Consistency needed from referees in new time-delaying rules, says Dons boss Alexander

MK Dons boss Graham Alexander has called for a bit more consistency from referees when it comes to punishing players for deemed time-wasting after Craig MacGillivray was shown his second yellow card of the season on Saturday.

Officials have tried to clamp down on what they see as delaying the game from set-pieces, throw-ins and goal kicks this term, an are quick to flash warnings.

But the Dons head coach believes there are inconsistencies in the way the rules are being interpreted by referees - crucially based on whether a team is winning or not.

While Tranmere keeper Luke McGee took a few seconds at goal-kicks - no more than would normally be expected - while his side were under pressure in the first-half at Stadium MK and went without punishment, the Dons keeper was booked in the second-half for doing the same.

Alexander believes the decision to book MacGillivray, and indeed Sunny Gill’s reaction to Dons players taking their time compared to Tranmere players doing the same, needs to be more consistent and based on the momentum in the game, not just who is winning at the time.

“I understand the principles behind it, and I back them,” said Alexander. “We want to play with a high intensity and tempo, but this is a drastic change.

“Craig didn’t deserve a booking on Saturday. In the first-half, their keeper was taking just as much time when we were well on top. That’s fine by us as long as there is consistency.

“In the first game, we saw the opposition kick the ball away three or four times but it was deemed not to slow the tempo of the game, which it definitely was. And then on Saturday, Tranmere kicked it away but because they were losing, it was not seen as time wasting. But it was. We wanted to play it quickly, 1-0 was not enough in our eyes, and we wanted another goal.

“It has been inconsistent in the first few games. A couple of our players have been penalised for it, and rightly so, but there have been instances based on the scoreline that have not been.

“Timing-wise, it's fairly black and white: the clock stops for injuries, goals, stuff like that. But the interpretation of the tempo of the game has to improve.

“The referees we've had have managed the games in decent fashion though.”

“Maybe it will balance out”

Stoppage time is also coming under the microscope in the early knockings this season, with long periods now being added to the end of halves compared to previous years. In the opening three games, Dons have played 35 minutes of stoppage time already.

With the games coming thick and fast in August especially - Dons will play seven games in the opening month of the campaign - Alexander believes the vast amount of minutes being added on will start to settle the more everyone gets used to the new rules, but will hold and judgements he has on it until then.

He added: “The first month is very heavy with games, and maybe it will balance out. But maybe we have to manage it differently to make sure it's not nine, ten, eleven minutes at the end of games.

“I'll wait to make my judgement for a couple of months to see whether it enhances the game. At the end of the day, that's what they're trying to do. If it works, we have to change with it. If not, then something has to change on the other side.

“We want to make the game something people want to watch, but I think we already had that. It's already a popular sport and it's at its most popular.

“We don't see it as a negative, just something we have to overcome, something to build into our fitness and mentality.”