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Muzzle the Coach! by Stanley Lover

Fifteen years on - a Law change revisited -has it worked?

Football laws are not engraved in stone. Annual reviews by the IFAB help keep them abreast of modern trends. 

Occasionally it is useful to check if law changes are working as intended. One of these affects every match - coaching in play.

Daily TV exposure to top football shows up the best and the worst of our great sport.
On the plus side we enjoy the ever changing action and reaction in a flowing game; observe how the players make their judgements and decisions, adapting these to intelligent team play. We acclaim the spontaneous flair of ball artists 
On the minus side we detest anything which degrades the spectacle such as over rough play, arguments with officials, violent crowd scenes.
Whatever changes are decided in the rules of the game we want them to add to our pleasure.

The Coach in play
In a FIFA Memorandum for the conduct of the 1990 World Cup in Italy team coaches were accorded permission to convey tactical instructions during play. 
This set aside a fundamental 100 years principle that players should play the game in their own fashion without instruction during the period of play. FIFA made this concession without a formal change of law but it applied only to the World Cup tournament. 
Officially, coaching 'from the boundary lines' continued to be banned until 1993 when, for the first time, a team coach was recognised in football law as an element in the game. The privilege of conveying tactical instructions appeared in IFAB Decision N°13, tacked on to Law 5, then moved to Law 3, Decision 2.

The stated intention was;
"To improve the quality of play."

Instructions could now be issued from a new 'technical area' which defined the coach's operating territory. A condition;
'provided that they conduct themselves, at all times, in a responsible manner.' 
Although addressed initially to a single team coach the decision was widened, in a 2001 amendment, to apply to 'any team official.'

The best of coaching
The role of coaching is well established as an essential element of the game. Apart from developing football skills and tactics coaches are educators with an important influence on character development of young people at an impressionable age. 
Coaching manuals list desired qualities of integrity, patience, understanding player psychology, ability to inspire and impose discipline. The Coach is urged to create and develop good habits and attitudes as corner-stones of soccer education.
Responsible coaches, then, hold the keys to disciplined and fair play.

The reality
When the concession, to allow coaching in match play, was introduced a well experienced international coach expressed these concerns; 
"A coach only needs to convey occasional tactical instructions during play unless he is incompetent and has not established his ideas in training. 
Being emotionally involved coaches will have problems controlling behaviour when things go wrong. They will be more visible in the technical area and any protest e.g., against referees' decisions, will incite negative reactions from players and supporters. 
I feel that such problems will outweigh the intended benefits to the coach and his team."
Was he wrong?

Warning signals flashed in the very first tournament where the new freedom for coaches was granted. A personal review of the 1990 World Cup contained many positive comments but included these observations;
"The dangers of this change were clearly visible to millions. Aggressive coaching caused problems for the players, referees, linesmen and fourth officials. It would not be too strong to accuse these coaches of inciting indiscipline among players and violence among supporters. 
Negative aspects of coaching were observed in 16 of the 52 matches but only one coach was disciplined," and,
"We saw the proof in Italy that coaches will not respect the 'bench' restriction (later expanded to a technical area) and that their conduct was sometimes inflammatory."

Consider this comment from Peter Velappan, Secretary of the Asian Football Confederation, in ASIA NEWS (1998);
"The AFC is concerned that coaches in recent tournaments have not been on their best behaviour. Angry and unruly behaviour by coaches violates all rules of fair play and sportsmanship.
Such misbehaviour included abuse of referees and their assistants, making their task to control the play more difficult. Players, encouraged by the actions of coaches tend, in their turn, to be aggressive towards opponents and officials.
We appeal to all coaches especially youth coaches to teach players correct values and emphasise the importance of fair play and sportsmanship"
Similar appeals over the years have fallen on sterile ground; regular incidents of coach misconduct continue to keep discipline commissions busy.

All levels affected 
There is much to admire in the professional game but an unrelenting drive to win-at-all-costs frequently blows sporting ethics to the winds.
Two recent incidents illustrate abuses at pro level.

Just two of many pro level incidents observed by millions. Both cases were dealt with and sanctions applied but - too late - the integrity of the game had suffered irreversible damage. Small paragraphs reporting the sanctions some weeks later were no consolation.

The other end of the spectrum is illustrated by a grandmother invited by her 13y.o. grandson to his team's match. She was moved to write as a witness to appalling behaviour of the team coach after the opponents scored. 
"He launched into a hideous display of poor sportsmanship and vulgar language which humiliated his own players. Teamwork dissolved and parents took up his tirade against their own boys
Afterwards I asked my grandson what he thought. 'When the coach lost his temper the match was a disaster - no one had a good time.'" he said.
Irresponsible behaviour by coaches is rife at all levels between pro and youth. 

The balance sheet
After fifteen years of experience what is the balance sheet?
Is there any evidence of improved quality of play due to coaching during the game? If measurable is it enough to excuse the massive damage to football through constant abuses of the privilege? 
It was surely never intended, nor foreseen, by proposers of the law change, that it would lead to excessive interference with flow of play; dissenting conduct inciting violent reactions and displays of egocentric histrionics, now accepted as norm and practised by coaches at all levels.
Match officials assert that in play coaching has made their task much more difficult. They have borne an intolerable burden of verbal browbeating, insults and threats from coaches, inflamed parents and fans, to the point where many abandon their role and are lost to the game.
A survey of sports officials reveals that 44% quit due to problems with coaches, attitudes of players and fans. They feel treated as enemies in a sport they love.
It is an important factor in the constant search for recruits and keeping their interest after training. There is an increasing world shortage of officials to cover all competitive matches.

Options
What to do? A check of opinions among coaches, referees, parents, and fans, suggests one or more of the following options;

Walter Winterbottom -Director Sports Council; at AFLR&L 1967 Conference Nat. Recreation Centre, Crystal Palace
Reviewing 1966 WC match control (as FIFA Tech. Comm. Member)

'One of the great problems in allowing people to coach is that you cannot stop your coaching and confine it to the finer points of the game.
Eventually the coach will find some way of getting around the Laws of the Game.
Manager Alan Brown (Manager, Burnley?) discovered that by stopping his players gathering around and appealing to the referee, had resulted in his side losing 16 free kicks, which other wise they would have no doubt been awarded had they 'put pressure' on the referee.
How far do we go to win an advantage for our side? Inevitably one or two will go to extreme limits. 
The coach who misbehaves ought to be punished as much as a player.'

Also, when WW was Manager of England team he said this at LONSAR meeting;
'I train my players to be five moves ahead of the referee.'

© Stanley Lover 2006
9, Boulevard Victor Hugo, 92200 Neuilly, FRANCE
e-mail: stanley.lover@free.fr