Everton news: Expert demands two radical changes after ‘bewildering’ update on Allan controversy
Danny Mills has called on officials to explain decisions in post-game interviews after Allan’s “bewildering” red card for Everton in their 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Thursday (17 March).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Leeds United and England defender also suggested the dialogue between referee and VAR officials should be broadcast.
Allan was shown a red card following a VAR review for his challenge on Allan Saint-Maximin after he was initially only cautioned.
As relayed by BBC Sport on Friday (18 March), Everton have had two appeals rejected and he will now miss two further games after sitting out today’s (20 March) 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.
“It was a bewildering decision at the time,” Mills said after analysing the footage with Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“I hate to say this because I really don’t like the phrase but those who haven’t played the game at that level don’t always understand it. I think that can be a huge problem sometimes.
“When referees say it was this or that, they are refereeing to the letter of the law and there is no actual thought as to what is happening.
“We’ve got to be careful, we seem to go to one extreme to the other with red cards. One week you can get away with it, the next you don’t get away with anything. There’s no consistency whatsoever and that causes the biggest problem.
“This is where referees need to come out and be accountable. Explain some of these decisions, especially the VAR decisions because they take a long time to look at them, they are not heat of the moment decisions made in a blink of an eye without every angle.
“With VAR you’ve seen all the angles, there’s no excuse to get that wrong.
“It would be very useful if that dialogue between the referee and VAR official was on an open mic. If the VAR says ‘I think that’s a red card, you need to go and have a look at it’, the referee won’t want to go against him, they stick together.
“If we heard that, the language and phrases that they use, they should say ‘I’m not sure, you need to have a look’.”
In other news, Everton could ‘shelve’ stadium plans amid a ‘crippling’ financial claim.