The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 3 plus 6 letter word OFF THE GROUND
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
O
F
F
T
H
E
G
R
O
U
N
D
More clues leading to the result OFF THE GROUND
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Red-carded player is/just getting started" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case red-carded player is/just getting started = off the ground.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.