The Argyle head coach went to see referee Zac Kennard-Kettle after his side lost 1-0 away to Rotherham United.
Tom Cleverley, head coach of Plymouth Argyle is unhappy with referee Zac Kennard-Kettle following the EFL League One match between Rotherham United and Plymouth Argyle at The Aesseal New York Stadium Stadium on 28 February 2026 in Rotherham, England (Photo by Steve Taylor/PPAUK)
A frustrated Tom Cleverley declared ‘It’s not good enough’ as he reacted to ‘two big decisions’ going against Plymouth Argyle as they lost 1-0 away to Rotherham United.
Cleverley did not carry out his post-match interview with PlymouthLIve and BBC Radio Devon until close to an hour after the final whistle at the New York Stadium.
Part of the reason for that was the Pilgrims’ boss went to see referee Zac Kennard-Kettle to raise his concerns about a couple of key decisions.
Read More: Argyle lose to lowly Rotherham as injuries strike again
Read More: Rotherham vs Argyle Recap: Pilgrims beaten in South Yorkshire
Argyle fell behind to a seventh minute goal from Rotherham captain Joe Rafferty when he touched a shot from team-mate Dru Yearwood into the net.
As they chased an equaliser in the second half, Cleverley thought his side should have had a penalty for either of two challenges on Bim Pepple and Alex Mitchell from the same corner.
However, he was more annoyed about an incident in the 68th minute, which resulted in him getting a yellow card from Kennard-Kettle.
It appeared that Yearwood went to pass the ball back to his goalkeeper Ted Cann but Pepple got to it first in the penalty area and was then bundled over by defender Jamal Baptiste.
However, to the obvious annoyance of the Argyle players and Cleverley in the away technical area, Pepple was flagged for offside.
Cleverley said: “Two big decisions that we are obviously really upset with. The pull back on Pepple and Mitchell at the corner.
“In the Premier League it’s two penalties. That is one, you would like to see those seen. Difficult in the melee but it’s a penalty.
“The second one is more concerning. The referee’s explanation was he thought it was more of a deflection off Yearwood, an unintentional pass, and that’s quite a worrying interpretation of that action.
“If it was a deflection and it went through to Bim then it would be offside. If it was unintentional playing of the ball by Yearwood.
“If it’s intentional, he’s trying to play it back to his goalkeeper, which anyone who knows football (can see) he is, then that would be onside. It’s a worrying interpretation at this level.”
Cleverley said about his post-match meeting with Kennard-Kettle: “It was a very respectful conversation. You would like to see a little bit more leeway when a decision like that is given against you.
“Managers are going to get angry, they are going to show a bit of negative body language. If the referee as the leader of the officials sees what he has seen then there is no going back on that.
“You would like to think we have got enough investment in communications that he could be helped. It has been too many times this year, big decisions and clear decisions have gone against us, and it’s not good enough.”
Cleverley added: “I think you have got to look more at how do we not come to this. What are they doing in their training?
“What are they doing to make sure they know the game well enough to see that Yearwood was intentionally playing that ball because that decision just simply can’t happen.”
On the incident involving both Pepple and Mitchell, Cleverley said: “That one I’m less concerned about because they don’t have the VAR and there is plenty of tussling in the box”
However, on the other contentious moment, he added: “Bim pulls out the action and the form he’s in you fully expect that is a big goalscoring opportunity. Really disappointed with that decision.”
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