Regarding the point being made I think all two footed challenges should be red carded. Whilst I hate the fact that the game is being transformed into a none contact sport, I believe there is no place, in any era, for this unnessesary type of challenge which does nothing but gets idiots out of their seats to applaud half wits like Don Hutchison for narrowly avoiding ending opponents careers. A mistimed tackle, however unfortunate, can be devastating. A mistimed two footer will most likely finish a career. It's unnessesary & spiteful & should be eradicated.

They are trying to outlaw any form of studs-up challenge, but tell me how you can possible win the ball and keep your foot pointing downwards all the time??

Sadly these days whenever there is a fairly strong challenge, whether legal or not, the player who has been challenged always exaggerates the impact and rolls around. They feel they have to do it as a gesture that they have been fouled and only a card for their opponent will make the pain go away.

When I played in the Kirkby Newtown league if any of the currently seen histrionics would have resulted in the ref knocking you out for being a wimp let alone the opposition, the game is becoming non-contact and sadly one-touch 5 a side on a big pitch á la Spain..

"they should watch DVDs of incidents, asked what they would do, and then be told what they should be doing"

Nick that's exactly what they do, and have been doing for years. Even with this, you can't eliminate subjective decision making and mistakes from refereeing. All two footed tackles are illegal and the punishment is a red card. Plenty of one footed tackles are as well. This doesn't mean every single referee will get every single decision right every time. The Jack Rodwell one obviously seemed quite 'stampy' and dangerous to the referee at the time, on reflection it was obviously safe.

There are also lots of grey areas in tackles and they will always be open to subjective interpretation. This simply isn't something where there is always definitely a 'right' answer.

Never mind two-footed tackles... what about those cheats who dive and roll about as if they have been shot? They should be red-carded because they are worse than someone putting a tackle in. The ref should look at the incident at the end of the game and they should get a three-game ban for cheating that would soon stop it

Nick, re the "get togethers" what do you think they do?

Gary Hughes, you are absolutely right. The two footed tackle just didn't happen 30 years ago. To me it seems to be carried out by players who don't know how to tackle trying to show the crowd how committed they are.

Mike (876) I've been saying that for years. Watch every game, every time somebody clearly cheats in that way, ban them. Increase the ban every time they do it and within two months it simply will not happen. Ever.

The solution seems so, so simple to me I'm absolutely amazed the governing bodies don't seem to have thought of it.

Seems to me that players from "bigger clubs" get injured during routine plays that results in them rolling around on the ground. These players are paid millions in wages and are worth millions more to the "bigger" clubs in transfer fees. As a results I believe ANY player that rolls around on the ground in agony as if he’s been shot should be immediately be taken from the field for 20 minutes to be assessed by a medical professional. Just to protect the investment you understand :D Wonder how many players would still be rolling around if this was implemented.

I have to agree with the banning of divers. If retrospective action is being taken for bad challenges, cheating, and diving is cheating should be punished in the same way.

It obviously will not happen as football is run by clowns who would never dream of doing the right thing.

Mike (952). As you say, the solution seems so simple. Retrospective punishments have been used in exceptional circumstances in the Premier League, but why there isnt a panel sitting after every round of games issuing red and yellow cards etc is a mystery.

Maybe it would prove that decisions and luck only 'even themselves out over the season' for the chosen few........

I have thought for a long time the small pool of referees are far too familiar with the players in the Premier League. They often have preconcieved ideas about players and it seems they can't wait to give certain individuals a card, be it red or yellow. Big teams are often favoured over the little guys.

With travel around Europe realativley easy I don't know why our ref's cant do some matches abroad and some European refs can't do some matches here. At least this way referees could be a little more impartial.

The argument about refereeing inconsistencies will continue as long as we have weak-kneed gutless referees getting paid good money. They have two assistants with lines of communication, a fourth official, and now they are using officials behind the goals and still refuse to make the calls that countless thousands can see at the games – and I am not talking about TV viewers.

We have endless incidents of shirt-pulling mostly by defenders in corner kick situations which go unpunished and yet the same incident in the middle of the park is called and yellows given. Even the so-called best referee in the Premier League, Howard Webb is guilty of bad calls and I don't mean those that are iffy, I mean blatant ones.

The football administrators are also gutless by not introducing the technology being used in North America for years. Yes, it is possible that all the officials combined can miss an incident but I cannot accept the amount of incidents that are not caught or interpreted correctly. The time for change is now!