By akin
August 16 2005

In light of events over the weekend which saw Newcastle's Jermain Jenas and Charlton's Darren Ambrose sent off, it has become clear that the premier league officials have been instructed to clamp down on tackels made with "exessive force" Newcastle United's tenacious midfielder Lee Bowyer has given his opinion on the new law He told nufc.co.uk: "We had someone in explaining the new rules at training last week, and he said that anything deemed as two-footed would be a straight red card.

"Against Arsenal on Sunday I just made sure I was 100 per cent sure of getting the ball before I went for a challenge. You have to be careful now.

"The referee made the decision to send JJ off even though it wasn't a two-footer, but I think it will be hard for referees now with this new rule.

"They have to decide straight away if someone has intentionally tried to hurt someone with a two-footer.

"There were a couple of sendings off over the weekend, then there was a tackle that was probably worse than the other two that went unpunished.

"But it's really hard for the referees this season. At least the referee had the bottle to change it to a yellow card."

Lee added: "I think the officials have to be on top of it early in the season, and let people know they will be sent off for a bad tackle.

"You do get the odd tackle that is bad, but they only get a split second to make that decision in the heat of the moment.

"I just hope they won't just dive for the red card straight away.

"I'd like them to weigh up the options, and maybe give the player the benefit of the doubt by showing them a yellow card.

"Otherwise people will just be sent off every week."

If Lee Bowyer is considering whether its a good idea to go in for a tackle, then this new law seems to have hit the ground running, but will it benefit the Premiership and more importantly my club Newastle. The very essence of the premier league is its pace and competetive tackles, clamping down on tackels might jsut eradicate the very things that give the premiership its edge over every other league in the world