West Ham United controversy leaves BBC pundit furious
Michael Brown slammed referee Tim Robinson for his “blatant” error that cost West Ham United against Aston Villa.
Graham Potter lost his first match in charge of the Hammers in the 2-1 FA Cup loss on Friday (10 January) as Robinson made the “awful” decision to award the hosts a corner, leading to the equaliser at Villa Park.
Former Premier League midfielder Brown reflected on the incident on the BBC 5 Live Football Daily podcast [13 January, 21m 16s] and believes the error “just doesn’t get any worse” from a referee.
He said: “Honestly, it’s a mad, mad decision, isn’t it? He’s looking at it right across, and he must have switched off for a second.
“Generally they just wait and say well ‘Did I really see that, did I not?’. [They] look for a reaction. He maybe still had time to have a little bit of a recovery, but it just doesn’t get any worse.
“I think from a referee that was one of those decisions that he goes, and he sits, and he tries to reflect, and he just thinks ‘Why did I do it? How do I learn? How does it not happen again?’ It’s just a real bad error from the referee. We don’t often see one as blatant as that, to be honest.”
Graham Potter cost first West Ham United win
This is a really, really bad look for the PGMOL.
In English football, the leading referee governing body are widely detested by supporters across the country and the decision against West Ham is one in a long list of officiating errors already this season.
Even with VAR in use at Villa Park, Robinson arrogantly refused to ask for a second opinion as Amadou Onana’s cross blatantly avoided a touch from an Irons player before going out of play.
Potter was on course to start his tenure in East London with a bang after Lucas Paqueta gave the visitors the lead after nine minutes, but following Onana’s controversial equaliser in the 71st-minute, Morgan Rogers sealed the tie five minutes later.
While the Irons still have plenty of positives to take away from the encounter, notably the promising first team debut of academy starlet Ollie Scarles, the manner of the FA Cup exit is a tough pill to swallow.
Nevertheless, the abysmal decision should not derail Potter’s bright start at West Ham, and the anger should be channelled into ensuring the boss begins his Premier League campaign in winning fashion when they host Fulham on Tuesday (14 January).
Howard Webb and Mike Dean love to talk their way out of situations like this one—not this time.
In other West Ham news, the Irons ready a cut-price deal for Everton striker.
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