An ex-Barnsley player is prompted by the Burnley scandal to support Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom’s tirade against the referee.
Paul Heckingbottom, the manager of Sheffield United, sparked debate over the weekend with a vehement tirade about the quality of refereeing.
In his post-match press conference, Heckingbottom went on an emotional rant about how his team’s loss against Tottenham Hotspur was handled by the referee.
In one part of the conference, he said: “It’s not funny, the officials are totally hurting the game right now.
“I have no concerns about the outcome. I started urging our goalkeeper to go quickly at 0-0. To play out (from goal-kicks), we divided the center-backs. We play forward, we play to Anel (Ahmedhodzic), and we play to Bash (Chris Basham).
Spurs alter after a few times of us leaving. Spurs change when we put the ball down, forcing Wes to make a different choice and being urged to play. Why then would you play? Spurs have adjusted to us, so we need to modify once more and play a different style.
“He gets booked when he handles outside the box. I don’t have a problem with Peter, but the refs are merely directing the game and demonstrating how little they know about it. How is that even imaginable?
In the match between Burnley and Nottingham Forest on Monday night, there was more refereeing controversy.
Burnley’s Lyle Foster scored, however the goal was disallowed because Sander Berge was fined for handball as a result of a VAR check.
The Foster incident was shared on X by Craig Davies, a former player for teams including Barnsley and Chesterfield, who said: “The sooner you realize every word Paul Heckingbottom spoke was the truth, the better.”
