This weekend saw a flurry of red card produced in the Premier League. Some were deserved; some were perhaps a little harsh. The one that stood out for me though is Kenwyne Jones of Sunderland, dismissed for raising his arms to West Ham’s Herita Ilunga. Jones has never struck me (no pun intended) as a player with a violent side. He flicked out as if swatting a fly on Saturday. But it was stupid, needless and he gave the referee no option, in today’s rule of ‘if you raise your hands you’re off’, Jones should be thanking his teammates this morning after their excellent comeback from two goals down spared his blushes.

It was not Jones’ outburst, however, that caused me most concern. What was sad to see, and it is not something that is new in the game, was Ilunga collapsing to the floor clutching his face. It was clear to everybody in the stadium that it was a shove in the chest and nothing more. Yet what would he have said about the incident had he been interviewed? “Yes, Kenwyne punched me full on in the face and I was in indescribable pain. Therefore my reaction was totally justified.” Okay, he might not have said that, but he clearly had the intention of exaggerating the ‘injury’ caused, in order to convince the referee to send Jones off. This shows disrespect to the game, but most of all to himself.

If Ilunga goes on to greatness, and in years to come is telling his grandson of his most glorious years, all that could be shattered were said grandson to find that particular clip on You Tube. What would he make of his grandfather? A hard-as-nails, tough-tackling fullback? Or a bit of a wimp?

Ilunga is certainly not the first player to exaggerate a limp slap. There was Rivaldo at the 2002 World Cup falling to the floor clutching his face after the football, struck and aimed deliberately by an opponent, hit him in the mid-riff; there was Slaven Bilic robbing Laurent Blanc the chance to play in a World Cup final after the Frenchman had stroked his cheek; there was Didier Drogba and Jens Lehmann bouncing off each other in a Chelsea – Arsenal fixture a couple of years ago; and there is simply not enough time for me to go into the regular histrionics of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Drogba/Lehmann incident seemed to highlight just how ridiculous football had become. Two muscular, six-foot athletes surrendering all dignity and pride in an attempt to get the other player sent-off. I think in the end even the referee found the situation too hopeless to discipline either of them. Perhaps he thought that the entire stadium laughing at them might stop them acting like a couple of clowns and encourage them to get up and get on with it. Commentators and pundits might well have had a good chuckle about it. I didn’t. I just wondered what any rugby player watching might have thought of it. Or for that matter, the likes of proper hard men of their day, Ron Harris, Norman Hunter and Graeme Souness.

After the Eduardo incident against Celtic, where Arsenal somehow proved a foul had been committed because contact was made, it seems it is now acceptable that any contact constitutes foul play.

Commentators are often heard saying ‘maybe the player was too honest and stayed on his feet’. I prefer to think that the player has a certain amount of respect for himself and doesn’t want the watching public to think a gust of wind was all it took for him to topple over. It is high-time they all toughened up a bit.