Former referee accuses Sutton over rules but makes no defence of Beaton decision

Des Roache has attacked Chris Sutton, Stephen Craigan and Michael Stewart claiming that they don’t understand the Laws of the Game. 

Craigan was first to call out John Beaton on Monday night after the Lanarkshire based referee disallowed a ‘goal’ from Daizen Maeda following a handball by Giorgos Giakoumakis. 

At half-time Sutton and Stewart were in agreement with the former Motherwell defender as they discussed similar incidents earlier in the season when goals were allowed to stand. 

Roache’s refereeing career seemed to peak with three Championship matches in the 2014/15 season, according to Soccerbase his last match was a 3-0 win for Falkirk away to Dumbarton in December 2014. 

These days he has teamed up with Steve Conroy to produce a podcast for former Rangers Media chief Lindsay Herron who is now Sports Editor of the Scottish Daily Express. 

Turning on the pundits, the Express reports Roache saying: 

I think I’d be questioning the understanding of the rule book by most pundits. If you’re working at a high profile game broadcasting to the nation and questioning the referee’s knowledge of the laws of the game then you should have that knowledge yourself. 

Let’s get them in. A lot of people watching are taking what they are saying as fact so I think we should give them a laws of the game test. Why not get all of the presenters or pundits to be given a better understanding of the laws – it would give them more credence when they’re broadcasting. 

Tellingly Roache didn’t offer any defence or explanation for Beaton’s decision on Maeda’s ‘goal’.