OPINION
Jack Colback knew what was at stake.
Having accrued 14 yellow cards over the course of the Championship season, he will have been fully aware of the consequences he faced if he picked up another one in Nottingham Forest’s Good Friday meeting with Sheffield United.
A three match ban with three games of the season left, a caution would effectively end his loan spell at Forest prematurely and still, he decided to go and get booked anyway.
Usually, that would be a harsh assessment, but this was literally his decision, and he made a monumentally stupid one.
Facing up to Mark Duffy on the edge of the Sheffield United, he stepped inside him, felt the slightest brush of contact, and threw himself to the floor melodramatically. It was hardly a shock when a card was brandished for simulation.
Quite aside from the immediate daftness of the incident, you can’t help wondering if the dive could have more far reaching consequences.
A total 15 cards is a lot to pick up during the course of the season, and even though Colback has established himself as a really decent part of Forest’s squad – even sporting the captain’s armband at times – Martin O’Neill must be looking at him and wondering if he is becoming something of a liability.
Would they be willing to splash out on a permanent move for a player who spends half his time watching from the stands?
Probably, yes, but this moment of madness could put Colback’s Newcastle exit in jeopardy if he’s not careful.