With sin bins potentially set to make their way to professional football, there are several Sunderland players who could suffer.
Sunderland has several players who have committed many fouls this season and also picked up several yellow cards.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is football’s law-making body and recently has developed plans which could potentially see 10-minute sin-bins implemented into professional football.
It was reported by BBC Sport who explained that they were told that the next step for the IFAB is to decide which leagues will partake in the trial.
After the announcement, IFAB secretary Lukas Brud said, “Over the next weeks and months, we are going to identify which levels are best to test.”
Former Chelsea and England captain John Terry instantly admitted he wasn’t a fan of the idea and cited his reason in a post on X as “the level of tolerance and inconsistencies from referees will differ every week”.
Six players Sunderland could need to be careful with if sin bins are implemented
Sunderland isn’t a team that tends to hold back in games and this is seen in their fouls and yellow cards stats according to SofaScore. Several Sunderland players therefore would have to watch their backs in the event that sin bins become a thing in the Championship.
Jack Clarke is first on our list to warn, as he has surprisingly high foul numbers. Clarke has made 20 fouls this season, along with two yellow cards, which is a sign he could be one Sunderland player destined to experience the sin bin.
The second on the list is the club captain Luke O’Nien who has 17 fouls and six yellow cards to his name. O’Nien would be more likely to be in the sin bin than most given centre-halves by nature will be in more positions to be penalised.
He would be joined by his centre-back partner Daniel Ballard who has committed 16 fouls which has translated into six yellow cards. This could in an extreme situation potentially see both Black Cats centre-backs likely to end up in a sin bin. There could even be overlap.
Next up is another Northern Irish international in Trai Hume. Hume has 15 fouls and three yellows, but also a red. The fact he’s one of two Sunderland players to see red this season points toward the fact he needs to be included here.
Jobe Bellingham has 14 fouls but miraculously just the one yellow card. Bellingham is one who is less likely to see the sin bin, however, we imagine there will be instances which see players put in for cynical fouls which usually might not warrant much punishment.
Lastly, Dan Neil has made 11 fouls while picking up no yellows but has a red to his name this season. Neil could find himself in the sin bin should a referee judge him to be showing dissent.