Alan Stubbs rages at Everton controversy v Fulham in Premier League
Alan Stubbs has hit out at Stuart Attwell for making “consistently poor decisions” against Everton after the referee ruled out a goal for the Toffees in their 1-0 loss to Fulham.
Michael Keane thought he had given dominant Everton the lead when tapping home in Saturday’s [12 August] Premier League contest at Goodison Park, only for Attwell to adjudge that James Tarkowski fouled Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno in the build-up.
Former referee Mike Dean questioned the decision to chalk off the goal, while Sean Dyche was unhappy that VAR was not allowed to intervene.
Stubbs believes it is the latest in a long list of decisions that have gone against Everton with Attwell in the middle, as he called for changes to be made regarding the way officials communicate with supporters.
“The day can’t come quick enough when we have full transparency and can listen to VAR/referees communication on how they get to their decisions,” he posted on Twitter on Sunday [13 August].
“Saturday another poor decision from both VAR and the consistently poor decisions we have come to see from Attwell against Everton.”
The wrong call
Everton perhaps only have themselves to blame for failing to take all three points off Fulham – never mind just one – after dominating proceedings in the first game of the campaign.
However, had Keane’s goal been allowed to stand, it would likely have been a different story at Goodison Park as all the momentum was with the hosts.
Everton supporters feel that the vast majority of major refereeing calls go against their side, but the same is true of any fanbase.
In this instance, though, they have every right to feel hard done by as Tarkowski was simply challenging for an aerial ball and got to it ahead of Leno.
As retired official Dean told Sky Sports on 12 August: “There was a slight movement by Tarkowski’s right arm, but not enough for a foul. [Leno] is very lucky there.”
Stubbs has a point when he says it is perhaps time for officials to explain their calls, and there have been steps to do that – to an extent – at the Women’s World Cup as referees now announce VAR decisions to the crowd.
In this instance, it did not go as far as a VAR intervention because it was not considered a clear and obvious error by the official.
It ultimately made a frustrating afternoon all the more difficult for Everton supporters to take.
The Toffees will just hope that decision does not come back to haunt them when it comes to totting up the final points tallies in May.
In other Everton news, the Toffees are reportedly ready to sell Demarai Gray if his price tag is met.