Keith Hackett slams Stuart Attwell for ‘poor officiating’ against Newcastle
Stuart Attwell has been criticised by Keith Hackett for one aspect of his officiating that frustrated Newcastle in their 4-1 defeat to Bournemouth.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that the referee should not have blown his whistle for half-time while the Magpies were still on the attack.
It was a chastening afternoon for Eddie Howe’s side against the Cherries on Saturday (18 January) as they saw their run of nine straight wins in all competitions come to an end in emphatic style.
Hackett though does at least feel that Newcastle can be frustrated by one aspect of officiating that may have denied them the chance to score a second equaliser in that match.
Newcastle right to be frustrated by Stuart Attwell’s half-time whistle vs Bournemouth
There were a number of talking points in this game, with Attwell also coming under scrutiny for how he dealt with challenges by Tyler Adams and Joelinton.
Newcastle were also angered by the referee blowing for the interval at St James’ Park while they were still on the attack.
With Bournemouth leading 2-1 in first-half stoppage time, the final act before half-time saw the hosts denied when a shot from Sandro Tonali was parried away by goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The ball then came back out to Bruno Guimaraes on the right-hand edge of the opposition penalty area, but before he could send the ball back into the box to try and make it 2-2, Attwell blew for half-time.
That did not go down well with the Newcastle contingent, and Hackett believes they had a right to be disappointed by the timing of the whistle.
When asked by Football Insider if Attwell was right to blow the whistle when he did, the former referee said:
“I’ve seen this, it’s poor officiating. Years ago we had a situation where a Welsh referee, Clive Thomas in a World Cup game, at a corner kick blew the whistle as the ball was in the air, and Brazil scored, and he disallowed it because he said he’d blown the whistle.
“Now I just think that referees really need to call half-time when the ball is either off the field of play in a neutral position, or in midfield in a neutral position.
“Just go for the ball around the centre circle and blow then, rather than when there’s an attack or a potential chance to score a goal. The timing of games is not that finite.
“We know that there’s only 52 minutes average actual playing time therefore I do think a referee of his experience needs to apply a bit of common sense and not put himself in the frame of being criticised.
“Take care with your blowings of a football match at full-time and half-time. Dead ball.”
In the wake of that defeat, Newcastle have dropped out of the top four in the Premier League after Man City’s win at Ipswich the following day.
This is not the first time the Magpies have been left frustrated by this situation this season either, having also seen the whistle go for full-time while on the attack in their 3-3 draw with Liverpool in December.
In other news, Newcastle may have found their Callum Wilson replacement.
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