Listen to the full interview with John above via the podcast

The Champions League matches involving English teams this week hinged on red cards and conceded penalties for the last line of defence.

While Manchester City's Martin Demichelis was shown a red for his last man challenge on Lionel Messi, Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny suffered the same fate last night against Bayern Munich.

John told us that there needs to be a change to the so-called triple penalty (red card, penalty and ban).

"I'll tell you what I would like to do. If the player is going through like Messi the other night and he is taken down, the defender has stopped a goalscoring opportunity and it's a penalty. If the penalty is scored, the player stays on the pitch. If the penalty is missed, he goes off," said John.

"They haven't scored a goal. It's a goalscoring opportunity. Now, you don't get a bigger opportunity than a penalty kick so I think that would be fair. The defender could get a yellow card and he stays on the pitch if they score [the penalty]." 

John also told us that he had "reservations" about Manuel Pellegrini for his post-match behaviour and tactical mistakes against Barcelona.

John was critical of the decision to play Aleksander Kolarov on the left wing to combat Dani Alves.

Stephen Ireland was not in the Ireland squad for Serbia announced today, although Martin O'Neill has indicated that he will speak to him. But John does not think the Stoke midfielder deserves to be in the squad on merit.