Ex-Everton Scout blasts ‘ridiculous’ decision as update emerges
Goodison News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent over eight years as a scout at Everton and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent six years on Tottenham’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells…
Bryan King believes it was a “ridiculous” decision to show Dominic Calvert-Lewin a red card against Crystal Palace.
The Toffees striker was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Nathaniel Clyne in the FA Cup third-round draw with the Eagles last Thursday (4 January).
But as per the official Everton website (9 January), the three-match suspension for serious foul play has been overturned after a successful appeal.
Speaking to Goodison News, King said: “I thought it was a ridiculous decision in the first place, to be honest. You can see why it was a red, because his initial challenge was studs up, but there was no initial contact.
“So whether it was just a yellow card or talking to, I wasn’t sure at the time, but I was quite surprised when he got a red card.
“The moment VAR were asked to look at the challenge I was afraid that something might happen, because if you look at it, it looks far worse than it is.
“I didn’t think it was a red card at the time, but the way he went for the ball and the way his foot went into the tackle, as such, I think it looked far worse than it actually was.
“I thought maybe looking at it at the time, yellow card. Because it was studs up into the tackle, but no contact. If he’d have made contact it could have been nasty.”
In other Everton news, a European club has won over a Toffees player who now wants to quit Goodison Park.