Exclusive: Howard Webb’s ‘careless’ decision caused Aston Villa’s Rogers incident
Keith Hackett has slammed Howard Webb for a “careless” decision that led to Morgan Rogers’ disallowed goal for Aston Villa against Man United.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that he was not impressed with the selection process made by the current boss of the organisation.
Heading into the final day of the season, Villa had it all to do to qualify for the Champions League.
Not only was a result needed against United, but Unai Emery’s side were relying on other teams around them to drop points.
Chelsea did them a huge favour by beating Nottingham Forest, whilst Everton’s 1-0 win over Newcastle meant the Villains only needed a point against the Red Devils.
But following a red card for Emi Martinez that was debatable in Hackett’s eyes, and a major blunder after Rogers had the ball in the back of the net, Aston Villa fell to a resurgent Man United 2-0.
Thomas Bramall the wrong choice for Man United v Aston Villa
With Champions League football worth an estimated £80-100million [BBC Sport], an experienced referee was needed for Villa’s game against United.
Instead, Webb chose to appoint Bramall, who has officiated just 11 Premier League games this season, whilst putting Michael Oliver in the VAR booth for Tottenham‘s near-meaningless match against Brighton.
The young referee went on to make a series of high-profile errors, the most notable of which was disallowing Rogers’ goal before the ball had hit the back of the net, meaning VAR could not intervene.
Villa have now submitted a complaint to the Premier League, citing Bramall’s lack of experience as a major concern [The Athletic].
Keith Hackett puzzled by Howard Webb appointment decision
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former PGMOL chief Hackett was highly critical of the decision to have Oliver in the VAR room of Tottenham’s game against Brighton, rather than officiating a match with more on the line, such as Villa’s meeting with United.
He said: “I think in a game of this nature, when you actually look at the fixtures and the last game of the season, you do your work as the boss of PGMOL.
“You look at the games, you look at what’s in those games, and then at the same time, you have a list of where you’re operating.
“Anthony Taylor this season has done 31 Premier League games. Michael Oliver 26, Chris Kavanagh 25, [Simon] Hooper 24, [Peter] Bankes 23, Sam Barratt 23, Robert Jones 22, Craig Pawson 22, Darren England 20, Andy Madley 20, [Stuart] Attwell 19, [Tony] Harrington 18, John Brooks 16, [Jarred] Gillett 16, Tim Robinson 15, Darren Bond 14, Michael Salisbury 13, Thomas Bramall 11. So you’ve got a game that is not a dead rubber.
“At that point that as the boss of the PGMOL, given Howard Webb does the appointing, he knows who’s on form and you’ve got to say, we know that Kavanagh had the Championship playoff final, so he’s out.
“You just look at that list, you look at the fixtures and I think there are other referees that could have been put on that game, I think that’s the point Villa are making.”
Hackett continued: “What I think is important is that Howard Webb perhaps should have taken more care with regard to the appointment process.
“It seems a nonsense to me that you’ve got your World Cup number two referee not refereeing, and I’m stating it not on my information I’m stating that on their appointment process that Oliver was in the VAR room this weekend.”