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The victim of a telling Danny Tiatto challenge has slammed the Queensland Roar enforcer’s tackling style and described the ex-Socceroo’s reaction to his A-League finals send-off as “extreme”.
Central Coast striker Dylan Macallister also said he was not surprised by Tiatto’s reaction to a red card that earned the ire of Football Federation Australia (FFA).
Tiatto, 35, was sent off in the 76th minute of the Roar’s 2-0 minor semi-final first leg win over the Mariners last Friday night after receiving his second yellow card for a challenge on Macallister.
It ensured Tiatto would miss the second leg against the Mariners at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
But he faces further suspension after the FFA ruled Tiatto’s reaction to referee Ben Williams giving him his marching orders breached the national code of conduct.
“He (Tiatto) had to be restrained by teammates after the red card – that is quite extreme,” Macallister told AAP.
“I am not anyone to judge if he should be punished further or not but it didn’t really surprise me the way he reacted – he’s just that sort of player.
“I think with all of his tackles he always believes that he got the ball first and maybe he goes in with the right intentions.
“But he hasn’t got a very good tackling style.”
The Roar have issued a response to the “please explain” and the FFA are expected to announce their findings on Wednesday.
Macallister hinted that Tiatto was lucky to stay on the field for a two-footed, first-half challenge on Andre Gumprecht that earned the initial yellow card.
“I thought the first tackle was quite a dangerous tackle,” he said.
(But) it’s in his nature. He’s always been an aggressive player and always speaks his mind – he has done that throughout his career.
“It’s just a pity that he has let it affect his game.”
Roar coach Frank Farina has always feared that Tiatto’s no nonsense reputation precedes him when he is booked in the A-League.
But Macallister believes Tiatto has “got away with a lot”.
“He’s always one of the players who speaks his mind (on field) and most of the time he gets away with it,” he said.
“You watch any of his games. If he doesn’t agree with something he is always saying something.
“Another player might be punished – he has got away with a lot.”
But Macallister did not expect Tiatto to change his ways.
“The referee knows, the players know, everybody knows what he is like, and he’s not going to change,” he said.
“He is at the end of his career and he is always going to continue being the player he is.
“And that’s a great part of his game as well – you’d love to have that guy defending for your team.
“But it’s not so fun to play against.
“You are always thinking in the back of your mind is he coming for you.”
Tiatto was last week fined $500 by the FFA for describing referee Peter O’Leary’s decision to book him in the Roar’s 4-2 home win over Perth on January 24 as “disgraceful”.
And Farina reprimanded Tiatto after the fullback publicly called for the return of goalkeeper Liam Reddy at the expense of deputy Griffin McMaster.
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