Defender Damien Delaney says football should follow America’s NFL and have more than one referee. The Irish international feels that a single ref is unable to keep up with the pace of the modern game.
Delaney told the club site: "For one referee to cover the whole pitch now is almost impossible.
"The speed of the game now is frightening. You watch how quick a team like Arsenal or Man United break from one end of the pitch to the other. No referee is going to get anywhere near staying up with play at the speed they move the ball. Defenders can't keep up with them, let alone the officials.
"My solution would be to have two referees. You could have one referee in each half, or one who is up and down and the other stays within the vicinity of the halfway line. If the first ref doesn't see an incident but the one on the halfway line does, then he gives it.”
Delaney feels UEFA’s current experiment with officials behind each goal is a start but thinks the football authorities could learn from the example set by America’s oval ball game: "They've introduced the refs behind the goal in the Europa League competition. I'm not totally convinced by that but it is a step in the right direction in my book.
"I watch a lot of NFL and I think we can learn from them. They've got about six referees with line judges, back judges. You've got every inch of the pitch covered and you very rarely get a controversial decision."