Man Utd. v.  Liverpool   23 March - In the 44th minute of Sunday’s derby between Manchester United and Liverpool, Javier Mascherano was red-carded for dissent. Premiership betting fans would acknowledge that the home side had the edge at the time of the dismissal and it is unlikely that this incident affected the outcome of the match. Opinion is divided about the validity of referee, Steve Bennett’s response to Mascherano’s behaviour. Some say the Argentinean was merely asking a question, others recall that his persistent questioning of the referee’s decision over an earlier Torres yellow card amounted to harassment of Bennett.

Either way, the issue of player dissent is coming to a head. After Ashley Cole’s recent tantrum at White Hart Lane the subject is clearly on the current agenda for action by the Football Associations and all that remains to be decided is how best to handle it. Fair minded online betting enthusiasts realise that something has to be done.

The problem arises from the need to allow some leeway to these testosterone fuelled young men. It would be absurd to expect from them perfectly controlled responses to some of the things that happen in tense football matches, many of which would test the composure of a saint. It’s the question of where and how you draw the line that is testing the authorities. An outright ban will not alter the body chemistry of these fired-up young men and nor would we want it to. Nevertheless a clear boundary must be defined to reverse this decline into ill-natured and bad-mannered chaos. A brake needs to be applied to the excesses of players who, despite the stress of the moment, must be compelled to engender a degree of self-control.

I’ve always felt a good starting point would be to emphasise the futility of dissent. When did you last hear a ref say ‘Actually, now that you mention it and I’ve had time to reflect, that was indeed not a foul and I’ll be more than happy to withdraw the yellow card – thanks very much for pointing it out’? I would say, approximately, never. If this fact was driven home to players by their managers before matches it would be a good start. Financial, field advantage or points penalties could be used to reinforce this change of behaviour. What is without doubt is that some sort of change is imminent.