Referees' chief Howard Webb believes there was nothing "clearly wrong" with the decision not to send off Newcastle defender Sven Botman for his tackle on Aston Villa striker Nicolas Jackson. Sky Sports pundits widely criticised referee Jarred Gillett for showing only a yellow card and the VAR Stuart Attwell for backing the on-field call in Newcastle's 1-0 defeat to Villa on Saturday. "If VAR can't see that's a red, we're in trouble," said Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp.
How he's not broken his leg there... I like to see aggression. I want to see 50/50 tackles, but you can't do that anymore." After the game, Jackson told Sky Sports: "The referee said it was a yellow card but it was so high.
Hopefully next time it is a red card. I nearly broke my leg, but it's fine. It's part of football." Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said on Ref "I think it's a red card.
It's got everything for a red card tackle - it's got speed, intensity, he scissors him." Sky Sports' Jay Bothroyd added: "Botman is more violent conduct than the headbutt [from Yehor Yarmoliuk at Brentford]. He could have broken his leg." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player However, Webb believes the incident reflects this season's approach of VAR not re-refereeing on-field decisions. On Match Officials Mic'd Up, he said: "We've seen quite a lot of robust tackling in the Premier League.
This weekend we saw quite a few examples of strong tackles going in; it's part of the English game, the Premier League and what people like. We want to embrace that but we also have a responsibility to ensure players' safety. "Many of those situations that we've seen with those types of tackles are subjective - the referee's having to make a determination in the moment on how much force is used and the nature of the tackle.
"We've really tried to encourage referees this season to make decisive on-field decisions, and in this situation we see the referee make a judgement on Joelinton's tackle by playing advantage and then Botman comes in. "The referee in the moment, on the ground, sees it as a reckless challenge - no doubt a high-end reckless challenge - as Botman comes in and gets a touch on the ball. "There's obviously some speed he comes in with.
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