-served to read How to Use a Kick-off Technique to Start a Soccer Game, featuring 13 can't-miss tips such as "always keep the other team guessing" and "steal the ball after a long kick".
    Though, Coach, I'm guessing you don't need the advice since, as you pointed out "I was the only coach in my 6 year old son's league to teach proper kick-offs, for some reason other coaches get their players to just kick the ball to our team."
    Well done. Seriously.
    Where does the line lay between a card and a ref letting it go when a player berates them? Often I'll see players screaming obscenities at a ref and he won't bat an eye. Other times, just a few words seem to justify a card.
    Are there some set of secret words that we should never say? Aside from riffing on his wife or girlfriend??? -- Some Unidentified Person
    Well, this is one of those places where "the Laws as written" and "the Laws as enforced" are as dichotomously divided as Diego Maradona and the late Jack LaLanne. While the Laws mandate that a player be given a yellow for "showing dissent by word or action", and given a red for "foul, abusive or insulting language or gestures", well, we still end up with shit like this...


    Now, if you watch that video through to the end, you see that Kevin Nolan eventually gets what's coming to him (i.e. a red card). But certainly you've seen plenty of instances where refs just stand silently as two, three or 15 players crowd around them hurling invective.
    I don't think there's a "safety" word that instantly sets off a referee, and lets them know it's time to pull out a card. Sometimes it's a player's tone, sometimes it's the situation, sometimes it's the player's antics (or lack thereof) up to that point in the game, sometimes it's just a matter of one player (out of a yelling bunch) being punished in order to set an example.
    One time, after I'd disallowed a goal, I had the non-scorer pretty vehemently disagree with my decision. I looked at him and said, "It's over. Just keep playing the game." I turned away from him, ready to restart play. But he continued with the yapping, at which point, the yellow came out. Rather than cooling him down, it enraged him further. Some sarcastic clapping and a quite loud rejoinder of "Nice! How about another one, for fuck's sakes?" So, mere seconds after putting the yellow back in my pocket, I retrieved it yet again, followed by the red.
    Yes, I gave the same guy two yellows, within 15 seconds, during a stoppage in play. Not my finest moment wearing the badge, but it was an appropriate course of action at the time, I thought.
    My point is, you can never really be sure what's going to be the breaking point for any individual ref. Playing the wife/girlfriend card is probably a safe bet (as is openly questioning the referee's bloodline and/or the marital status of his/her parents).
    What do my new friends at eHow have to say about it? "Once again, players will respect a referee who is willing to explain the thought-process behind his decisions. Do not, however, be drawn into an argument. The referee's decision is final. If any trouble does occur, politely remind players that you are able to show them the red card while they are still on the field of play or its surroundings."
    So, yeah, don't show any dissent... or you may find yourself on the receiving end of a polite reminder!
    That's it for this week. Send me an email at canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com, and your query may turn up in the next edition of Don't Fight The Laws.
    Guest
    Today, on this special Interview Only edition of It's Called Football, we're joined by Nigel Reed of CBC Sports and the FAN 590 to talk about the CSA reform vote this weekend.
    Nigel speaks from a historical perspective, talking about where we've come from to where we're going; how reform could open the doors to corporate support from Canada and the significance of this weekend's vote.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Join us on Friday for an extended show 2pm EST.
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