Nearly all of us are agreed on one th g - that the black card isn't working. I'm sure we all also agree that cynical found need to be punished. So we all give out about it, like most topics! So how's about some solutions?
Here's my tuppence worth, based on the best of what I've heard from different sources.
A cynical foul gets punished by a free 50m further up the field. Denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity is punished by a penalty. Yellow card for any cynical foul. Scrap the black card.
Easier to work with, the downside being that a cynical foul is open to interpretation. My own feeling is that refs will avoid these unless clearcut. But at least a player doesn't get sent off for a misinterpretation, while on the flip side, teams are punished as 50m brings most fouls into scoring areas. The penalty award is like for like - you stop a goal-scoring chance, the opposition is given a goal-scoring chance. Any thoughts?!

1914 (Clare) - Posts: 92 - 05/10/2016 17:29:52    1922962

murphy32 (USA) - Posts: 15 - 05/10/2016 19:08:07    1923000

Seansy48 (Tyrone) - Posts: 237 - 05/10/2016 19:20:18    1923002

Keep the black card but support it with a TMO. To much goes on of the ball so the officials need outside support.

Principle is good, practice is awful.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 05/10/2016 19:47:50    1923008

Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 05/10/2016 21:16:34    1923027

Seansy48 (Tyrone) - Posts: 237 - 05/10/2016 21:45:42    1923042

Keep the black card for deliberate trip and the body check, apart from that red or yellow. The pull down seems to be open to interpretation and is very much hit and miss. Umpires should have far more influence than they have at present. All the off the ball stuff that goes on is spoiling the game. Lee Keegan was made a scapegoat by all and sundry after the drawn game but the amount of pushing, pulling and shouldering off the ball in the replay was disgusting. The likes of Docs shoulder into Coopers back deserves a yellow card, no questions asked. Young Rock was like the bully in the playground throwing shoulders into everybodys back. Boyle, Connolly and several others were up to no good behind the scenes, and it's impossible for referees to keep up. Leroy must have been bemused looking at the second half wondering what he did that was any different, but then he probably knew it was a political decision. Either that or use video evidence and have retrospective suspensions for anything picked up that the ref has missed. Having that hanging over players heads would concentrate the mind.

Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 05/10/2016 21:49:37    1923043

Personally I think it needs to go.
Make all yellow cards a 10 min sin bin offence. If a player is yanked down Sean Cavanagh style inside the square a straight red.

If they insist on keeping it; they need to look at the referee situation. We have so many officials warming their hands in their pockets while 1 man has to chase 30 elite athletes around a field which is 1.5 times the size of a soccer pitch for nearly 80 minutes in many instances. In a kick passing game where the ball can travel end to end in 5 seconds the man in the middle will not only miss fouls on the ball he will miss 80% of the off ball fouling; so in other words more help by adding a 2nd referee or by introducing a citing commission.

theblackcard (Mayo) - Posts: 47 - 05/10/2016 21:57:23    1923046

I posted this on another thread as a possible solution:

Apart from how the black card is implemented by the officials my biggest issue with it is that the same punishment applies for any foul deemed to be a deliberate pull down, trip or block etc. Everyone remembers Sean Cavanagh's tackle on McManus and if that was to happen in a game today the offender would get a black card and could have no complaints. But how is an offence such as James McCarthy's block (3rd man tackle) in the drawn game v Mayo given the same level of punishment as the Cavanagh type foul? Yes, the McCarthy one is a black card by the letter of the law but in reality it was a nothing incident and didn't prevent a clear scoring opportunity as the other type of foul I'm referring to did. In fact a black card for a deliberate drag down or trip to stop a clear goal scoring opportunity isn't sufficient punishment IMO and I would make the following suggestion regarding the black card/sin bin.

I would keep the 3 cards in the ref's pocket but change the meaning of the yellow and black. A yellow card will be a 5 minute sin bin and can be given in regular yellow card situations like high or late tackles (depending on how dangerous), persistent fouling, silly off the ball stuff etc. I would also like to include offensive fouls (Like McCarthy's 3rd man tackle) under the yellow card punishment as well as abusing a match official, diving or a new entry waving an imaginery card looking for someone to get sent off etc.

The black card will be given for any deliberate defensive fouls like drag downs or trips or blocking off supporting runs. The black card is a punishment of 10 mins in the sin bin. I'd also add that a defensive foul inside the 21 when the forward is through on goal should result in a penalty as well as the black card.

The red card applies as is and 2 yellows still make a red or a yellow and a black. 2 blacks will also result in a red as will a black and a yellow.

Open to improvements on this suggestion but I think it would work. As already mentioned other sports can pull it off so why can't we?

Mobot (Donegal) - Posts: 459 - 05/10/2016 22:21:28    1923058

Give all match officials equal say, if ref X gets the final and you were overlooked you hope he has a bad game so he never gets a chance again and you might get the chance so why should you help him out, if all officials are praised or criticised for their performance then they all should be treated the same, Deegan missed a few things and bottled others but Coldrick was 1 linesman and he wouldn't see a giant balloon if it landed in front of him, he also had a poor final. Define the rules for tackling, get rid of the black card, go back to the old system of the 3 ticks, a tick then yellow then red, a drag down or deliberate trip within the 30m line straight red but here is the twist if a player hits the ground and is demanding a card for his opponent and it's a soft free give him a yellow, no player should tell the ref what to do, that's our job the supporters ha ha, in all honestly most of the fouls that refs pull for either with frees or black cards I've seen worse in nightclubs on the dance floor, we have gone from a tough game with hard but fair tackles and shoulders to a game where a sneeze or fart wins you a free and a card, tackles have become harder but refs are quick on the whistle for 'soft' frees

riverboys (Mayo) - Posts: 1389 - 05/10/2016 22:48:46    1923072

The Black card is a great idea- and should be introduced into Soccer imo.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 06/10/2016 11:28:16    1923169

The 2 best innovations in sport over the last 10 years have been Hawkeye and the Black card.

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 06/10/2016 11:39:54    1923173

theblackcard (Mayo) - Posts: 47 - 06/10/2016 13:43:33    1923266

galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2519 - 06/10/2016 15:23:42    1923339

joncarter (Galway) - Posts: 2692 - 08/10/2016 19:13:29    1924101

Would having suspensions for multiple yellow cards or 2 yellows leading to a red make picking yellow cards up more dangerous. So say you pick up a yellow in a game if you pick another one up in the next 2 games you get a 1 match suspension in your next game.

Means you're not getting punished severely for 1 indiscretion but that the yellow card is more meaningful.

In addition cynical fouls within the 65 are awarded a 21 yard free in front of the posts.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4226 - 08/10/2016 22:56:16    1924146

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 09/10/2016 08:28:46    1924160

A bit of balls is all the black card needs. While I hate to compare our beautiful games to those of the foreign ilk it does pay to keep an eye how they run things. The English premier league and their decision to implement punishments for verbal abuse, surrounding a referee, looking sideways at a referee and it's enforcement was something that impressed me. It was enforced across the board by the refs and within a few weeks they had more or less stamped it out. And in regards to the stuff happening in penalty boxes at frees and corners they have improved that area too if not 100% perfect. Refs just need to have a chat with themselves and say enough is enough whether a junior d league match or an All Ireland final a black will be a black. They stay strong on this long enough it will work. But as long as a player thinks there is some chance they will get away with it they will continue to chance anything they can to get an advantage. Such is human nature. I think the first black card I saw was in an All Ireland club final and a Castlebar lad was black carded inside a few minutes. If that trend had continued we wouldn't be harping on about it now. It would just be another part of our game.

SamandLiamSoon (Galway) - Posts: 591 - 09/10/2016 09:58:45    1924173

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4226 - 09/10/2016 10:32:02    1924175

the black card could result in a sin bin and an automatic free under the posts 13m

suckvalleypaddy (Galway) - Posts: 1669 - 09/10/2016 13:57:07    1924203