IF Dan Gosling’s claims are true that Jon Moss belittled Bournemouth in their fight against relegation then the referee is out of order.
We don’t know yet exactly what was said at Bramall Lane but I’d be surprised if Moss has made those comments in the manner Gosling has portrayed.
Dan Gosling alleges that Jon Moss wound Bournemouth up about their Premier League strugglesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
What I do know from experience in the heat of the battle is things can be said and there’s a fine line between what is acceptable and not.
On the field of play banter is common place as both players and referees want to perform at their very best so criticism of performance levels is absolutely fine.
But making comments about a team’s league situation crosses the line for me.
I’ve had many spats with Premier League players down the years. I remember Glen Johnson conceded a penalty on Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia at Anfield and Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard screamed at me: “For f***’s sake. You’re having a f*****g mare.” I snapped: “Don’t be blaming me for that challenge.”
BANTER A TWO-WAY THING
But I can’t have been that bad because Steven asked me to referee his testimonial!
On a serious note, I never had an issue with players swearing at me, I felt it was two-way.
There are two reasons for that.
Firstly, I never took it personally but secondly I trained with Bolton and that helped me get used to the shop floor language, the banter that goes with it and understand players’ frustrations and emotions.
I felt it made a better referee and being able to communicate with players gains respect from them.
Mark Halsey remembers a bust-up he had with Steve Gerrard – but the pair got over itCredit: PA:Press Association
HUGE BUST-UP WITH ASHLEY COLE
It wasn’t just Gerrard I had run-ins with. Rio Ferdinand, Danny Mills, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Patrick Vieira to name a few. But my biggest bust-up was with Ashley Cole during a Birmingham versus Chelsea game at St Andrew’s.
I thought he had totally disrespected me on the pitch towards the end of the first half and our argument continued down the tunnel.
The officials’ dressing room was next to Chelsea’s and I had to be pulled away from Ashley by my assistant.
I was furious and my head had gone. I went back to my dressing room, sat down and realised I was out of order.
As soon as I got on the pitch for the second half I went up to Ashley and apologised.
It was left on the pitch and that’s where I believe any issues should remain if you can.
I saw him at Vincent Kompany’s testimonial last year and we had a laugh about it.
But there is an important message there. If I had an issue with a player or vice-versa, I’d like to sort it out there and then.
So if Gosling had a problem he should have gone to Moss or asked his Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe to have a word.
They could have both spoken about it following the 30-minute cooling off period in Moss’ dressing room and we wouldn’t have got to this situation days later.
Former referee Mark Halsey revealed he ‘lost his head’ with Ashley Cole and actually apologised to himCredit: Mark Robinson – The Sun
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
