Best Idea Yet: Irish Soccer Player Wants The Sport To Allow Hockey-Style Fights With A 5-Minute Penalty

[Source] - The Wigan winger believes football should follow in the footsteps of ice hockey, where referees allow players to fight briefly before handing them a five-minute sin bin.

McClean feels this would be an excellent addition to his own sport, as he said on Instagram: 'Just an observation... if football introduced the rule like in ice hockey where if there is on field issue then let two players involved have a 10/15 second tear up and then sin bin them, I guarantee there'd be far less handbags.'

The outlandish suggestion comes at complete odds with the current situation in football, which sees players dismissed and handed sizeable suspensions for violent conduct.

Hell yes. People have all different sorts of ideas on how to improve soccer or what rules to change. This right here is number 1. Allow hockey-style fights when there needs to be a scrap with a 5-minute penalty instead of red cards. I love this so much. Toughen some of these guys up. Plus, we could get a team to send in a goon to instigate. I'd be all for that, especially with limited subs. 

Not to mention sin-bin is an elite name. We need to get rid of penalty box and call it a sin-bin. You sit there and say 10 Hail Marys before you're allowed back in the game. Maybe mix in an Our Father. Sin-bin is way more creative, plus it rhymes, than penalty box. 

But here's the facts. I don't hate the card system. I think it's fair to differentiate what equals a yellow or a red. But we need to be allowed some scraps in soccer. No more hold me backs. No more kicks to the shins and some light pushing. I want to see this every couple matches: 

Just like the Red Wings/Avs of days old, give me goalies meeting at midfield to throw punches for 15 seconds. Viewership instantly skyrockets. I also understand where McClean is coming from. Refs are inconsistent as shit. You can grab someone and get sent off. With his idea that's no longer the case. You can still get a red for certain penalties, but if there's a little bit of a fight you just go to the sin-bin. 

This is the way of the future. Allow fighting.