Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray has disclosed that he received contact from refereeing body PGMOL during the international break regarding the decision to send off Dan Neil in their heavy 4-0 defeat to Middlesbrough.
A report in The Sunderland Echo suggests that a meeting was held between the club and the officiating body to discuss further the events during the tempestuous match, with Mowbray saying that there was even an official apology.
The ex-Boro captain and manager was extremely upset with the action to dismiss Dan Neil at a time when the contest was finely balanced at 0-0. Boro went on to maximise the advantage and punish their counterparts in clinical fashion.
“We had an official apology from the assessors on the referee’s performance,” Mowbray said.
“[Michael] Proctor is the one who writes the report, who sends the video clips, gives the opinion, and they reply.
“This gentleman [the assessor] asked to come in and he sat in the coaches’ office with us all and we went through some clips.
Continuing his assessment of the situation he added, “The fact he came in and said what he said means they feel it was wrong, or really, really, really, harsh for the nature of the game.”
Apology could send wrong message
It will not be on the agenda for Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick who is keen to just move on to the next game against Birmingham.
We reported in a previous article on the allocation of referee Jarred Gillett before the big game as he is no stranger to controversy and had faced criticism in matches before. But to offer a balanced view, apologising for a player using foul or abusive language towards an official is a dangerous precedent to set.
The game has tried for years to eradicate the abuse directed towards officials and follow the example set by the likes of other sports such as Rugby. Saying sorry for that kind of decision does not help the cause, it invites players to carry on using language that should not be acceptable.
It was actually a second yellow card, so the player should have been more aware and in control, not yelling at officials because he did not agree with something.
The apparent apology to Mowbray will not make any difference to the result and Sunderland will need to be careful to ensure that it does not reinforce to their younger players that it is okay to do that and expect not to be punished.