West Ham hard done by, says Poll

  • by Staff Writer
  • Thursday, 7th April 2016

Former Premiership referee Graham Poll believes that West Ham have been let down by poor referees in recent weeks.

The 52-year-old former official told the Mail Online that Mark Clattenburg may not have been wrong to dismiss Cheikou Kouyate against Crystal Palace last weekend - but insisted that too many substandard referees are charged with officiating Premier League matches.

"Something here is clearly wrong but there is no indication that anything will be done to change the situation, let alone improve it to a level of acceptability," said Poll.

"There have been just 49 red cards in the Premier League this season compared to 59 at this stage last season and yet seven have now been overturned — a damning statistic.

"Initially the review panel of former referees was set up to overturn only those red cards which were clearly wrong but now it seems they are going further, perhaps in response to the poor standard of officiating."




And on the Clattenburg and Kouyate incident, he added: "The decision to dismiss Kouyate for a high but not excessive tackle on Crystal Palace’s Dwight Gayle was harsh at worst and not a clear error.

"The referee at Upton Park was the usually excellent Mark Clattenburg, who appeared rushed and flustered on Saturday, perhaps revealing the state of confidence of one of the best we have.

"West Ham would be well placed to claim a Champions League place had decisions not gone against them regularly in recent games.

"We demand the best from our players and club managers, and it is time to do ask same from our officials and their managers, who hide away behind statistics rather than lead from the front."

West Ham have been issued no less than nine red cards this season, including three in the Europa League qualifying rounds.

Five of those have been in the Premier League - two of which have been rescinded. A third red card - also issued to Kouyate, in the FA Cup fifth round tie at Blackburn - was also overturned upon appeal.

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