Reading LL's excellent stats, it was noted that we got no yellow cards against Shrewsbury. Checking the previous games, while we picked up 3 in the cup defeat, in the other 2 league games we got no bookings either. Indeed in the Bury and Northampton matches, the opposition didn't pick up any bookings either!
I'm trying to work out whether it's because in L1 referees are more lenient, referees have in general become more tolerant (the Euros did seem to show referees using more "common sense") or whether our league matches so far have just lacked dirty/late challenges!
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IF a tackle/foul is considered worthy if a yellow card, and the person subject to that tackle has to have a physio on, the fouled player does not have to leave the field of play.
Makes perfect sense to me, but I wonder if referees are concerned about getting it wrong, and being marked down by the assessor?
Therefore, Ricky Holmes against Northampton was hit with a tackle so late I thought it was a Charlton bound train that did it. Player got a stern telling off, but we were the team that ended up with 10 men on the pitch...
However, in the two home games so far, there has not been one 'bad' foul by any of our players and not that many fouls by our players at all. With the exception of the dirty git who clattered Holmes, I wouldn't say that the refs have been lenient. They haven't needed to be.
After a few matches that leniency disappears as Referees clamp down.
As I said to my wife on Tuesday night though... Its alright doing that now yet in a few games time, players will be getting miffed with the ref because they're being given a yellow card for a challenge that an opponent got away with on them in a previous game