IT'S early days, so perhaps I should withhold my cynicism, but I have my doubts as to whether the Temporary Dismissal - or TD if you're swish - is going to work.

It is being rolled out in the Trelawny and Duchy football leagues this season, in a bid by the governing body The Laws of The Game, IFAB, to deal with misconduct on the day and result in fewer cautions for dissent.

Good idea yes - the offender is sin-binned for ten minutes if the referee decides they are guilty of dissent - but my concern is that we are over-complicating the laws and the subsequent implementation of them.

In other words, it'll be a referees' nightmare.

The men and women in black are already subjected to fearful stick during matches. That's not just from players, but managers, coaches, assistants, physios, spectators and their pets (it's true, I saw a sheepdog run on to a pitch once, presumably in protest after the referee blew his whistle).

With any law, it is the interpretation which is key. What actually constitutes dissent?

I'll give you some oft-heard phrases from a football pitch and you decide whether or not the player should be removed for ten minutes -

"Come off it, ref"

"Ref that's a shocking decision"

"I didn't handball it ref"

"When are you going to give us a decision, ref?"

"There's two teams in this game you know ref"

"Oh thank you ref" (accompanied by ironic clapping)

"How come they know your first name ref?"

"Ref you're a f****** useless t***"

Or in my case, circa 2005 during a game for St Newlyn East at St Minver: "You are without doubt the worst referee I've ever seen."

Not my finest hour, it has to be said. I rightly received a second yellow card and was sent off. So maybe he wasn't the worst referee after all.

In that split second after the potentially dissenting words have been uttered, the referee has to decide if it warrants a ten-minute stint in the bin. Given the impatience of footballers and the speed at which the game is played, referees are expected to make the right decision immediately and to be ready with a fulsome explanation.

But in any scenario, how many times has someone said something to you and in that moment, you've been so dumbfounded, horrified, upset or angered that you don't have an appropriate response? Instead, you think about it an hour later and wished you'd been quick enough to dole out a suitable riposte.

Referees have a thankless job, particularly at grassroots level when his "assistants" are usually a sulking substitute or a pensioner in Wellies.

So not only does the man in the middle have to make all the right calls, he now has another decision with which to contend. And if you're wondering what I'm fussing about, spare a thought for a referee the next time he has to implement the following rules:

* All other cautionable offences are punished with a caution as normal (Yellow Card)

* A player who has been temporarily dismissed and then receives a caution (YC) continues playing

* A player who has received a caution (YC) and then receives a temporary dismissal can continue playing after the end of the temporary dismissal period

* A player who receives a second temporary dismissal in the same match will serve the temporary dismissal and then takes no further part in the match. The player may be replaced by a substitute at the end of the second temporary dismissal period if the player’s team has not used its maximum number of substitutes (subject to the next bullet point)

* A player who receives a second temporary dismissal in the same match and has also received a caution for another YC offence takes no further part in the match and the player cannot be replaced/substituted

* A player who receives a second caution (YC) in the same match will be sent off and takes no further part in the match and may not be replaced/substituted

Wow.