Wrexham’s renowned scorer, was given a “ridiculous” ban, and Phil Parkinson criticized referees for being “too eager” and new yellow card guidelines…

Wrexham are fuming at the “ridiculous” ban being served by Paul Mullin, with Phil Parkinson hitting out at the new EFL yellow card directives.

 

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Football League has implemented new rules for 2023–24 that are intended to keep the ball in play for as long as possible and cut down on time wasting. Dragons striker Mullin has been a victim of those protocols, with the prolific frontman currently serving a suspension after collecting five cautions.

 

WHAT THEY SAID

Wrexham are not happy at how cards are being dished out—with James McClean also banned—and Parkinson has told BBC Sport Wales after meeting with the EFL’s head of refereeing, Mike Jones: “A lot of bookings I discussed were the ones for delaying the restarts, and that was a directive to get the ball in play more—anyone delaying the restart would get a yellow—but they’ve just gone too far. The Mullin booking when he ran to take a throw-in against Sutton was ridiculous. He ran to pick up the ball to take the throw. George Evans had just passed the ball off the pitch, and it was never a booking. But once refs get it in their minds that they’ve been told to clamp down, certainly in the first third of the season, they go overboard, and I think that’s what you’re seeing, and it’s not just us.

“Of course within those bookings there are ones that can be avoided, but equally there are ones that, if you look at James McClean against Sutton, where he’s got fouled and in the action of him getting fouled, James clears the ball and he books him for time wasting—never in a million years. It’s something we’ve got to deal with. Every manager has frustrations with officials at the moment.”

 

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Parkinson went on to say of an issue that has clearly annoyed him: “It’s a big discussion point at the moment. I think there’s work to be done for the powers that be. We prided ourselves on not getting too many bookings last year, and we were at the top of the fair play league across the divisions apart from the Premiership. But it’s really easy to get booked.

“The refs are giving out too many yellow cards. I went through a lot of the yellows with the head of the referees, Mike Jones, and he agreed with me that a lot of them shouldn’t have been given. So I think the refs have been too eager at times, and there has been an inconsistency; that’s not just at this level; it’s the Premiership level as well.”