Damien Duff is right to be frustrated by some of the refereeing decisions in the League of Ireland according to former players Graham Gartland and David McMillan, with the latter suggesting that officials could let games flow more.
The Shelbourne manager was aggrieved by a second yellow card meted out to his defender Paddy Barrett during their 1-0 defeat to Derry City in the Premier Division on Friday night.
Duff's gripes with the standard of refereeing in the league was evident when he spoke to RTÉ Sport immediately after the match.
"I don't accept the standard of refereeing in this country," the former Republic of Ireland international told Tony O'Donoghue, adding that, "We're trying to up the standards. The fans are amazing in every ground, not just Shelbourne fans, [but] every ground in the country there's a sell-out week in, week out. Standards are going through the roof. Referees need to come with us."
He wasn't the only manager disappointed by a refereeing call with Dundalk's Stephen O'Donnell critical of a straight red that was shown to Robbie Benson against Shamrock Rovers, although the Lilywhites have lost an appeal against that decision.
Ex-Dundalk striker McMillan and former Drogheda United defender Gartland were on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast and both felt that Duff had a point in regard to the consistency of some of the officiating decisions made over the years.
Watch Damien Duff's post-match interview and Gartland and McMillan's reactions on this week's podcast:
"When I was playing in the league, we probably had the same gripes as well so I don't think this is just a new thing," said Gartland.
"We went full-time in the 2000s and a lot of the refs would have struggled a lot to come with us at that stage and I think at this stage they're probably similar.
"That's not to pile in on the referees. It's always been an issue. Especially the opening 10 games, I always find at the start of every season, they're probably given a mandate to clamp down on certain incidents and what comes about from that is a lot of yellow cards and a lot of red cards for stuff that probably later on in the season won't be punished. So I'd agree with Damien."
Gartland did not feel Barrett's jostling with Jamie McGonigle for an aerial ball warranted a second booking but also said while the referee was harsh to pull out a second yellow on that occasion, he was correct for a later decision when he did not award Shelbourne a penalty in the dying seconds at Tolka Park.
Shelbourne's Paddy Barrett has been dismissed after picking up a second yellow card at Tolka Park for what many will regard as an innocuous challenge. #SHEDER
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"But it doesn't negate the fact that, he's probably made the wrong call on Paddy Barrett," Gartland continued.
McMillan agreed with Gartland's view and adding the Benson sending off to the equation said that consistency of decision-making is the issue.
"I think it's the same feeling there. Everybody in the stadium felt, 'Maybe a yellow card', but there's no need to send off the player and I think that's the frustration for players to see games changed on tiny little moments that there isn't a real need to get involved," he said.
"I went early in the season out to Dalymount to watch Bohemians and Dundalk and I think there were 11 or 12 yellow cards and I came away from the game thinking I didn't see a bad challenge.
"There were maybe two or three cheeky pull-backs where the ref had to give a booking but you're coming away thinking there could have been a player sent off for absolutely no reason and I think that's where the frustration is.
"We're seeing it even in the English Premier League now that referees are letting a little bit more go and I think we could probably follow suit in that regard and try and let the game flow a little bit more.
"And the little fouls don't have to be yellow cards because referees put themselves in a situation then where they've got a tricky decision to make later in the game that they don't have to make."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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