Bad ref decisions - for and against - season 2025/26

[riddick]

24/11/25 Man Utd 0 Everton 1

Gana sent off after 13 mins for slapping Keane in the face.
Yes it was a clear slap but negligible force. Complete over reaction from an officious twerp of a ref Tony Harrington. Yellow would have sufficed.
Shocking decision. Awful ref.

Match Officials​

Referee:Tony Harrington
Video Assistant Refereeaul Howard
Assistant Referee 1:Nicholas Hopton
Assistant Referee 2:Craig Taylor
Fourth Official:Anthony Taylor
Assistant VAR Official:Sian Massey-Ellis

You can't honestly think that this was a bad decision? It doesn't matter who you hit. By your logic Cantona shouldn't have had ANY ban because it was neither a teammate or an opponent.

 

[terryefc]

It wasn’t a shocking decision. You’d hope he could have been a bit more lenient with it being a team mate and just booked him, but it’s not a shocker by any stretch, there’s undoubtedly a very good case for it to be a red.

Maybe a shocking rule then. There was minimal force and it was a team mate. Hardly violent conduct which is what the rule is for. If the ref took a breath and in the context of the incident a yellow was more than sufficient punishment. I get that PL would have criticised him but he could have ruined that game for thousands of supporters and people who just love the game. It's a terrible rule and the ref should have applied common sense.

 

[terryefc]

You can't honestly think that this was a bad decision? It doesn't matter who you hit. By your logic Cantona shouldn't have had ANY ban because it was neither a teammate or an opponent.

It was a terrible decision by a weak minded officious ref. Yellow was more than adequate punishment for a minor fracas between team mates.

 

[lieneverton]

It wasn't a 100% wrong decision, but I also thought it was poor refereeing. The law allows subjectivity and there was clearly very little force in it. To get the red out so quickly struck me as him panicking and thinking he saw something worse.

It'll get swept under the carpet because we won.

 

[Lanolin]

Maybe a shocking rule then. There was minimal force and it was a team mate. Hardly violent conduct which is what the rule is for. If the ref took a breath and in the context of the incident a yellow was more than sufficient punishment. I get that PL would have criticised him but he could have ruined that game for thousands of supporters and people who just love the game. It's a terrible rule and the ref should have applied common sense.

It’s not a terrible rule either, ideally you don’t want players going round slapping eachother, it’s quite right that there’s a rule to prevent it.

The point is, ideally the referee would have taken the players to one side, had a word with them to calm down and booked gueye, but him not doing that doesn’t make it a ‘shocking’ decision and acting this way about every single refereeing decision you don’t like is just daft. If I was the ref I wouldn’t send him off but it’s a perfectly understandable application of a perfectly understandable law. It could have been handled better, but realistically you just have to hold your hands up and say it’s the player’s fault really not the referee’s.

 

[lieneverton]

The ref could have handled it a lot better, but if we saw the opposition do this we'd be livid if the red didn't come out (regardless of our feelings on the law itself).

I don't agree with it or the application of it, but it wasn't an egregious decision.

 

[terryefc]

It’s not a terrible rule either, ideally you don’t want players going round slapping eachother, it’s quite right that there’s a rule to prevent it.

The point is, ideally the referee would have taken the players to one side, had a word with them to calm down and booked gueye, but him not doing that doesn’t make it a ‘shocking’ decision and acting this way about every single refereeing decision you don’t like is just daft. If I was the ref I wouldn’t send him off but it’s a perfectly understandable application of a perfectly understandable law. It could have been handled better, but realistically you just have to hold your hands up and say it’s the player’s fault really not the referee’s.

I said that he should have taken a breath and booked Gana. He panicked bebause he thought it was worse than it was. VAR didn't help him. It was a shocking decision in my opinion. There was no real need for a red. Even Gary Neville agreed. I'm also quite balanced in how I view decisions against us. I just want a fair impartial view - but I'm fed up with bias for the SKY 6. Let's see how all these decisions stand at the end of the season.

 

[Lanolin]

I said that he should have taken a breath and booked Gana. He panicked bebause he thought it was worse than it was. VAR didn't help him. It was a shocking decision in my opinion. There was no real need for a red. Even Gary Neville agreed. I'm also quite balanced in how I view decisions against us. I just want a fair impartial view - but I'm fed up with bias for the SKY 6. Let's see how all these decisions stand at the end of the season.

I think there’s a massive gap between saying there’s no real need for a red and a shocking decision, that’s my point. I 100% agree there was no real need for a red I just don’t agree it was a shocking decision and I’m not sure I’ve really seen any reaction at all that says it was, whether from the players, the manager, or even from Gary Neville who you seem to want suggest agrees despite him not saying anything of the sort.

 

[MACCA75]

I wonder if Bruno Fernandes would have been sent off for that today. I doubt it somehow.

 

[terryefc]

I think there’s a massive gap between saying there’s no real need for a red and a shocking decision, that’s my point. I 100% agree there was no real need for a red I just don’t agree it was a shocking decision and I’m not sure I’ve really seen any reaction at all that says it was, whether from the players, the manager, or even from Gary Neville who you seem to want suggest agrees despite him not saying anything of the sort.

You seem to be quite a pedantic cove. And not a little patronising suggesting I get annoyed at every ref decision I don't agree with. Incorrect.
Are you a ref? In the context of that game I'd wager 99% think it was a shocking decision. Put up a poll and see how many agree it was a correct decision. It was awful. Referees need to manage the game with discretion and common sense.

 

[TheBigIguana]

It’s not a terrible rule either, ideally you don’t want players going round slapping eachother, it’s quite right that there’s a rule to prevent it.

The point is, ideally the referee would have taken the players to one side, had a word with them to calm down and booked gueye, but him not doing that doesn’t make it a ‘shocking’ decision and acting this way about every single refereeing decision you don’t like is just daft. If I was the ref I wouldn’t send him off but it’s a perfectly understandable application of a perfectly understandable law. It could have been handled better, but realistically you just have to hold your hands up and say it’s the player’s fault really not the referee’s.

The interpretation of violent conduct has been a shambles for a long time

 

[Blast_of_Cannock]

3 match ban. For a little love slap. You've gotta laugh.

 

[Rita_Poon]

3 match ban. For a little glove slap. You've gotta laugh.

 

[pfim]

If he had done that to a United player he rightfully would have been sent off and there would be much less debate.

You typically don’t berate a teammate and slap them in the face during a match (for good reason) so it’s more shocking than a bad call.

 

[gonetomorrow]

The guys should argue more often. It certainly fired up the team. Moyes seemed pleased by it all.
If we'd lost, however......