The Magpies have already endured some poor decisions from Rob Jones and it will be interesting to see if he changes stance on shirt pulling
Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade confronts Bafode Diakite of AFC Bournemouth. referee Rob Jones with Sandro Tonali, and Harvey Barnes goes down under a challenge
Newcastle United will see Merseyside referee Rob Jones take charge of their tough trip to Burnley tomorrow night.
The Magpies go into the clash in Lancashire on the back of two penalty storms after having valid shouts for spot-kicks against both Man United and Chelsea dismissed. Toon fans fumed at Old Trafford as Greater Manchester-based whistler Anthony Taylor ruled that Lisandro Martinez had not handled the ball in the second half after Fabian Schar’s shot was blocked.
Just days before, Anthony Gordon had watched on in horror as Trevoh Chalobah barged over Anthony Gordon but failed to get a penalty when Newcastle were 2-1 up. To add to that feeling of injustice, Sandro Tonali was booked for a similar challenge on Patrick Dorgu at Old Trafford, albeit near the halfway line.
Naturally, there is a feeling within the Toon camp that they are not getting decisions from officials right now, and Newcastle contacted the PGMOL for clarity after the Chelsea game on some of the calls made at St James’ Park.
Jones now enters the scene for the Burnley game after failing to clamp down on shirt pulling on 6ft 6in striker Nick Woltemade when he officiated Newcastle’s trip to Bournemouth back in September.
That day, Bafode Diakite pulled Woltemade’s shirt as he tried to control the ball, causing him to fall down, but Jones waved away protests, and VAR did not deliver a different verdict. Later in the season Woltemade was thrown around like a rag doll by Fulham players as Peter Bankes failed to penalise Issa Diop and Calvin Bassey for pulling the German star’s shirt.
The current guidance to Premier League referees is to look for “extreme actions”, such as “dragging a player to the ground in a non-footballing way”. But minor tugs are getting dismissed – and it feels like the treatment Woltemade is enduring are being brushed off as such.
It would appear that Woltemade’s towering 6ft 6in frame is being held against him by referees and as bigger lad he is expected to take extra measures to stop him. It will certainly be interesting to see if Jones, the first referee to dismiss the shirt pulls on Woltemade, adopts a different stance at Burnley.
The Woltemade situation has been summed up perfectly by ex-Premier League striker and completely neutral Jay Bothroyd, who has no links with Newcastle, who said: “If he was smaller, would you give him the benefit of the doubt? I would want it if I was playing, but I can understand why you would say it would be soft.
“When there are situations with taller players, they always say ‘he should be stronger, look how big he is’. But a foul is a foul. Pulling a shirt is pulling a shirt.
“If the ref did give a penalty, people might be surprised but would say, ‘I understand why he’s given it’. You’ve seen penalties given for things like that.”
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