A small bit of controversy emerged from the Sheffield United and Bournemouth match last weekend. Chris Wilder's side came away with a deserved three points, having overturned a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.
Bournemouth were unhappy with a few aspects of the game, with midfielder Dan Gosling signalling out referee Jon Moss for criticism. He was angered by a number of decisions given against his team, as well as the manner of the referee.
He claimed Moss had mocked him and his teammates for their poor form this season:
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.
The Premier League reviewed the audio recorded by the referee's mic during the game and acknowledged that one comment about their place in the relegation place was made. However, it seems that it was in response to some abuse directed at him by the Bournemouth players.
One person who thought the whole situation was ridiculous was Paul Scholes. Speaking on BBC Radio 5, he said that referees should be allowed to have some banter with the players. He also gave an example of one time a referee put him back in his box.
"I found it all ridiculous!"#AFCB midfielder Dan Gosling said referee Jon Moss showed "zero respect" and was a "disgrace" for making alleged "sarky comments" about their league position.
Paul Scholes doesn't know what all the fuss is about 🤷♂️👇 pic.twitter.com/Rvz6pBr8Qj— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) February 14, 2020
It happens all the time. I feel sorry for him, he's having a bit of banter isn't he with a player and a player has almost grassed him really. I found it all ridiculous.
I remember when I was playing, I wasn't playing well and having a right go at Paul Durkin. Remember Paul Durkin the referee?
Well I wasn't playing very well and I was taking my frustration out on him and he just said to me 'well you're playing well aren't you?'
And that was it, I never said another word. You need to have that kind of banters with referees. He's just having a laugh with a player, I don't see what's wrong with it.
When asked if the incident could play on the mind of Jon Moss going into future games, he said it shouldn't:
If you can play on any kind of weakness you do. I don't think he'll be that bothered by that to be honest.
Whether John Moss might be a little bit bothered by it but he shouldn't be, he should have a laugh with the players.
Get on with it. We're grown men.
