Coventry City vs Swansea City ref watch: Three decisions Samuel Allison got wrong
Samuel Allison was at the very centre of proceedings during a classic Boxing Day clash between Coventry City and Swansea City.
Coventry are favourites to win the Championship title, keeping their eight-point gap at the top of the table after 23 games, with Frank Lampard rightfully earning his plaudits.
In fact, Lampard has been linked with the Birmingham City job due to mounting pressure on Chris Davies, but his exit is highly unlikely, with the Blues slowly edging towards promotion to the Premier League.
The game had a lot to live up to after two red cards in Birmingham versus Derby County. Still, there were some interesting decisions from the referee at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Friday, 26 December.
Liam Kitching avoids blatant booking
In the 38th minute, Liam Cullen had been awarded an easy free-kick by the referee, but Coventry’s centre-back made the situation far more difficult than it needed to be.
After giving away the foul, Kitchen followed through on the Swansea forward while attempting to kick the ball away, but Allison only wanted a talk with the player despite two infringements in one.
He absolutely knew what he was doing when kicking out at his opposition, but somehow, the centre-half was allowed to escape with nothing but a warning.
Samuel Allison shows harsh yellow to Zeidane Inoussa
Zeidane Inoussa had been on the pitch for under five minutes when his name was taken by the referee, for what appeared to be an innocuous tackle on Tatsuhiro Sakamoto.
| Samuel Allison’s cards | Coventry City | Swansea City |
| Yellow | 0 | 2 |
| Red | 0 | 0 |
When the referee was happy to let Kitching off with a warning, going straight for his pocket for the Swansea winger seemed very harsh. Consistency is all fans ask for.
Swansea City handed unfair advantage in the closing stages
While this incident came to nothing for the visitors, the Swans had won a foul just short of the halfway line, but with the ball already rolling, the referee did not blow to bring play back.
Almost instantly, Swansea were outside of Coventry’s penalty area, and had they made more of the chance, the Welsh side might have come away with at least a point.
The difference was not just a matter of metres. The spot where Swansea took the free-kick was nowhere near where the foul was made, and that could have easily had a major impact on the game.