Pundit lambasts officials for ‘horrible’ Everton decision as Ben Godfrey footage emerges
Noel Whelan has told officials to “do their job” after Ben Godfrey’s “horrible” preventable injury blow for Everton on Saturday (6 August).
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, compared the linesman’s blunder to the rule which means flags must be kept down even for blatant offside calls.
As shown on the BBC’s Match of the Day (6 August), Godfrey’s loose backpass had gone out of play despite Jordan Pickford’s attempts to prevent a corner.
However, both the referee and his assistant on the far side were some distance behind the play and were therefore not in a position to make a decision.
Everton subsequently confirmed on Monday (8 August) that the defender will miss around three months of football after undergoing surgery on his fractured fibula.
Whelan slammed the officials’ positioning for the incident – insisting the decision was “blatant”.
He told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “It’s not gone out by inches, it’s out of play by a half a yard.
“This is where I don’t agree with keeping flags down. I think that was blatant – and that kind of thing is what happens when you allow play to continue.
“It could have been stopped straight away if the linesman or the referee were in a good enough position to see the action.
“This is unfortunately a horrible consequence of that.
“The linesmen and referee need to do their job, get in position, and put their flag up.
“The same goes for the rule which means play continues after a blatant offside.
“It’s a horrible rule and I don’t enjoy it.”
In other news, ex-Premier League referee claims FA set to punish James Tarkowski after new Everton controversy.