'F*cking blind'- Babbel blasts A-League refereeing

After seeing his team concede three goals in seven minutes against Perth Glory in a 4-3 loss, Western Sydney Wanderers coach Markus Babbel couldn't help but question the standard of A-League refereeing.

The German's side was on the wrong end of a soft penalty decision that saw Juande slot home the match winner, while Diego Castro's first goal also required a VAR review.

Babbel has now lost four straight A-League games and struggled to contain his anger when asked about the refereeing.

“If I say that, what I think, what is in me then I get a (fine) or I get banned, so I’m not talking about it,” Babbel said post-match.

“But you have the chance to talk about it because I saw a fantastic game, two games played a really good style of football I think for the supporters, for the people in the stadium, was a fantastic game to watch.

“And now is the chance for you there to talk about it because this is not professional-like. The quality — if I see all the games, not only watching our games, I see many, many more games — this is not good enough. That’s it.

"Now you have the help with the VAR and even then you do so many mistakes.

“This is very hard to accept and especially if you have a team on the pitch like today with so many young players that deserved definitely more. But what will you do?"

Asked whether he would take his referee grievances up with A-League bosses, Babbel declared the issue is too hard to miss. 

"If they don’t see it, then they’re f*cking blind,” he said.

"So they have to see it and they have to do something because the quality is not good enough.

"I know it’s not an easy job, don’t understand me wrong, but if you decide to do it, then you have to know, it’s similar to my job, to the players, we get criticised. And now is for me, too many mistakes.

"And you can see it, but I don’t know what’s going on in their heads, they’re making decisions — you can’t understand this and it’s very hard to accept and they also have to improve.

"We have to improve, I have to improve — but they also have to improve. And this is now a good time for you, for all the experts in the league to talk about it — because if you’re not talking about it, nothing will change."

Since arriving in the A-League, Babbel has quickly developed a reputation for saying what he thinks having previously openly criticised players and his team to the media. 

The result on Sunday leave the Wanderers in eighth, 10 points adrift of the top six, while Glory have opened up a six-point gap atop the A-League ladder.