Decisions were again the big talking point in the Championship at the weekend
Barry Cooper Hull City correspondent
17:00, 13 Apr 2026
John Lundstram was shown a red card by referee John Brooks (Image: Mark Sutton/Getty Images)
Oli McBurnie should not be punished for his post-match comments after Saturday’s defeat at Sheffield United; instead, the FA and EFL should take them on board.
McBurnie suggested referee John Brooks didn’t understand football after sending off John Lundstram and then awarding the Blades a game-turning penalty.
Hull City‘s frustrations are shared by other players and managers up and down the EFL. When you’ve got professionals consistently saying the same thing, there’s clearly a problem.
Instead of burying their heads in the sand and trying to silence those in the game by handing out petty fines with wild abandon, perhaps Howard Webb, Mike Riley and Kevin Friend should look closer to home.
Hull City could, and should have had the game sewn up before Lundstram’s sending off. In every game, there are mistakes and errors made by players and managers who decide games.
Referees have a tough, tough job. But consistently, they are making decisions that have a huge impact on games. That’s been the case from the year dot, and will continue. Even in the Premier League, where VAR was supposed to make life easier, it feels a constant, divisive problem.
Maybe a form of VAR will eventually arrive in the second tier, and that would certainly please Sergej Jakirovic. Perhaps that will help; maybe it will hinder.
Mistakes happen. Whenever you involve a human, there will be errors. Like a striker missing a chance where you’d back him to score, or goalkeeper flapping at a shot you’d back him to save.. Referees are no different, but some of the errors they are making are avoidable.
Understanding the game is key. Lundstram’s challenge for his second yellow card was daft, but the referee had got himself in the way, and that didn’t help. Understand the situation and give him a warning, accepting that your positioning impacted it.
Take the penalty. How in the name of all that is sacred he can see that as a foul against City is baffling. This isn’t a free-kick in what they would call a safe area of the pitch. This is a game-changing decision. Essentially, he’s giving United a goal.
How is Brooks coming to that conclusion? And where is the help from the three other colleagues in his refereeing team? Such big decisions have a direct impact on a team’s success or failure, whether a manager keeps his job or not, and more. Brooks had not taken charge of a game in two months; his last in the Championship was in September. If a player doesn’t play for two months, he’s naturally going to be a bit below par, but there are 10 other players out there to help. For a referee, he’s on his own. He cannot afford to be anything other than at peak level.
This isn’t a case of sour grapes, either. City have been on the right side of poor decisions this season. Matt Crooks should have been sent off at QPR, but the referee booked John Egan instead. Liam Millar should have been sent off at Millwall for kicking the ball away, but Gavin Ward let him off. Equally, somehow, Kyle Joseph’s perfectly good goal in the home game against Millwall should have stood, but it didn’t.
Calls of apology, such as the one City received from Kevin Friend on Monday, count for little in the grand scheme of things. The result has gone, the points have been lost.
And let’s not suggest players and managers are saints, either, because they’re not; however, this isn’t about them. This is about how standards are being allowed to slip, despite incredible investment.
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Chris Wilder is right. The constant talk about refereeing decisons in tiresome, but it’s valid. Such big decisions in the Championship need to be made correctly.
The best referees in history have made mistakes; it’s part of the game. What they do, however, is communicate with players. They explain decisions, even if the player doesn’t agree and therefore command respect. So many officials now are like headmasters from the 1960s. Refusing to communicate and operating with a bizarre level of arrogance. As if they are above everybody else. To say to McBurnie, ‘I don’t know, go away’ when asked reasonably why the penalty was given, sums up the feeling of arrogance.
Players get benched or moved on, and managers get sacked for poor performance. There is accountability. For referees, there is zero accountability.
They are protected species. Once they’ve left the ground, there’s no comeback. PGMO are a closed shop with very little comment made to the outside world, especially in the EFL. The gates of the Ivory Tower are permanently closed. It’s why there is so much frustration from those in the game. What use is a letter of apology a few days later for a decision that cost a team a result that could define their season? Careers depend on this.
Rather than flippantly fine McBurnie, which, let’s be honest, is nothing more than a public show of power from the FA, the authorities should actually listen, speak to the players and use them to help improve standards. Players and managers can help referees; they can help. Ultimately, though, they need to improve.
Referees are vital to our game. There are some very good ones out there, but there are too many who are seemingly driven by ego, a desire to make the occasion about them and revel in the role they play. In reality, that probably isn’t the case, but it’s hard to escape that feeling, and players like McBurnie have a valid point which should be taken on board, rather than dismissed as another player whining after his team contrived to lose a game.
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