31 May 2010
The Yellow and Red Card System
Maybe it’s just me, but when a player gets sent off for what sometimes are two relatively innocuous challenges, then the whole emphasis and dynamics of the game are changed and the game can be really spoilt as a spectacle for tens of thousands of supporters watching the game live and for many millions watching the game on T.V.
What happens when a player gets sent off? The team with 10 men are invariably on the back foot and defending for the rest of the game. If they are losing at the time of the sending off, then unless it is one of the big four, the game is almost certainly over. How fair is that on the spectators?
How about the authorities consider introducing a different card system. What about, the first foul is a yellow card, the second foul, instead of being a second yellow and a sending off, becomes a green card instead.
This green card would mean that the offending player has to leave the pitch for a set period of time, say 10 minutes, like the sin bin in rugby.
This could then create a number of interesting scenarios:
- A power play for the attacking team. They know they have 10 minutes when the opposition have 10 men. Can they adjust their tactics, be positive and take advantage of their numerical advantage?
- The team with the 10 men know they only have to survive for ten minutes, can they adjust tactically and survive the power play.
- The manager of the team who has the player green carded has an interesting decision at the end of the 10 minutes. Depending on what happens in the ten minutes, do they put the player who has been green carded back on and risk him fouling again and being sent off. Or do they substitute him and maybe change the team tactically?