As I watched the start of the football season unfold with the first game between Man Utd and Spurs, I had to wonder if it was time to start introducing the sin bin for yellow card offences.  Not 5 minutes had passed after a substitute came on, when they blatantly tripped up another player just because that player had passed them too easily.

Rugby Union brought in this rule a while ago and if a player commits a yellow card offence, they get sent off the pitch for several minutes.  One could argue that if the same rule was applied to football, too many players would be sitting off the pitch rather than playing on the pitch!   However, I have a different theory.

I believe that if the sin bin rule was introduced into football, yellow card offences would actually drop instead of increase.  A lot more would be at stake for the player and their team if the player was to be sent off.   Referees might also get a little slacker in their judgement of what is defined by a yellow card offence today.

Let me explain this point a little more.  Today, yellow card offenses are seen on a very regular basis.  If the sin bin was introduced, the referees know that by sending too many players off, the game would be sent into disrepute.  To keep their reputation up, they need to keep the game moving and entertaining.  A way to do this is to keep as many players on the pitch as possible, while trying to maintain a good level of discipline.  However, I think this level of discipline could drop ever so slightly in order to keep the game flowing as much as possible.

On the flip side, the players might try a little harder to commit less fouls in order to stay on the field longer.  We might therefore get to see more football of a higher standard instead of a lot of poor and lazy attempts at football!

…and I certainly don’t like commentators making silly remarks such as ‘he had to take one for the team’, or ‘he had to do whatever was needed to stop the player from scoring’.  No, he has to learn how to play better football!  Unnecessary fouls are for the weak and lazy!

All discussions welcome!