00:00 No, I do think that players should be stopping this whole wave in the fake yellow card and
00:10 things because they shouldn't be pushing the referee, just as they shouldn't be surrounding
00:15 the referee. It's his decision at the end of the day and they shouldn't have too much
00:18 of an impact on it. It depends on what they've seen. It shouldn't be swayed by actions of
00:23 the players after a challenge has been made or whatever. The yellow for going into the
00:28 crowd, as you say, people are basically pushing him into there. You can't do much about that.
00:32 I think in those circumstances, I know it says to the referee, they have to book if
00:37 a player removes their shirt or if they go into the crowd like that, but he couldn't
00:41 really help it, as you say. So that feels very harsh. And then literally moments later
00:46 for that to happen, I think maybe if it's a first yellow of the game for that player,
00:52 that makes sense. But to get him sent off for it, I mean, that's cost Rotherham the
00:56 game. They were what, 2-0 up weren't they? And then in the second half, Blackburn come
00:59 back into it properly and get two back and it's a draw. That would have been a huge three
01:04 points for Rotherham, being right in at the bottom of the table against a team like Blackburn
01:07 that's going to be challenging in the top half. Yeah, I think it's foolish if it's a
01:12 second yellow. I just don't think it makes sense. But then again, if that's in the rulebook,
01:16 that's what the referee has to do. So you can't blame the referee on the day. It's just
01:20 that something needs to be adjusted after seeing these examples.
01:24 I mean, we all knew about it because I can remember reading the email that came in from
01:28 the AFL. So we were all told about it. The players themselves will have had very specific
01:33 meetings about it from the referee and authorities, whom they believe have something of a bit
01:40 of a roadshow around all the clubs in the summer just to kind of make sure that they
01:44 do know the rules. So there's no excuse in that respect. I think, Stuart, it's just whenever
01:51 you actually see it happening before you, where you think, well, actually, is that going
01:57 to make a big difference? I will point out as well, actually, but I've only seen the
02:00 highlights and I've seen what happened. And I should have looked into this a little bit
02:03 more. If a player feels that he's been kicked around from pillar to post all game and he's
02:08 complaining to the referee, are you going to book him? Are you going to book anyone
02:12 here because I'm being booted? I think that's very fair. Now, if he hadn't been and he just
02:17 booked a wave of imaginary yellow cards, then that's quite different. But I'm not entirely
02:23 sure the full context of this one, but still, I do think it's a bit harsh.
02:27 Well, I think my issue is more with the player than the referee or the rules, to be honest
02:31 with you. I mean, I agree with both of you. I don't think the first one was a yellow card.
02:35 You know, when we're booking people for just being happy at scoring a goal, it's a bit
02:40 bonkers. But, you know, you did mention sometime later, it was only about two minutes later.
02:45 And if stupidity was a, you know, a considerable offence, that would be a straight red card
02:50 in itself. You know, there's a countdown on, you know, refs are looking out for everything.
02:57 You know, you're on a yellow card. Just don't do it. I mean, I'm actually quite pleased
03:03 to see somebody sent off ultimately for doing that. It's just a pity from my point of view
03:08 that it's a Rotherham United player. But I do think this really needs cutting out. Too
03:12 many managers do it all the time. Too many players do it.
03:16 Does it really matter though?
03:19 Because it says to kids and grown up Sunday League players, you can dissent to a referee
03:28 as much as you like and we're not going to do anything about it. It's a blatant act of
03:32 dissent. There's far too much of it going on. What's wrong with the game at the moment?
03:36 Well, lots of things. But one of the things is we don't have enough good referees. Why
03:40 don't we have enough good referees? Because actually, there's not that many people who
03:43 enjoy getting, turning up every week and getting abused by footballers because they don't agree
03:48 with their decision, you know, at grassroots level, first and foremost. So we do really
03:52 need to clamp down on this dissent. And frankly, you know, Onyemedia should have just had more
03:58 common sense about him to just bite his tongue when he's on a yellow card. As Charlie said,
04:04 it cost his team. And if I was Matt Taylor, I'd be furious with him. You know, I know
04:10 sometimes it looks a bit soft in that context, but it's got to be done because it's just
04:17 getting out of hand, you know, and they're clearly trying to protect referees this season.
04:22 It needs doing. And if it means the odd red card that's a bit soft to get there, then
04:27 frankly, I think it's a price worth paying. And I can guarantee you that pretty much every
04:33 training ground in the country this morning, that clip will be shown to hundreds and hundreds
04:39 of Football League players with managers saying, do not be the person who does that for my
04:44 team. We will have serious words if that happens. I say it's a shame, from a Yorkshire perspective,
04:50 it's a shame it had to be a Rotherham player it happened to first, but it did have to happen,
04:54 I think.
04:55 Well, as long as it's happened, I guess the fact that it's happened early on, hopefully
04:59 it serves as a warning to everyone and we don't see any of that again.
05:03 [Music]
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