Former Man Utd star turned manager, 36, issues abrupt warning over radical new English football rule

PLYMOUTH boss Tom Cleverley has backed football’s new crackdown on goalkeeper dark arts — but warned EFL referees could face absolute chaos trying to police it. A radical rule trial being rubber-stamped ahead of the Carabao Cup kicking off between Tranmere and Rochdale on Saturday means that if a keeper receives treatment on the pitch, an outfield player must step off for one minute once play resumes. Tom Cleverley has backed the new rule change Credit: Shutterstock Editorial But the Plymouth boss is worried for EFL referees Credit: Shutterstock Editorial The measure aims to eliminate the tactic of feigning injury to grant managers a tactical timeout for delivering instructions. Under the regulations, coaches will have just ten seconds to nominate an outfield player to step off or the team captain is automatically forced off instead. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! The Premier League, EFL, National League and WSL are all trialling the new rule. And former Manchester United, Everton, Watford and England midfielder Cleverley told SunSport: “I thought it was something that needed nipping in the bud. “Now you hope it doesn’t punish people who are genuinely injured. That’s difficult for the refs to manage. “I think a lot of the things they’ve done make sense. “I hope they’ve not made it more difficult for referees and how technical areas are managed. “There’s going to be a lot of moaning about why haven’t you started counting yet, and so on.” Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS The crackdown is planned to stop goalkeepers feigning injury Credit: Reuters The Plymouth chief pointed out that EFL officials will not have access to the same technology used on the world stage. Cleverley, 36, added: “We see it work at the World Cup. Now they’ve got incredible resources. They’ve got electronics coming out of everywhere. “Whereas the EFL referee will just have him, his linesman and fourth official, with no TV coverage. He’s going to be managing a lot of things. “I hope that it improves the ball in play time, improves the product for the supporter and the chance of the best team winning. “And yeah, they all make sense. Let’s see how it goes.” Comment now