Sydney FC head coach Ufuk Talay says it was a ‘poor decision’ to send Patrick Wood off during Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory.
The Sky Blues forward was shown a straight red following a VAR review of the incident which saw him catch Victory defender Adama Traore above the ankle whilst the pair challenged for the ball.
“At the A-League, we’re trying to grow a brand and a product,” said Talay during his post-match press conference. “And I think for 35 minutes it was a great spectacle, both teams with 11 men on the park.
“In my opinion I think it was a poor decision which got a call from VAR to have a look at. I believe every time you go to look at something you’re looking to find something.
“When you slow it down it probably looks even worse than what it is… that decision I think ruined the game, all up.”
Talay wasn’t the only one who felt the decision to send off Wood was a harsh one, with Network Ten commentator Daniel McBreen also critical of the officials’ call.
“This is nowhere near a red card for mine,” said McBreen. “He’s looking at the ball, he just tries to cushion that ball down, he actually bends his toe to cushion the ball. For me, the officials have got that one wrong.”
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Melbourne Victory legend and Network Ten commentator Archie Thompson also felt the decision was a harsh one, saying he felt ‘there was nothing in it.’
“I’m with Macca (McBreen) on this one,” said Thompson. “I saw it and it looked like he had eyes for the ball. It’s really disappointing because when you go a man down in a fixture like this and the way the game was going, it was disappointing the ref showed the red. I didn’t think there was anything in it.”
Meanwhile Victory head coach Tony Popovic believes the process of how decisions are reviewed by the VAR may need to be altered and questioned whether or not watching actions at slower speeds can change a referee’s perspective.
“When you go to VAR things are always slowed down,” said Popovic when asked about the call to dismiss Wood. “They can always look different, they can look worse in some instances. I don’t know if that was the case here because I only saw it live, I haven’t seen any replays.
He continued: “The thing with VAR, it will still be human decisions because there’s someone in the booth that’s telling the ref to have a look. So it’s a human decision.
“I’ve said it before. I prefer the referee made his call and whatever it is, it is, in terms of those incidents.
“They always tell us that players are different, you know you’ve got different types of players, you’ve got different styles within a game, also referees, they referee differently. We have to accept that.
“One fourth official will let it go, one referee will let it go and another won’t. That’s the variable that you get.”
