Clough on quest to improve standard of refereeing

Nigel Clough has been in charge of Mansfield Town since November 2020

Mansfield Town manager Nigel Clough is on a crusade to try to improve refereeing standards, and canvassing fellow bosses across the English Football League for support.

The 59-year-old has used the League Managers Association (LMA) to ask its members what they think about the performance of match officials.

Clough has often spoken out about refereeing decisions after matches, and was most recently critical of a fourth official at Mansfield Town's Carabao Cup defeat at Everton for being "sarcastic" towards him.

But the Stags boss insists his desire to talk about calls made during matches and his efforts to now start a conversation about standards is not targeted at match officials themselves.

"Someone asked me 'can I talk to you about your campaign against referees?' But there is no campaign against referees," Clough told BBC Radio Nottingham.

"They are missing the point totally.

"It's not about the referees, it's about how they are being coached and what they are being told that is the biggest problem.

"I think they need more guidance and more help, and I don't think they are getting the right messages from above."

Clough said he hopes to go on to speak to referees' body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) about what managers from across the EFL have to say.

The former England and Nottingham Forest striker says it is something he has discussed with former Reds team-mate Brian Laws, who is a technical advisor at the LMA.

"He is the liaison at the LMA with the PGMOL and he said they'd like to chat, but it's a little early," Clough said.

"I just want to get a feeling first of all. Because every single manager we talk to after games has similar feelings to us, that unfortunately the divide is getting wider in terms of how the referees are being asked to officiate and what player and manager want."

Asked if that divide was down to rules being too complicated, Clough responded: "I honestly don't know, but some of the phrases you hear from [match official] assessors and coaches and from the head of referees seem completely alien."

Clough used the interpretation of the handball rule, the vagaries of what is a natural position and what may be intentional, as one frustrating example.

"Honestly, I've given up on trying to work it out," he said.

"Everyone seems to make it very difficult for referees."

Clough has previously called for the use of goalline technology to be introduced across League One and League Two to help with decisions.

He reiterated his support for that, but is strongly opposed to the idea of bringing video assistant referee (VAR) technology into week-to-week use at that level.

It has been used in the EFL play-off finals for a number of year now.

"I'm not fussed about VAR," he said.

"It shows that you can take them [match officials] away, put them in a little room, look at every single angle, use freeze frame, slow motion and everything, and still they get it wrong.

"That is an issue in itself."