Ex-FIFA official furious with ‘disgraceful’ Jordan Pickford antics in Everton v Chelsea as Sky Sports complaint made
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Everton...
Keith Hackett is worried that the image of Premier League football is being tarnished by time-wasting after Everton came under fire for their antics against Chelsea on Sunday.
Frank Lampard’s men won 1-0 at Goodison Park to move themselves within two points of Premier League safety but were criticised heavily by Roy Keane on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football [2 May 07.37pm] for their time-wasting antics.
Keane was furious with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, saying that the Blues number one’s under-hand tactics were “disgraceful”.
Former Premier League and FIFA referee Hackett has a massive issue with time-wasting but admits that Everton are not the only club guilty of trying to win matches in that manner.
As a result, he’s called for more consistency from referees to stamp out the issue.
“I don’t think it’s just Everton but there’s a requirement for football clubs to play within the laws of the game,” Hackett told Goodison News.
“Part of that is whilst time-consuming is acceptable within the laws, time-wasting is not. And that tactic has run through the season, not just by Everton but by other clubs too.
“I think this is not being treated in the appropriate way in a consistent manner.
“They delay at goal-kicks, they delay at free-kicks, they delay at throw-ins, they surround referees to delay or try to get a change of decision.
“There’s this clamour now for referees to use VAR and there are all sorts of excuses where these are reflecting really poor on the game at this level.
“The image of the game is being tarnished.
“There’s no doubt that when you have a team in that situation, they’re going to fight for their lives and the referee’s got to be aware.
“This is like a club going to Real Madrid who will try to consume time as much as possible.
“It’s not a new tactic and you can understand it if you’re in the position of Everton, or any club that’s down at the bottom, you would expect the least amount of time to be played.”
In other Everton news, Richard Keys has slammed Lampard and Everton players after footage from outside Goodison emerged on Sunday.
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