Could more communication reduce the disconnect with referees in the League of Ireland?

Managers questioning refereeing decisions is a tale as old as time and in this season's League of Ireland, officiating standards have been oft discussed.

After Shelbourne's narrow defeat to Derry City at the end of March when defender Paddy Barrett was shown a second yellow card, manager Damien Duff was critical of refereeing standards, stating that they were "not acceptable", in his view.

"Standards are going through the roof. Referees need to come with us," he said.

Prior to his departure as Cork City manager last week, Colin Healy also vented his frustration in the wake of a 5-0 loss to Bohemians when his side also had a player sent off, saying that refereeing decisions were "killing us" this season.

Scrutiny over officiating calls reared its head again last Friday when Bohs were not awarded a penalty for an apparent foul by Daniel Cleary on Jonathan Afolabi whilst trailing 1-0 to Shamrock Rovers late on.

Replays showed that Afolabi had been impeded and in the aftermath RTÉ soccer pundit Alan Cawley was critical of what he has been seeing.

"This isn't good enough. We talk about referees over and over," he said.

"It's a stonewall penalty. And these are the decisions that are costing managers their jobs. They're costing players and teams points."

The issue was discussed on this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast and former Shamrock Rovers, UCD and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Paul Corry suggested that a communication deficit was not helping the disconnect between match officials and stakeholders like managers and supporters.

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