It’s not been the best time of late for the referees in the Premier League.
As with season’s past, there seems to come a time where officials appear not to be able to get any of the basics right.
Whether that be as a result of feeling under more pressure than usual, or an over-reliance on VAR isn’t known, but the fact is that refereeing standards are continuing to slip.
Only this past weekend, Paul Tierney and his VAR had a nightmare at White Hart Lane during the Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool game.
A clear sending off for Spurs captain, Harry Kane, was completely overlooked, and his potential leg-breaking tackle on the Reds’ Andy Robertson was only punished by a yellow card.
Despite this clear and obvious error from Tierney, VAR didn’t ask him to view the pitch side monitor.
Were he to have done so, it’s almost certain that he would have changed the yellow to red, something which he did do when Robertson was again involved later in the match, chopping down Spurs defender, Emerson Royal.
Those are not isolated incidents, however.
Indeed, according to The Telegraph, Newcastle are preparing to make a formal complaint to the Premier League regarding decisions that have gone against them recently.
It appears that the Magpies are unhappy with certain decisions from the defeats against Leicester City, Manchester City and Liverpool, and will be seeking clarity from the powers that be on how and why those decisions were reached.