Yesterday must have been a pretty weird day for wee Davie Moyes. First Alan Wiley, the myopic ref who made a pig’s ear of the Stoke v Everton game at the weekend, phoned him to admit that he had made a hash of the penalty decision which turned Moyes’ hair an even more irate shade of orange. Then, hours later, poor Moyes – no doubt buoyed by the call with Wiley – gets smacked with an FA disciplinary charge for his antics during the game.

In the Stoke v Everton game, a fiery encounter, Wiley blew up for a penalty after Leon Cort handballed, but then inexplicably changed his mind.

Kudos to the ref, who was man enough to give Moyes a ring after the Everton boss said that he’d apologise to Wiley if he was wrong about the penalty – but he’d expect the same if Wiley was in the wrong.

Moyes said:

“Alan has phoned me and I think everyone will understand why he has done that,” Moyes said. “I don’t think it will influence things, but all I can do is hope that the people who look at it understand and take into consideration the reason why I was upset.

“In fairness to the referee, he has put a call into me. The Respect campaign is really important, but you’ve got to earn respect and he has earned a great deal of respect from me.” (Times)

Quite why the FA have blustered in with a charge just as Wiley and Moyes seemed to have settled everything like gentlemen is beyond me.

Watch Everton Live Online