Keith Hackett: Why Premier League should have stayed quiet about Everton and Brennan Johnson incident

Everton have already been on the wrong side of several officiating calls in the Premier League this season.

David Moyes is no longer surprised when a decision goes against his side, with it happening for a long time now.

The first was Thierno Barry's header somehow being ruled out against Ipswich when Brennan Johnson was stood offside at the opposite side of the net.

A week later, it was Johnson who saw a goal ruled out at Hull, tapping home a deflection but ruled offside by VAR.

Now, the Premier League's Key Match Incident panel has supported that call four votes to one, with the latter saying the goal should have stood.

Keith Hackett believes that only unanimous agreements by the panel should be made public in future.

Premier League make mistake with Everton announcement

As usual, the Premier League's KMI panel released their findings a couple of weeks after the matches.

Speaking exclusively to Goodison News, the ex-FIFA official believes that findings like this should be kept quiet to protect officials.

"When you look at those clip it would appear that the goalkeeper's foot actually plays number 22 onside and that is why the VAR should not have intervened," Hackett said.

"Frankly, this type of panel review and its conclusions should not be published unless there is a unanimous agreement.

"This type of split only damages the confidence of the two match officials involved."

Should Brennan Johnson goal have counted?

First of all, this isn't the first time the panel have been split on an Everton incident this season already.

It happened with that goal against Ipswich, too.

The confusion stems from the officials not clearly explaining things, as happens all the time with VAR.

Was Johnson stood beyond the goalkeeper? If he was then two defenders needed to be behind him, too.

Hackett reviewing the footage suggests he may not be, but fans don't get shown those angles which only adds to the confusion.

The defender also makes a deliberate play at a clearance, so does Johnson then automatically become onside?

Again, it's not explained.

All this panel does is making things cloudier for the match-going fans, and it's clear that it's there to defend big decisions made, no matter what.