No point complaining about referees says Tranmere manager Parry

Aug 18 2011 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

MANAGER Les Parry reckons Tranmere would be wasting their time if they complain about the refereeing issues at the centre of their 3-2 defeat at Notts County – because they won’t be heard.

Parry argues clubs don’t have an effective voice when responding to the decisions of match officials. He says the process in which clubs mark the performance of referees is flawed and described it as “just lip service.”

Parry made his comments as Rovers counted the cost of a reverse at Meadow Lane in which they conceded the winner to a last gasp disputed penalty and had two players sent off in injury time, both for handball.

Parry admitted his coaching staff were “going wild” as a League OneŠgame of fluctuating fortunes and 11 bookings reached a dizzying climax.

However, theŠthe extent of Parry’s criticism of referee Michael Naylor was to say: “It is just a shame that the referee is going to get all the headlines and not the two groups of players.”

Tranmere, a goal up in 10 minutes through skipper John Welsh, fell behind to strikes by Julian Kelly and Krystian Pearce early in the second half but looked to have securedŠ a share of Šthe points on the strength of an 80th minute equaliser from Joss Labadie.

Right back David Raven was sent off for a second bookable offence, handball, in the fourth minute of injury time and two minutes later striker Adam McGurk was penalised for handling on the goal line. Jeff Hughes converted the penalty to give Notts County the victory.

Parry said: “The lads were saying the ball hit Adam on the knee. The referee was eight yards away and looking straight at it. The linesman, who was on the other side of the knee that it hit, signalled for the penalty. There is something wrong with that.

“But we’ve got to accept it. It is a waste of time complaining about referees.

“We’ve asked for feedback from (referees’) assessors in the last three games and we have not got anything yet. We will eventually get it and if we find we were right it won’t affect the referee’s score. So the whole process is a waste of time.

“They asked us for our marks but it is just lip service. Referees will always make mistakes, managers will always make mistakes and players will always make mistakes. It is just when there are so many in one game that it is hard to take.”

Tranmere will be without suspended Raven and McGurk when they take on the division’s joint leaders Sheffield United at Prenton Park this weekend.

However, Parry says he is confident Ian Goodison will be fit to face the Blades after leaving the action at Meadow Lane with a cut head.

He said: “It was more of a cut than concussion so hopefully Ian will be all right. It is right on his forehead so we need some sort of bandage to stop it from splitting open but Ian will like that.

“We are going into the Sheffield United game without David Raven and Adam McGurk which is a big hit.

“Adam has done well so far this season and we are not over endowed with left-sided players.

“But we will pick the lads up because Sheffield United is another massive game for us.”

While Tranmere were losing their 100 per cent start to the season at Meadow Lane, The Blades made it three wins out of three with a 3-2 home success over Walsall.

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Macclesfield Town Youth 2 Tranmere Rovers Youth 0

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Tranmere’s youngsters failed to build on the momentum of a handsome opening day win over Stockport.

Head of Youth Shaun Garnett said: “We had chances to win the game and for a long time we did not seem to be in much danger of losing. It was frustrating to end up with nothing.

“You hope the boys will perform to a decent standard but a lot of of them dropped below a 6/10 level. We need to find some consistency.”

Tranmere play host to Port Vale in a YouthŠAlliance fixture at Raby Vale on Saturday, (11.00am).