King of yellow cards Jose Holebas has been told to clean up his act after Watford boss Javi Gracia warned: He must do better.
Holebas has joined Bournemouth’s Jefferson Lerma as the Premier League’s most-booked player – again – after picking up his 11th caution this term on Tuesday night in the last minute of the Hornets’ 4-1 win over Fulham.
The fiery Greek full-back, who equalled the 14 yellow cards in a season record during the 2016-17 campaign, remains unrepentant.
But on the countdown to Watford’s FA Cup semi-final with Wolves on Sunday, Gracia – normally the most mild-mannered coach in the top flight – admitted that Holebas must find an antidote to his yellow fever.
Explaining his Olympian stockpile of bookings (38 in 109 Hornets appearances), the 34-year-old shrugged: “I’m always like this – in my whole career, I’ve been like this. It’s the way I play.
“It doesn’t annoy me when people talk about my disciplinary record. It’s just a yellow card, I don’t know why you are making such a big thing out of it. If I get 20, then I get 20 – and that’s it.”
But it was still a remarkable achievement to be booked in a comfortable home victory against Fulham, a club just seconds from the drop.
Gracia does not accept all of his set-piece specialist’s cautions are justifiable cases of taking one for the team. He said: “In my opinion, there are different types of yellow card, and for some of them you have to improve in your behaviour.
Weekend Premier League, EFL and FA Cup betting odds and tips
“I try to speak with my players about these different yellow cards and, if it’s something you can avoid, you must do it. In this case, everyone knows about Jose and, at the end of the season, he always has a big amount of yellow cards.
“It’s something we have to accept – but we don’t accept it without trying to do something about it. During the game you have to take control of a lot of things, and sometimes it is better when you don’t have many players with yellow cards.
“It is true that Jose has had a lot of them this season, and I think he has to do better for next season.”
