Ange Postecoglou has demanded refs protect players from reckless tackles.
And the Celtic boss has called on all officials to stamp out dangerous challenges which endanger stars and could damage the image of the Scottish game globally.
Postecoglou described the tackle from Alloa’s Mouhamed Niang which left his midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi on the injured list as “terrible” and hit out at an instant failure to address the issue.
Match ref Don Robertson issued only a booking, but SFA chiefs last night upgraded the offence to a red card which Alloa are set to fight.
Postecoglou confessed he told his stars to steer clear of more dangerous tackles after the Ideguchi incident and says officials must offer protection.
He said: “I think the referee's role in any game is to be the protector of both sets of players and to make sure there’s an environment there that protects players from incidents like we saw.
“It wasn’t just the one that caused the injury, I thought there were quite a few challenges he could have taken better control of. For me, that’s one of the primary roles of any referee.
“I will be honest, I told some of the lads towards the end of the game to just not to bother going into tackles and just look after themselves because I didn’t want any more injuries.
“I just didn’t feel there was control of that environment. Sometimes players are just reckless, but that doesn’t mean it is excusable.
“We had a player who had a serious injury, there’s a couple of others who were lucky to escape from that and that is why I was disappointed with the way the night panned out.
“I don’t question referee’s decisions. I’ve never used them as an excuse.
“But, in terms of protection of players, that’s where referees have to be vigilant, because we’re told they will be at the start of every season,
“I’ve managed in different countries, I’ve managed in World Cups, and there are certain rules that have changed along the way in my 25 years of management.
“But the one consistent factor is that we’re always shown this vision of actions they deem to be premeditated or reckless.
“It doesn’t have to be premeditated, it can just be a challenge that is reckless, and anything that endangers a player on the field should be dealt with.
“I was disappointed it wasn’t dealt with the other night.”
Postecoglou believes the introduction of VAR in other countries has helped them clamp down on dangerous offences.
If it’s not clamped, he feels the worldwide reputation of the Scottish game could be tarnished.
Postecoglou continued: “Well I don’t think it’s a wider issue because most countries have VAR now and those kind of things don’t escape punishment anymore.
“That’s the right way to go about it. I don’t think anybody wants to see that and, at the same time, we want to sell this game and keep increasing the attention the game here in Scotland gets. We want to showcase it.
“We’ve signed players from the other side of the world, Hearts have signed a couple of Aussies.
“The game here is getting a global reach here now and I don’t think people want to tune in and see people getting hurt.
“They want to tune in and see exciting football, so it falls on everyone to protect the image of the game.
“If you have VAR, those sorts of incidents are dealt with pretty quickly now and what you see is less and less of them because players know they can’t escape that anymore.
“Here in Scotland, we obviously don’t have VAR, but it’s not just referees, because they can sometimes miss things.
“There are linesmen, fourth officials who are also part of the game and their role is to protect that environment so we all see what we want to see. Football being played.”
Ideguchi faces a term on the sidelines and the boss added: “To be out for a period of time because of something that during the game could have been taken control of by the referee is disappointing for him.”
