Mark Halsey, a former Premier League referee, has given his verdict on a potential red card incident involving Norwich City defender Ben Gibson and Sheffield Wednesday winger Josh Windass.
The South Yorkshire side are currently entrenched in a relegation battle at the bottom of the Championship table and suffered their 19th loss of the season to league-leaders Norwich City over the weekend.
However, things could have been a lot different on Sunday had Gibson received a red card rather than a yellow for a cynical foul on Windass inside the opening 10 minutes of action.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with This is Futbol, Halsey had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I think if you look at it, it’s one of those where could you criticise the referee? Now obviously it’s subjective. As I said, you’ve got to look at the position that he’s in terms of the goal, the direction of play, looking at the likelihood of the player regaining control of the ball and the number and location of defenders in the vicinity.
“So, I think that’s a tough, tough call. Sheffield Wednesday fans and players will be calling for a red card, and Norwich players were happy with a yellow, but if you look at it, perhaps you could argue that he got away with one.”
TIF Thoughts on Gibson…
This is a very tough call to make, and we are siding with Halsey on his occasion. The incident was very subjective, and both sides have strong arguments.
Law 12 states that a player can be sent off for: “Denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent whose overall movement is towards the offender’s goal by an offence punishable by a free-kick.”
Therefore, the Owls supporters will feel Gibson deserved a red card, but Daniel Farke’s men will likely disagree, protesting they had enough cover. Who would be a referee?