Former Leeds United midfielder Michael Brown has heavily criticised referee Oliver Langford’s performance in the 1-0 Yorkshire derby victory over Sheffield United.
The official turned down a strong shout for Leeds penalty in the first half, and then failed to punish Blades’ striker David McGoldrick for a high challenge on Mateusz Klich.
Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports Football’s coverage of the fixture (Saturday December 1st, 12.30pm) Brown, who also played for Sheffield during his career, said: “I’m amazed by the referee Oliver Langford’s performance.
“I’ve seen him on several occasions and I think he’s one of the most disappointing officials that I’ve seen.”
Referring to McGoldrick’s tackle he said: “It’s a clear red card. It’s a very, very poor challenge and McGoldrick won’t be happy with that, but it’s the inconsistency.
“There have been yellow cards that he’s given out that shouldn’t have happened Kemar Roofe goes in, he protects himself from getting hurt, he gets a yellow card.
“It’s just very, very disappointing from the official.”
OPINION
It’s never nice to see a referee come in for criticism, but in this instance it has to be said that it was justified. There were times, especially during the first half, when Langford’s decision making seemed to follow no rhyme or reason. On numerous occasions, challenges that you would expect to credit a yellow card were waved away with minimal attention, while Kemar Roofe was booked in a very soft incident. Ultimately, Langford’s inconsistency didn’t cost Leeds, and thankfully Mateusz Klich avoided injury in that horrendous coming together with McGoldrick, but that shouldn’t absolve the referee from blame, nor should it protect him from scrutiny. With regards to McGoldrick’s challenge, the fact that Langford chose not to acknowledge the incident could mean that the EFL decide to punish the Blades’ striker retrospectively. There’s no guarantee that there was any malicious intent from the forward, but if that kind of dangerous tackle is to be eradicated then it must clamped down on.