|
Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has called for more full-time A-League referees, arguing match officials are only as good as the resources afforded to them. As his Melbourne City counterpart Michael Valkanis let rip at this season's under-fire whistle-blowing standards, Muscat empathised with referees, who he stressed are just as human as players and coaches. "Do we want it to get better, do we want referees not to never make a mistake? Of course we do," Muscat said. "But the reality is it's not going to happen. "The fitness in the game has been increasing dramatically. "This season the referees have taken a little bit of time to find that consistency ... Sydney is the only team to have found that. "But just give them an opportunity to find it and better themselves like the rest of us." Muscat agreed with Valkanis and Brisbane Roar coach John Aloisi that suspect decisions were made in Saturday night's 2-2 draw between the sides at AAMI Park. But he pointed out that the rapidly improving league only has three full-time referees in Shaun Evans, Jarred Gillett and Chris Beath. "If we want them to be professional you've got to give them the opportunity, you've got to give them the tools," Muscat said. "You can point the finger at [the fact] we've got three full-time referees at the moment, and has that increased their performance? But it's not the point. "The point is if we want to be a professional outfit, a professional competition, then the guys making the crucial decisions need to be professional as well, without doubt." It came as Valkanis declared officials must take "responsibility and accountability" after referee Alan Milliner awarded soft penalties to both City and the Roar. "There were no two penalties," Valkanis said a week after losing the highly controversial Melbourne derby. "We've had weeks where we've had goals cancelled against us that have been goals; [Nicolas] Colazo in Adelaide, Bruno Fornaroli against Melbourne Victory. "And we've had goals allowed against us that should have been offside. "It's getting frustrating."
|
