New rules aimed at eliminating the intimidation of officials are long overdue. Nobody wants to see overgrown toddlers having a tantrum, and the example their behaviour sets puts grassroots referees in genuine peril.
If the price for cleaning up football is an explosion of red and yellow cards that reduce elite games to farce, it’s well worth paying. But will this latest clampdown last beyond August?

Speaking last season, Millwall boss Gary Rowett summed up the standard trajectory of any refereeing initiative.

“You know how it goes,” he said. “There’s always a directive, and they’ll do it ...