Wrexham fume at ‘ridiculous’ ban for star striker Paul Mullin as Phil Parkinson slams ‘too eager’ referees & new yellow card directives

The Football League has implemented new rules for 2023-24 that are intended to keep the ball in play for as long as possible and cut down on time wasting. Dragons striker Mullin has been a victim of those protocols, with the prolific frontman currently serving a suspension after collecting five cautions.

Wrexham are not happy at how cards are being dished out - with James McClean also banned – and Parkinson has told BBC Sport Wales after meeting with the EFL’s head of refereeing, Mike Jones: “A lot of bookings I discussed were the ones for delaying the restarts and that was a directive to get the ball in play more - anyone delaying the restart would get a yellow - but they've just gone too far. The Mullin booking, when he ran to take a throw-in against Sutton was ridiculous. He ran to pick the ball up to take the throw - George Evans had just passed the ball off the pitch and it was never a booking. But once refs get it in their mind that they've been told to clamp down, certainly in the first third of the season, they go overboard and I think that's what you're seeing and it's not just us.

"Of course within those bookings there are ones that can be avoided, but equally there are ones which, if you look at James McClean against Sutton - where he's got fouled and in the action of him getting fouled James clears the ball and he books him for time wasting - never in a million years. It's something we've got to deal with. Every manager has got frustrations with officials at the moment.”

Parkinson went on to say of an issue that has clearly annoyed him: “It's a big discussion point at the moment. I think there's work to be done for the powers that be. We prided ourselves on not getting too many bookings last year and we were top of the fair play league across the divisions apart from the Premiership. But it's so easy to get booked, it really is.

"The refs are giving out (too many) yellow cards. I went through a lot of the yellows with the head of the referees, Mike Jones, and he agreed with me that a lot of them shouldn't have been given. So I think the refs have been too eager at times and there has been an inconsistency, that's not just at this level, it's the Premiership level as well.”

Wrexham have fared admirably this season despite collecting cards on a regular basis, with an unbeaten run across all competitions that has reached 10 games helping the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney co-owned outfit to third place in the League Two table and a shot at back-to-back promotions.