Gareth Southgate suggests a ‘simple’ alternative to football’s new blue cards plan… as England boss tells rule-makers: ‘The game has worked quite well for a long time’

England boss Gareth Southgate has given his take on the news that blue cards will be trialled in football.

Fans were left baffled by news about the latest law change, which is set to be announced on Friday by the International Football Association Board, according to The Telegraph, allowing referees to send players off for ten minutes for dissent and cynical fouls.

The move has led to wide criticism from managers and pundits, with Arsenal legend Paul Merson blasted the idea as a ‘waste of time’, while Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, Everton‘s Sean Dyche, and Crystal Palace‘s Roy Hodgson have previously voiced their opposition, while ex-refs’ chief Keith Hackett says it to to accommodate weak officiating.

And Southgate made his view clear on the new proposals as he gave his opinion on what was needed to tackle ill-discipline. 

‘I would have said the game has worked quite well for a long time. I know, I suppose we always have to modernise with certain things,’ he told Sky Sports.

England boss Gareth Southgate has given his take on news that blue cards will be trialled in football

The blue card will be limited to fouls that prevent a promising attack as well as confirming a red card should be shown if they receive two blues or a combination of a blue and yellow

‘But, yeah, I’d have to really understand how that was going to work before I could give a really strong view.

‘If discipline’s bad you send players off! That’s quite simple really.’

Southgate – who is making preparations for his England side’s bid to win Euro 2024 this summer – has previously admitted he is not a fan of VAR, which has also come under fire this season after getting caught up in a number of controversial calls.

The former Middlesbrough and Aston Villa defender said: ‘I don’t like it. I think we should just accept referees’ decisions, but I also know that we’re unlikely to go back to a world where we don’t have technology as part of that decision-making process. 

‘It was never going to resolve every issue and I don’t think there is any solution that will achieve that.’ 

It is understood The Football Association is considering introducing sin bin trials in the FA Cup and Women’s FA Cup next season. 

International Football Association Board has signed off on trials for a new protocols that will hand greater power to officials to clamp down on cynical fouls and dissent

Blue cards have been used this season during a sin-bin trial in grassroots football in Wales, with the colour chosen to differentiate it clearly from a yellow or red card.

Should trials prove successful in curbing the instances of cynical fouls and dissent, the new card could added to the laws of the game. 

In addition to being sin-binned, players will see a red card if they receive two blues or a combination of a blue and yellow.

FIFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina backed the idea of sin bins, saying: ‘The idea is to start working on this as soon as possible to provide those who would be involved in the trial a protocol to be used. The idea is to get it soon.

‘The trial was very successful in grassroots competitions. Now we are talking of a higher level, very probably professional or even high professional football.’

Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham confirmed their interest in using sin bins back in November.

‘When we were looking at sin bins – protocol clearly has to be developed – the areas we were looking at were dissent, where it’s worked very, very well in the grassroots game in England,’ he said.

By contrast, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has voiced his objection to the move and sin-bins will not be used at this summer’s European Championship or next season’s Champions League.