Re: Discipline (From Gary's twitter feed)

By ChrisHFC31/8/2015 11:58Mon Aug 31 11:58:13 2015In response to Re: Discipline (From Gary's twitter feed)

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Yes, some (most?) of us DO want to complain about the number of yellow and red cards, and don't want to finish at or near the bottom of "the fair play league cobblers", as Paul calls it.

Firstly, it's not necessary. When Rothmans started their sponsorship in 1973, one of their innovations was a pot of money for discipline. Each club started with 8 disciplinary points, losing 1 for a booking and 4 for a dismissal. Those clubs who still had a positive total at the end of the season shared the pot based on the amount of points they still had.

One club lost a total of one disciplinary point across the first two seasons. That club was Wycombe Wanderers. One club was champions in both seasons. That club? Wycombe Wanderers!!!

Admittedly, due to FIFA directives and the rest, there are far more bookings and dismissals now than there were in the 1970s, but Wycombe's record in 1973-74 and 1974-75 proves that it is not necessary to amass red and yellow cards to become champions.

Secondly, finishing at or near the bottom of the Fair Play league sends out several unwanted messages. It suggests to our supporters that we are prepared to tarnish the good name of the club by doing whatever it takes to win - whether by fair means or foul. It suggests to the opposition that all they have to do is to start winding us up so that our players react and collect yellow or red cards. It could also dissuade some quality players from approaching or joining the club because they don't want to be involved with a "win at all costs" mentality in a club. Is that really what we want for Hendon?

As supporters, we all accept that players are going to receive yellow and red cards - it's pretty well unavoidable these days. What we don't accept, however, are the unnecessary cards - for retaliation, for dissent or generally mouthing-off at officials, for not retreating at an opposition free-kick, for diving in to tackles in or near the opposition's penalty area.

Dave Anderson, when manager, made a telling point to Scott Cousins when he first joined the club - it's mentioned in the Green & Gold article on Scott. The gist is, what use to a club is an outstanding player if he's sitting in the stand serving a suspension?