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Ian Evatt reckons ref Rebecca Welch could have been given more help in yesterday’s game at the University of Bolton Stadium.
Wanderers appealed for three penalties, the most clear-cut of which was an apparent handball from defender Paul Osew on the stroke of half time.
Although the incident had little impact on the result, Evatt felt there should have been better communication from the fourth official Sebastian Stocksbridge and Welch’s assistant, Kevin Mulraine.
“For me, it is just the inconsistency of it,” he said. “Sometimes we (managers) are communicating with the fourths and the linesmen and they are actually making decisions and then other times, it is like ‘leave it to the boss’ and ‘they have got to make the call.’
“I’d just like to see some consistency. A bit like we are a team, they are a team as well, so the people in the middle need help, Rebecca needed help and I don’t think she really got the help she could have had.”
Despite disagreeing with her call on the handball, Evatt believes the Tyne and Wear official does have a promising future in the game.
“It was a penalty and I think the guy handballed it,” he said. “I don’t know how many were in the stadium but we all saw it.
“But it is difficult for officials. Rebecca is a really good female official with a bright future and I have kind of been on the journey with Rebecca because she was refereeing in the National League when I was managing Barrow, so I’m delighted that she is getting opportunities and coming to big stadiums like this to referee games.”
It has been proposed that the EFL will soon adopt a version of VAR to help referees on marginal decisions but while Evatt would welcome the use of technology, he would first like to see more professional referees in League One and Two.
“There is enough money in the game to warrant having VAR up and down the professional English pyramid,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that. There’s too much at stake, too much money being spent from top to bottom for us to miss out on decisions like that.
“Before VAR, what I’d actually like to see is all referees be professional, give them a chance, it’s really tough for people to be working other jobs and then especially night fixtures or Tuesday nights when they’ve been at work all day and having to travel.
“How are we going to get the best out of them and how are they going to improve when they’re not living and breathing football 24 hours a day, seven days a week?”
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