Sean Dyche has criticised Tottenham forward Harry Kane following the incident that saw Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure sent off on Monday night.
Doucoure raised a hand into his face, for which the Everton midfielder was shown a straight red card.
While Dyche said he regarded Kane’s actions as "gamesmanship" rather than cheating and a "big drama over nothing", he bemoaned some of the things he has been seeing in football.
"The strange thing about football is that on one night you have a player who, in theory, is very close to getting a broken ankle and nothing is said, and another gets a broken eyelash and it’s like the world is going to end," said Dyche.
"But that’s society and how things have changed. It (the incident) was pretty much nothing but football has changed.
"Everyone has become so precious haven’t they? The rules are so precious, in society as well as football.
"I’ve been on about it for years. Millions of kids see footballers cheat every week, diving all over the place, and no-one says a word.
"Someone gets flicked in the eyelash and it becomes a big situation. That’s just the way it is now.
"If you make a rule everyone will try to find a way to bend it. So you make a rule that you can’t touch anyone in the face and now everyone goes down if they do get touched in the face.
"It was a big drama over nothing, although I was worried when they concussion-tested him though. I thought ‘Wow, this could be a close one’.
"Harry Kane is a great pro but some of it leaves you scratching your head.”
