The record 65 yellow cards shown in the Premier League at the weekend – it’s like the referees have lost control
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (not pictured) is shown a yellow card by match referee Anthony Taylor (right) after fouling Bournemouth’s Evanilson in the penalty box during the Premier League match at the Vitality Stadium. Photo credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire.
We are operating at the elite level of the game, and I expect in pre-season Howard Webb detailed what was expected in terms of dealing with time wasting and dissent. Yet as I watched Anthony Taylor handing out yellow cards like confetti, it was clear that Premier League refereeing has become reactive rather than proactive.
There were 65 yellow cards at the weekend, a new record, beating the previous worst total of 57. There were nine shown for dissent, nine for time wasting and two for not retreating.
Refereeing should have a step-managed approach. If a player shows dissent or wastes time, you should firstly have a quiet word with them. Referees can run alongside a player out of the public eye and firmly tell them you will not accept their behaviour. Have a word with the captain too.
Step two should be a public rebuke. Give him a warning that you are not standing for any more. Again you can bring the captain across and that you want improvement from their team.
The Premier League undervalues yellow cards. You can see that from the fact you need five of them to get a ban, while elsewhere in Europe it is three. So then we see Taylor flashing yellows without any communication, with no body language that tells you he is annoyed; no approach to the captain to make it clear that ‘I’ll caution you if this persists.’
My point is that a lot of this can be avoided with proactive management of the players. Ultimately, Webb has to talk to managers. On my watch, PGMOL would have regular meetings with clubs, players and coaches, to reinforce our approach. That way you would get buy-in.
All I see at the moment is managers shaking their heads as cards are shown. And if this persists, in a few weeks we will see players unable to play because they have collected yellow cards.
It makes me shudder. When I took over at PGMOL, we averaged four to five yellows per game. We acted to get that down to about three. To get 14 in one game, it’s like the referees have lost control.
So what comes now? At the Euros, they acted to reduce dissent by only allowing the captain to speak to the referee. It worked. I cannot believe this approach has not been adopted by the Premier League. And time wasting is a cancer on the game, and something we acted on last year, but that lasted six weeks.
It has been a very bad weekend for the Premier League and PGMOL and they should have an urgent meeting about this tomorrow.
This level of carding is unacceptable. Referees, managers and players need a better relationship so this doesn’t happen again.