Liam Rosenior was furious after Chelsea’s 1-0 loss against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, another dent to the Blues’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League
21:40, 14 Mar 2026Updated 21:40, 14 Mar 2026
Liam Rosenior wasn’t impressed by referee Paul Tierney(Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Liam Rosenior wants to hold urgent talks with the PGMOL after multiple incidents during Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle. Rosenior’s side went down to a first-half goal from Anthony Gordon, but the drama started before kick-off.
Referee Paul Tierney was entangled in Chelsea’s pre-match huddle around the centre circle. The Blues were then denied a penalty in the second half, with Cole Palmer believing that he’d been fouled by Nick Woltemade.
Newcastle had also had a penalty controversially turned down in the first half. Speaking at his post-match press conference, Rosenior fumed: “I’m disappointed.
“There’s more focus and emphasis on the things that don’t matter. I’m going to make it really clear. I want to protect my players. I’m respectful to the game.
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“My players made the decision that they wanted to be around the ball, to respect the ball and show unity and leadership. That is not my decision. That was a decision between the leadership group and the team.”
“There is nothing that they’re doing with that huddle that is disrespectful to the opposition. We had a meeting with the referee, my assistant goes in, the first thing he talks about is our huddle.
“He says about when I complained about Arsenal being in our half. It wasn’t the goalkeeper coach that was in our half. People were at that game Arsenal, I said what I said.
“We’re not being disrespectful to the opposition. If Paul had focused more on his job, which was to make the right decision, we have a penalty today. I don’t think anybody in this room can say that Woltemade doesn’t kick Cole Palmer down in the box.
“So, let’s focus on the things that are important. My team showing unity is not as important as getting the decisions right on the pitch.”
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Paul Tierney ended up in Chelsea’s pre-match huddle(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
When asked if he’d spoken to Tierney after the game, Rosenior replied: “I didn’t speak to Paul today or his officials. I thought it wasn’t the right thing to do today. But I’ll be speaking to PGMOL.
“I’ll be speaking to the refs and just trying to get an understanding of why that happened today. We were told in the rule book it’s about timing. You can be where you want on timing.
“I just want to find a solution to this because we’re actually talking about something that’s nowhere near as important as what’s happening on the pitch.”
The Chelsea manager bemoaned his team’s third defeat in five games, leaving them at risk of falling to sixth when Liverpool play on Sunday. “Mistakes happen,” Rosenior acknowledged. “They had nothing but we gave them a goal. It feels like every mistake we’re making is ending up in the back of the net.
Cole Palmer wanted a penalty in the second half(Image: Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
“I wouldn’t say it’s all gone wrong. First 15-20 minutes, we had chances. The goal gave Newcastle energy. We lacked a bit of mental freshness in the final third.
“The second thing is we need to make sure, if we’re not going to score then the other team don’t score. It’s disappointing we didn’t keep a clean sheet when they didn’t create much.”
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