'A mess' - Crawley Town boss gives verdict on refereeing standards as Northampton Town manager plans to meet with EFL chief over 'dodgy' decisions
Scott Lindsey has given his verdict on refereeing standards after he disagreed with 22 decisions during his side’s 1-1 draw with MK Dons.
And the Reds boss said it was unfair he was focussed on there referee’s performance when watching the game back because he should have been watching his players and how he could improve them.
Lindsey has bitten his tongue this season after tighter rules on being negative about referees have been introduced.
Our sister title the Northampton Chronicle and Echo revealed Cobblers boss Kevin Nolan was planning to hold talks with EFL refereeing chief Mike Jones this week after expressing his frustration over some ‘dodgy’ decisions in the first few weeks of the new season.
We revealed this to Lindsey and asked for his views on refereeing standards this season. “Like I have said in past interviews, we are not allowed to say too much in the press that’s negative [about referees],” he said. “But I have been asked two or three times now so I feel I have got to give you something.
“The tough thing for me is, I have just done the report for Tuesday night’s referee and there was something like 22 decisions that I question.
“The problem with that is that my job is tough enough as it is and when I watch the game back I should be watching the game back to improve my team, not to improve the referees.
“And I feel like I am doing a lot of work because of what I would see as poor refereeing, maybe I will get in trouble for even saying that.”
Lindsey is know for meticulous analysis of games and clips up moments from the games to use in team meetings and for one-on-ones with players.
"A lot of my day on Wednesday was taken up with watching the game back, I am trying to learn about my team but I am clipping decisions, putting notes together, coming in after training and having to sit with the secretary for an hour to go through the referee’s report and go through every decision I didn’t think was right,” said Lindsey.
“For me, there’s a lot of work going into the fact their performance isn’t very good and I don’t think that’s fair. I want to watch my game back to watch my players, not to watch a lot of poor decisions, in my opinion.
“It’s not in a good place and I understand why that’s [Kevin Nolan meeting with refereeing chief Mike Jones] happening. I chat to Mike Jones by text every Sunday and every Wednesday and I am putting reports in every week.
“And we should be getting to the point where we are not putting reports in every week but I feel we have to because I am unhappy with what I have seen. I think every fan in the stadium on Tuesday night was frustrated by what they were seeing. I think it’s in a mess.”