English Premier League: The referees inability to be consistent

After one difficult but sure decision, the English Premier League lit up with controversy and debate.

This weekend past saw Sadio Mane start one crazy debate as a chain reaction of events/incidents took place after his sending off. The Premier League had quite a few moments of inconsistent decisions that didn’t sit too well with many.

The only reason some of these decisions are labelled as inconsistent to me is because of how the first case was handled. During the clash between Man City and Liverpool at the Etihad, Sadio Mane with no intention greeted the City keeper Ederson, with all his studs to the face.

This saw the Liverpool winger head directly off the field to an early shower after referee John Moss showed him a straight red. The man in charge didn’t have a second look after making his decision.

Klopp and his team were reduced to ten men with about 35 minutes of the game played. Once the Reds were outnumbered in personnel, they struggled to put up a fight and got annihilated 5-0.

The controversy in it all:

The judgment was made and costed a team three valuable points maybe. But the controversy does not come because of the weight of the decision to give Mane his marching orders only. It was the fact none of his fellow referees applied the same punishment in similar situations during other games.

This is where the referees have the inability to be consistent with each match and each decision made. The other controversial moment that took place was during Monday Night Football between West Ham and Huddersfield.

Sometime during the match, defender Winston Reid practically round-housed kicked opposing striker, Steve Mounie in the face. Even pundit Gary Neville had a laugh at the referee’s choice to keep Reid on the pitch.

If we were to have a red card after this collision, Bilic would have been down to ten men and could have possibly last his job due to his team suffering another loss.

The one event that stood out that was similar to others, but not a coming together of two players. Rather another time we could have seen red but the player got off free cause the match officials missing the foul completely.

The incident being referred to was the handball in the box during the Chelsea and Leicester game. Two arms blatantly left out in an awkward position, stopped Morata from scoring a goal. No penalty, no card issued. Was it intentional? Yes! Did it produce the same outcome as Mane? No!

Will things change for teams:

When exactly will things become consistent enough that people will no longer dispute any of the decisions made in the Premier League? When will referees be held responsible for poor interpretations of the rules of the game?

This is not the first and surely wont be the last time something like this happens. Is this what gives the game we love the excitement? Or is this that one thing that spoils the perfect match?

Next: Frank de Boer sacked as Roy Hodgson looks to replace

A lot of debate surrounding this problem that has haunted teams season after season. Question stands in cases like these. If officials are the people making the errors or not following up, will they be held responsible for their actions?

The fact that respected official Mark Clattenburg agrees that Mane’s challenge on Ederson was not a straight red, makes one question what’s not going on in the English Premier League.