The footballing authorities seem to put a lot of emphasis on fair play these days with the dangling carrot in the Premier League that it's possible for a team to be rewarded with a Europa Spot place via the fair play league. But outside the Premier League what is the incentive? How about this for a proposal? A record is kept of cautions given to each side's players in league fixtures, with 1 point for a yellow and 3 points for a straight red. Each time a side tallies up (x) points they receive a 1 point deduction. Surely such a ruling will result in more disciplined play all round. On a side note, I would also propose that, in the FA Cup, should a side have a player sent off during a tie which goes to a replay, they should start with 10 men for the replay as well. Any thoughts?
It could work, but the amount of soft and inconsistent bookings around would lead to even more unjust results than we have now with soft penalties and the like - it's very difficult for a referee to get every decision right and this would magnify further their mistakes. I don't like the replay idea either - I was of the understanding that the whole point of a replay was that whatever happened in the first game wasn't enough to force a result so the game should just be done again, rather than being a continuation of the game in the vein of extra time.
I can't help but think your proposals would see a massive reduction in attempted slide tackles I will remember a well timed slide tackle after a match for just as long as i remember the goals My admiration for Benali used to soar when we were in the relegation dogfights of old, ok he'd get booked every other game (yes his timing wasn't the greatest) but he was fighting for survival. It may seem a bit out of touch with modern football but i'm always surprised when teams in and around relegation are towards the top of the fair play league? Penalising players/teams harder would just result in more play acting and diving from oppositions too
