I don't know whether this is "hot off of the press" or I am behind the times, but sin bins will be used next season in English football.
I went to watch my local team yesterday, Olney Town, who play at the first level of senior football, in the United Counties league. The match day referee, with whom I spoke before and after the game, is also the Head of Discipline in the Football Association. He told me that there will be a season long trial of the use of sin bins, which will be carried out by 18 leagues up and down the country, on a voluntary basis.
The sin bin will be used solely for cases of dissent, where otherwise the player would have been cautioned. Cases of dissent account for a quarter of all cautions; all cautions number 75k each season. The logic behind this move is that at present the "award" of a caution is likely to have no affect on the outcome of the game on that day and therefore there is no focus by player or club to cut out such offences. It is true that players will be fined at a later date for a caution, but it is believed that many clubs pay the fine on behalf of the player. The thinking is that if a player is sent to the sin bin (the period is 10 minutes of playing time), then that could affect the outcome of the game and that ought to change the mind set of both player and club.
The other interesting part of this trial is that the same player can be sin binned a second time in the same match for a second "bout" of dissent. The difference however is that once he/she has served the second sentence of a 10 minute absence, he/or she will no longer be able to take part in the remainder of the game, but will be substituted, assuming that there is an unused substitute on the bench.
Food for thought !!
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Football is a simple game and yet people seemingly keep trying to think of ways to make it more complicated. First we get VAR, now we get sin bins, what next? Will we have the clock stopped when the ball is out of play and time outs each half, might as well break the game up into quarters too.
(Using the Valley as an example)
Edit: Forgot to say: yes, football ia a simple game but unfortunately there is so much money in the game now that players' discipline and behaviour on the pitch has become deplorable in their win-at-all costs attitude.
As for sin bins, bring 'em on.
Dissent - sin bin
Two yellows - sin bin
Each subsequent yellow - another binning
Offences normally punished with a straight red card - bin ...except for ...
Violent conduct - red card.
Players could still get suspended for repeated indiscipline as they are now.
I can recall two major trials in my days (many moons ago) when I was a linesman on the Conference League (now National League). Neither were instigated after the trial, and sadly I never got any feedback as to why the changes were not implemented. The first was a trial at having only off-side within a line drawn right across the pitch as an extension of the 18 yard box (penalty area). The second, I guess based on the premise that the game is primarily paid with the feet rather than the hands, was that are restarts when the ball had left the field of play on the side lines were undertaken by kicking the ball into play rather than taking a throw-in.
Also, a bit of dissent right at the end of a match would presumably suffer a much lesser penalty and players would not have much to worry about with a bit of ref abuse with a couple of seconds remaining on the clock. (Or after the final whistle.) So, would sin bin unspent time be carried forward to the next match?
As a concept I'm all for it but has it been thought through? Unintended consequences and all that!
I don't necessarily buy into your argument about dissent late in a match. I doubt that players would be thinking "It is now the 85th minute, lets give the referee some dissent". It more a about a change of mind set whereby players naturally curb their anger because of the potential consequences on the outcome of the game....just my views
It's fabulous as it currently is. Leave the fuck alone. All the rules are in place and all that's needed is for referees to be given the support to implement what we have in place already.
No no and thrice no.
I think it is important that the game evolves.
As another poster has mentioned above, with the money that is in the modern game referees need more tools to stamp out some of the indiscipline that comes from the win-at-all-costs attitude displayed by some players.
Dissent is the only yellow card that they can do this for though unfortunately as that is the only 100% clear cut caution which is not influenced by the other team. It should also allow for consistancy as a referee will hopefully call the same 'thing' dissent for both teams, even if that 'thing' varies by referee.
The referee has a yellow card in his pocket. Get it out and use it. If a referee is hounded by five or six players all screaming at him then book the lot. If a player cheats and dives. Book him. Managers will soon start to tell players to stop if they are continually booked. We might go through a short period where teams are reduced to nine or ten purely for dissent or cheating but I guarantee it will soon stop.
The problem we have is that players don't show respect to the officials. Give the support to the referee to eradicate that.
I agree re the officials.
If you look at other sport that have tinkered/evolved , the two that spring to mind is cricket and rugby , and especially with replays - this has added to the spectator enjoyment rather than diminished it.
As someone else has said, football has lagged behind other sports in this respect, i can only really think about the shaving foam 10 yard line and possibly no back passes to goalie in the last 10 years, maybe longer. Its time to move on and improve like all other sports are - sin bins , to me, is a huge improvement - its certainly worked in Rugby where the opposing team try to take advantage of the 10 minutes where they have a man advantage and maybe play a slightly more attacking game, and theres almost a countdown to the player coming back. It will add more excitement and nuance to the game and will force tactical change midway through games also.