Gus Poyet criticises Roger East after Wes Brown red card confusion
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Version 0 of 1. Gus Poyet became the latest manager to criticise refereeing standards after Sunderland felt the wrong defender was dismissed in conceding a penalty in their 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford. John O’Shea wrestled Radamel Falcao to the ground in the 64th minute of a tedious game and Wayne Rooney scored the penalty, but despite O’Shea’s protests, it was his fellow centre-back, Wes Brown, who was shown the red card by Roger East. Brown was on the scene, albeit arriving a little late, but that seemed the limit of his culpability. It was certainly O’Shea who used his hands to pull Falcao over, and the striker was falling to the ground by the time Brown came in with an attempt to smother his shot. “The referee told the players there were two fouls,” Poyet said. “One by John O’Shea and one by Wes Brown. I have seen the replay and Wes Brown did not touch anyone. He said he gave the penalty for Brown’s foul but how can you give a penalty for something that didn’t happen, never mind send the player off?” East has told Professional Game Match Officials’ Limited, the Premier League referees’ governing body, it was not a case of mistaken identity as he believed Brown and O’Shea made contact with Falcao in the incident that resulted in a penalty. The Sunderland manager intends to replay the incident a few more times with club officials and staff before deciding whether to appeal, although presumably even if successful that would only transfer the blame to O’Shea. At least that would be the correct outcome, however. As Poyet said, there have been too many refereeing mistakes for comfort in the past few weeks. On Friday morning a Fifa committee rejected a Dutch proposal to introduce instant video reviews to assist referees. Such an innovation might have come to Brown’s aid at Old Trafford, although Poyet is not sure technology is the answer. “I like football like it is,” he said. “But I do think it is time for referees to get better. One decision can change a game and far too many have been wrong this season. I accept that people can make mistakes, maybe I made one myself in not changing things around before the penalty was conceded, but before changing the nature of the game I think there is room for referees to improve. At the moment I think they are hiding from their responsibility.” East has been involved in controversy before now. Last season his officiating at a game between Fulham and Stoke saw Mark Hughes and his board make an official complaint to the head of referees, Mike Riley. Poyet had no complaints about the giving of a penalty, and neither did Louis van Gaal, who had been about to replace Falcao with Marouane Fellaini when the Colombian was brought down. The United manager accepted his team had been nervous and ineffective in the first half and also accepted that £60m acquisition Ángel Di María had been part of the problem. The former Real Madrid player had another shocking game and was withdrawn at half-time. “I have to take the necessary steps to win and I thought I had to make the change,” Van Gaal said. “We were much better in the second half so I cannot say it was the wrong decision. Ángel is still adapting to the Premier League, the rhythm of the game here is much higher than in other countries. “He needs time and we also need to help him lift his confidence again, but I am sure he will overcome this period.” |