Should coaches/players that provoke the referee be sent off instead?

Shelvey accuses SAF of getting him sent off

In yesterday’s clash between United and Liverpool at Anfield, there were many talking points, the 96, the hand shake, Liverpool’s worst start to a season in over a century, would Liverpool play the team that demolished

Young boys in Europe? All very debatable, but the one that actually stood out to me has probably gone unnoticed and is something that needs to be highlighted more than the much publicized hand shake, in my opinion.

Football has taken a strong stance against racism in football, should it not take that same strong stance against un-sportsman like behaviour? Is it sportsman like to call for another fellow professional to be sent off? Even if the

player deserves the card, should they be asking for it or even provoking the referee to pull out a card, be it red or yellow?

I don’t think so, I think it’s very un-sportsman like behaviour and should be eradicated from the game, and the only way to do it is to make examples of people.

I’m not specifically talking about Sir Alex Ferguson in this matter, what tends to happen is the players surrounding the referee or even the player on the ground rolling around faking injuries.

However, whatever changes are to be made, there has to be consistency. If there is to be a stop to this kind of behaviour, it has to be supported from all fronts.