Bournemouth want inquest after “sarky” comments made by Jon Moss
Bournemouth want the Premier League to look into referee Jon Moss after comments he allegedly made during their defeat to Sheffield United.
Moss was in charge for the Cherries’ game at Bramall Lane on Sunday afternoon, which they lost 2-1 with goals from Billy Sharp and John Lundstram cancelling out Callum Wilson’s opener.
Jon Moss vs Bournemouth: Five things to know…
- The Bournemouth players were far from happy with Jon Moss on Sunday.
- They felt that many of the fouls he gave against them were ‘soft’.
- He booked three of Eddie Howe’s men during the 90 minutes.
- This added to claims he showed ‘no respect’ to the players on the field.
- Matters weren’t helped by the fact Bournemouth lost despite taking the lead.
Midfielder Dan Gosling was amongst those most unhappy with Moss’ performance on the day, telling the Bournemouth Echo: “The ref didn’t help. Giving soft fouls away and little comments to two or three of the lads didn’t help as well really.
“I thought it was very disrespectful what he was saying. It was just the little niggly ones and then the little sarky comments.
“The officials talk about respect at the start of the season and there was zero respect from Jon Moss on Sunday.
“I thought he was a disgrace. The comments that he made especially to me and one other player – talking about the relegation zone and ‘you’re still in the relegation zone’, ‘you’re having one’, ‘your team’s having one’ this and that and it was very, very disrespectful.”
Following on from Gosling’s comments, Bournemouth have called for the Premier League to look into the allegations, according to the Daily Echo.
It goes without saying that referees are meant to lead by example in terms of behaviour and etiquette. Normally, it is the players who are the guilty party when it comes to abuse and disrespect – in fact, a referee being accused of winding players up deliberately is a new phenomenon in the Premier League.
It has not been a good 18 months for the Referees’ Association, with the regular Premier League referee Bobby Madley being sacked at the beginning of last season after appearing to mock a disabled person in a video on social media.
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Bournemouth suffer… again
Although Moss will come under scrutiny if his reported comments are true, but Bournemouth will want focus to switch back to their relegation battle as soon as possible.
Eddie Howe would have been delighted with how his team started but the game ended how many have this season for the Cherries: in defeat. In fact, only Norwich have lost more Premier League games than Bournemouth’s 14 this season.
The Cherries have only won four times in the league since the beginning of November – including a memorable win at Stamford Bridge – and didn’t sign anybody in January, despite their obvious issues.
Fortunately for them, Callum Wilson appears to have rediscovered some of his form and they still have Nathan Ake, a player who is likely to seek a new challenge if Bournemouth continue to struggle. For now, however, he will have to help his side retain their Premier League status.
