West Ham's Brian Kinnear on his time at Falkirk so far, having no panic over winless run and new rules that are 'ruining' goalkeeping

The ex-Rangers ace and Scotland under-21 youth cap believes football lawmakers’ decision to prohibit commonly used gamesmanship techniques is trying to “nullify” anything that a goalkeeper can actually do on the field of play.

New rules announced by the International Football Association Board, which come into affect on Saturday, 1 July, state: “Clarification that the goalkeeper must not behave in a manner that fails to show respect for the game and the opponent, i.e by unfairly distracting the kicker.

“The defending goalkeeper must remain on the line, facing the kicker, between the goalposts, without touching the goalposts, crossbar or goal net, until the ball is kicked.”

The new rules also state that goalkeepers must not show behaviours that fail to show respect, which could include various celebrations if the penalty is missed.

"I still am not happy about the last big rule change,” Kinnear explained. “Keeping one foot on the line is something I really don’t agree with. I think if a player is hitting a free shot from 12-yards then they have a big advantage already without us having to focus on keeping one foot on the line. A penalty is already in favour of the attacker.

"I am not a fan of that rule and now with this new rule they are really just trying to nullify what a goalkeeper can actually do in a match. You can’t do anything now, that is what it feels like.

"I am not sure any goalkeeper will be happy with the news and you saw that with the online reaction. We are so restricted in our movement and you can’t put them off but they put you off basically."

Meanwhile, looking ahead to the Bairns trip to Hamilton to face Clyde on Saturday in League One, the goalkeeper says he is loving life at Falkirk.

Kinnear hasn’t looked back since making his debut against Airdrie, playing in every game since, and having made a number of outstanding stops in his time at club on loan.

He said: "I came here to play games and that is what I am doing so I am delighted with how it has gone so far. When I came in PJ (Morrison) had been doing really well in my opinion but when you get a chance you have to take it.

"For me I am just taking each game as it comes and I playing games is the big thing for me – over the past few seasons I haven’t played anywhere near enough. I am have enjoyed it.

"We have got massive games coming up including the Scottish Cup semi-final so in terms of where I am going to be next year, I haven’t really thought about it too much. My future is something I can start to think about next month and for now I am leaving that sort of thing down to my agents.

"It is a case of seeing what happens, I have loved being here at Falkirk, and I have loved playing games regularly.

“Of course we want to get back to winning ways today, but I don’t think there is any sort of panic because we haven’t been playing badly. It is just a case of actually taking our chances when they come our way. We need to make more of things like set-pieces or if we do get a bit of luck from somewhere.”