Jones blasts shocking officials

Last updated : 15 March 2010 By BBC Sport

Cardiff boss Dave Jones expects to face disciplinary action after slamming the match officials' in their 1-0 loss at Leicester as "absolutely shocking". Jones admitted referee Karl Evans and his fellow officials were not responsible for the Bluebirds' defeat.

But he claimed Evans told the Cardiff boss officials do not need to know the game, only its laws.

"I've been in the game a long time and for someone to tell me that is shocking," said Jones.

Cardiff lost to a 30th-minute Martyn Waghorn goal, but overall Jones was pleased with his side's display.

But that feeling did not extend to Evans and his colleagues.

Jones described their displays as: "Terrible, absolutely shocking."

He added: "I said to him [Evans] "you don't know the game". He said "you don't need to know it - you just need to know the laws of the game".

"No you don't. You need to know the game. Otherwise we can all go and officiate every game that's around the world.

"I might as well go and learn the rules of rugby and go and become a referee in that but I won't know what is a little shove and a little push and a bend-over so the lad goes over the top.

"I've been in the game a long time and for someone to tell me that is shocking.

"It didn't cost me the game in any way. But that's half the problem at the moment.

"They [officials] think they know the laws of the game, we think we know the game and somewhere along the line we've got to marry it up.

"And they are not doing it. So maybe they all need to get their heads together and crack a few and say "hang on, you don't have to have played the game at the highest level, but you need to have played it".

"You need to have played at some level, whether it be park level or whatever. Because there's tackles that will go in and you'll know, you'll know what's a good tackle.

"But the law says it's a foul, then the other guy gave him a little shove or whatever, then you need to know that.

"They were awful. And I'll probably get in trouble.

"The [Leicester] keeper should have got the biggest round of applause from the save he made from Whitts [Cardiff's Peter Whittingham}.

"And what does he [Evans] do? He gives a goal-kick. And the whole stadium must be laughing at him.

"And there's four of them - the fourth official can't do anything about it - I don't even know why they're there."

Jones says some laws also need re-examining and added of the officials' influence: "It still didn't cost us the game - I'm not saying that.

"I'm not deflecting it [defeat]. But I can see some light for us. But I need some better officials to go into the game, especially the games that are going on now at the business end of the season."

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport