I can safely say that Gerard Parson’s performance in the Victory vs Glory game on the weekend has to be one of, if not, the worst ever by a referee in the A-League’s history. But the poor refereeing standards in the A-League is not a new issue.
In fact, it has been around since the league first started.
Whilst nearly every aspect of the A-League has improved in these five years, it has to be said that the standard of referees is the only thing that has not, and actually has declined.
Last season we saw some very, very poorly officiated games.
Whether it was inconsistency or horrible calls it seemed in nearly every game one of the referee’s decisions was a major talking point.
Penalties were missed, or wrongly given. Offsides were not given when they should have, and not given when they shouldn’t have. Yellow cards were handed out too much, or not enough.
Whatever it was, there was always something to talk about.
Some people might say that this happens all over the world. This is true of course. I watch many BPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, Copa Libertadores matches but I NEVER see the same amount of inconsistency or bad calls that I do in the A-League.
It seems as though A-League refs just aren’t up to it right now. But what can the FFA do to improve this?
– More courses for referees to do?
– Suspend referee’s for bad performances?
– Bring back Mark Shields?
The latter I would really like to see happen.
Mark Shields was the best referee the A-League has ever had, and will probably ever have or at least for a long time. He was consistent, he nearly always made the right decision, was fair, and he knew when to stop the play and when to let it flow.
And this is what I want to talk about now. Letting the game flow. Now there is letting the game flow, or letting the game become out of control. This can lead to players getting serious injuries.
And that’s exactly what happened in the Victory vs Glory game.
Parson was trying to let the game flow, something that has always been praised for some strange reason by the Fox Sports commentators. Fellow A-League referee, Strebre Delovski, referees in the same manner, and although sometimes it may be good, other times the game becomes out of control.
I can recall at least four tackles in the first half of the Victory vs Perth game that should of been given fouls, and even cautioned, but what did Parsons do?
Yep, you guessed it, ‘let the game flow’.
The Glory knew they could keep fouling the Victory, without being punished. Parson letting the game flow, made it then become out of hand. Hernandez was lucky not to be seriously injured, after a shocking tackle late in the game.
For this game to improve in this country, for it to develop further, the FFA NEED to address the current standard of referee’s right NOW. Because at the moment, it’s declining by the season.
FFA must take control now, before a player is seriously injured because of a referee’s inability to take control of a game.
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