FFA sanction to silence outspoken Wanderers coach Markus Babbel
Western Sydney Wanderers coach Markus Babbel has vowed to stop talking about referees and “calm down” despite increasing frustrations at A-League officials.
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His team is about to play in near 40C, but Wanderers boss Markus Babbel is promising to keep his cool after earning another rap sheet for a broadside at referees.
Babbel has been cited under the FFA Code of Conduct for inflammatory comments about match officials, but today apologised for claiming his team was playing “11 v 12” last weekend after a contentious penalty decision meant Western Sydney left Auckland empty-handed in a 2-1 defeat to Wellington Phoenix.
The German believes it’s time to keep a level head with his side staring down the barrel of five straight defeats and extending their winless run to six matches should they lose to Perth Glory in the WA heat on Saturday.
“We said in our statement (to FFA) what we are thinking and also apologised for the mistakes and we’ll move on,” said Babbel. “I’m not saying anything any more about this. Maybe I have to calm down a bit more.
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“We hope now the future it won’t happen (referee decisions against the Wanderers) too often against us any more.
“If you work the whole week and prepare everything for the game and if the decisions aren’t right and they are against you, you’re not happy, it’s normal.
“I think we’ve said enough, everyone has eyes, we’ve talked about it.”
Babbel is likely to face a fine over his comments, after he was hit with a “show cause” notice on Wednesday.
Though Babbel had only just been reprimanded for swearing in a press conference, that is unlikely to have any bearing on his current case, the sanction for which will be based on precedent.
That suggests a fine of around $1500, based on similar cases in the past couple of seasons – though Babbel himself escaped sanction last season for saying FFA would have to be “f****** blind” not to see that standards of refereeing were below par.
“You can’t tell me this is bad luck,” Babbel had said following the club’s 2-1 defeat to Phoenix. “This is too often now, too often against us, and there’s something behind it, that’s my opinion.
“We have to understand that we play not against 11 but against 12 – this is a trend now.
“I really feel sad for the boys but it is like it is and we have to work harder.”
Babbel has other concerns too. The Wanderers have had their fair share of fast starts in recent weeks but have failed to follow through in the second half of matches.
They’ve conceded all their goals in the second half of their last three defeats despite leading the match or being level at the break.
The Perth heat poses a challenge to a team that has a history of short stamina in the dying moments of matches., and will do little to help Babbel cool down.
“Of course we are under pressure,” said Babbel. “If you don’t get results you are under pressure, it’s normal,” said Babbel.
“It’s up to us to change it. This is tough for the boys, it’s not easy. The temperature in Perth I think will be 40 degrees. It’ll be hard for us, the time difference and the long flight in the legs.”