ANGE: PROTECT OUR PLAYERS
game globally. Postecoglou described the tackle from Alloa’s Mouhamed Niang, which left his midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi on the injured list, as “terrible” and hit out at an instant failure to address the issue.
Match referee Don Robertson issued only a booking but SFA chiefs last night upgraded the offence to a red card, which Alloa are set to fight.
Postecoglou said: “The referee’s role in any game is to be the protector of both sets of players and to make sure there’s an environment there that protects players from incidents like we saw.
“It wasn’t just the one that caused the injury, there were quite a few challenges he could’ve taken better control of. For me, that’s one of the primary roles of any referee.
“I told some of the lads towards the end of the game to just not bother going into tackles and just look after themselves because I didn’t want any more injuries.
“I just didn’t feel there was control of that environment. Sometimes players are just reckless but that doesn’t mean it is excusable.
“We have a player who had a serious injury. There are a couple of others who were lucky to escape from that. And that is why I was disappointed with the way the night panned out.
“I don’t question referees’ decisions. I’ve never used them as an excuse. But, in terms of protection of players, that’s where referees have to be vigilant. We’re told they will be at the start of every season. I’ve managed in different countries, I’ve managed in World Cups, and there are certain rules that changed along the way in my 25 years of management.
“But the one consistent factor is we’re always shown this vision of actions they deem to be premeditated or reckless.
“It can just be a challenge that’s reckless and anything that endangers a player on the field should be dealt with. I was disappointed it wasn’t dealt with the other night.”
Postecoglou believes the introduction of VAR in other countries has helped them clamp down on dangerous offences.
He added: “That’s the right way to go about it.
“We want to sell this game and keep increasing attention the game here in Scotland gets. We want to showcase it.
“We’ve signed players from the other side of the world – Hearts have signed a couple of Aussies.
“The game here is getting a global reach now and I don’t think people want to tune in and see people getting hurt.
“They want to see exciting football, so it falls on everyone to protect the image of the game.
“If you have VAR, those sorts of incidents are dealt with pretty quickly and you see less because players know they can’t escape that.
“Here we don’t have VAR but it’s not just referees because they can sometimes miss things. There are linesmen, fourth officials, who are also part of the game and their role is to protect that environment.”