David Moyes has expressed his frustration at the inconsistency of decisions from Premier League officials.
The Scot’s exasperation is compounded by the reluctance of referees to engage with managers post-match.
Everton were denied a clear penalty at the weekend as Thierno Barry was fouled by Arsenal defender William Saliba.
Indeed, Saliba kicked through the back of Barry’s foot, though contact was deemed ‘insufficient’ to be considered a foul.
Former Everton captain Don Hutchison took to Twitter to express his vexation, describing it as a ‘stone wall’ penalty.
David Moyes has now become aggravated following Fulham’s match-winning penalty last night.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Douglas Luiz’s contact with Fulham’s Kevin was similar to that of Saliba’s on Barry.
However, one was deemed sufficient enough for a penalty just 48 hours after another was not.
Speaking of the incident, Moyes said: “I was half choking last night when I saw the decision given and ours wasn’t.
“It feels as though certain clubs get those decisions and other clubs don’t. We seem to be on the latter side of that.
“There was one earlier in the season at Brentford with [Virgil] van Dijk which was quite similar and I think eventually it was given.
“We are disappointed it wasn’t given on the night and we are looking at others which have been.”
GOOD ON MOYES FOR SPEAKING OUT, BUT A CASE NEEDS TO BE PRESENTED OR NOTHING WILL CHANGE
When asked if he plans to present a case, Moyes insisted that referees are reluctant to engage with managers regarding their decision making.
Moyes continued: “I don’t really know. They don’t make it easy whatever you want. They don’t want to have a conversation about it really.
“They will have, but they don’t want to because they’re finding it probably very difficult to explain things.”
As per usual, the only consistent aspect of Premier League refereeing is their inconsistency.
It’s not surprising that they are reluctant to engage with managers. No doubt they will face questions they’re unable to answer on a weekly basis.
The referee’s ego is far too fragile to face such scrutiny.
