A former referee has weighed in on the debate around Dan Neil’s red card against Middlesbrough.
Speaking on the North East Footy Breakfast Podcast, Jeff Winter admitted Neil’s sending off was a ‘strange one’ and could only see one possible explanation as to why Jarred Gillett resorted to a second yellow.
Sunderland hosted Boro in the Wear-Tees ‘derby’ at the weekend, with both sides in very impressive form going into the clash at the Stadium of Light.
While the first half was mostly cagey, both teams cut out some brilliant chances and it came as a surprise that neither side had taken the lead before half-time. However, the game was pretty much set up for an away victory when Gillett showed Neil the second yellow card and dismissed him for dissent.
The supporters were left gobsmacked as it was unclear what had happened, before the referee was continuously abused with chants of ‘you’re not fit to referee’ by a very frustrated 40,000+ people.
Sunderland were unable to keep Boro out in the second half and they completely crumbled following Neil’s sending off, conceding four goals and enduring their second home defeat in three matches.
With many reports claiming Neil had said ‘that’s a f****** foul’ to the ref from around 20 yards away, Gillett has come under huge criticism for his decision to dismiss the 21-year-old.
While some have defended the Australian, Jeff Winter has been left baffled by his performance on Wearside.
He said: “I have to be honest, it left me scratching my head because if the Sunderland player has used foul and abusive language and it is that bad, it is a straight red card, a second yellow comes for dissent we presume. What we don’t know, and I’m not trying to defend the referee but whether he has had constant battle, and he’s been told he is on a last warning.
“That is the only way I can justify it. To send a player off in a game of football, you have to be able to sell it. You don’t want it to be a daft one for dissent. I’d like to think in those circumstances with the choice language we could use in our day when we were refereeing, I would have told him in no uncertain terms that was it.
“But to send someone off for dissent as a second yellow card… the laws of the game back the referee but I think you lose a little bit of credibility. If he has taken a Boro player out at the knee then nobody is complaining but for dissent it just didn’t sit easily with me. You know I’m a Middlesbrough fan so that gives a little bit more clout to the argument so, it is a strange one. I don’t think anyone in the ground or anyone watching on TV saw that coming.”
Referees thrive off the power
I was left so angry and frustrated by Jarred Gillett’s decision because how he had well and truly ruined what could have been a great game.
Both teams were looking to get stuck into each other, the atmosphere was excellent and Sunderland were fully expected to bring things up a notch in the second half – like they always do.
However, the referee’s need to feel superior to the players got the better of him and – alongside every other terrible mistake he made on Saturday afternoon – cost us the game.
Dan Neil’s sending off would have made complete sense if he had abused Gillett, but nothing he said was directed at him.
There are some people defending him saying it is the laws of the game, so why doesn’t this happen more often? Where is the consistency? Because you can guarantee players swear every single game and you don’t hear a peep from the ref.
I can keep banging the same drum but it will never make a difference. We will continue to be punished for this country’s terrible officials.