Isn't all this about players taking responsibility for their actions? Stop being a dick and you won't get suspended. Pretty simple.
perhaps ban any speaking at football pitches?
Stop being a dickhead and launch an argument for why you should be able to abuse refs. If that is what you truly believe.
I think Greenie's point (if he has one) is that there is a distinction to be drawn between saying something mildly sweary to an official, and abuse.
For example, currently what you've said above ("stop being a dick") would get you a four week ban. But you've used it in every day conversation, as we all do, so that 4 weeks off seems a bit ridiculous.
Nobody is arguing that you should be able to get up in a ref's face and abuse him (like I did...) or chase him to the changing rooms (like Declan). But saying to a linesman in the heat of the moment "come on mate are you fucking blind" is hardly a 4 week ban offence is it?
If that linesman turned around and said "fuck off mate you can't see anything from where you're sitting" then fair play to him too.
I mean, how thin skinned can you be?
What I don't get is why referees care so much about what a player thinks of a decision. The best refs just ignore all that rubbish, they're the ones with the whistle, they're making the decisions and they really don't get worked up about it. They just get on with the game. It's when you think that a referee cares that you're more likely to have a go (and I have been guilty of some referee baiting in my time I freely admit, which I am not that proud of).
The good refs truly do not give a toss about what some spotty 21 year old (yes I was spotty as a 21 year old) is saying to them. I don't think players should be abusing refs but nor do I think any of what has been described here constitutes "abusing refs"