Slaven Bilic would like to see newly retired players become referees in a bid to help the beleaguered profession.
Andy Carroll and Bilic avoided FA punishment after criticising Jon Moss after his officiating of a 2-2 draw with Leicester, in which a late penalty was awarded against the striker for a challenge on Jeffrey Schlupp, and it is not the only occasion that West Ham have felt aggrieved by referees’ decisions.
The Hammers have borne the brunt of a string of controversial decisions over recent months, with a report by former assistant referee Glenn Turner claiming Bilic’s side would be second were it not for ‘errors’ by officials.
Bilic welcomed those findings to an extent, but is convinced that more must be done to improve the relationship between officials and players on the pitch. One of his suggestions was that former players could turn from poachers into gamekeepers and become referees.
“It would help if some players wanted to,” Bilic said. “It’s a good job, a good career now, they are like professionals.
“It’s a good idea because no one feels the frustration of the players to say something to the referee than the players themselves.”
Next season could see video assistants trialled in the FA Cup and Bilic is eager for football’s governing bodies to spread the technology as quickly as possible.
“For me there is no other option but technology – but up to some limit,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be like hockey, where you wait down there for two or three minutes. But something like goal technology - that you don’t even notice and that there is no pause or stop in the game and they are connected with watches or signals or whatever.”
“The sort of technology that is there but doesn’t affect the game. Because if the games loses its flow then I’d rather have these mistakes.”
