March 29, (THEWILL) – Manchester United interim manager, Ralf Rangnick, has thrown his weight behind a proposal that would see English Premier League referees train with the league’s 20 teams.
This season, the standard of top-level refereeing has been heavily criticised by managers, players, and fans alike.
Rangnick made this proposal at a recent meeting with the president of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Mike Riley. The United gaffer proposed that referees conduct their training with clubs in an effort to improve relations and engender understanding.
The German reasoned that enabling referees to be in close quarters with players on a more regular basis would allow both sides to become better acquainted.
Rangnick received support from the other managers in attendance, and the concept is currently being evaluated by PGMOL ahead of its potential implementation beginning next season.
Currently, referees train together away from teams a few times per week before being assigned fixtures to oversee.
Elsewhere at the conference, a number of managers, including Rangnick and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, stated that the Premier League needs to recruit professional VAR officers, and there was also harsh criticism of the “clear and evident” term that requires VAR to intervene.
Burnley manager Sean Dyche also pleaded with officials to punish players for simulation, while Norwich’s Dean Smith and West Ham’s David Moyes spoke out against the delayed raising of offside flags in some situations.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
