Mark Clattenburg has been found to have 'no case to answer' following an investigation after Southampton made a complaint, accusing him of using 'foul and abusive' language towards their captain Adam Lallana.
Mark Clattenburg formally cleared of abusing Adam Lallana. PGMOL say "no case to answer".
— Ben Rumsby (@ben_rumsby) January 3, 2014
Apparently, Clattenburg said to Lallana: “You’re very different now since you played for England. You never used to be like this.”
— Ben Rumsby (@ben_rumsby) January 3, 2014
According to the Telegraph, the alleged incident occurred after Clattenburg turned down a Southampton penalty claim, and in their complaint, the club have requested an apology from the referee and that he not be allowed officiate a Saints match for the course of the investigation.
Read the best of #ThingsThatUpsetAdamLallana here.
It was Clattenburg's first time refereeing at Goodison Park since a controversial Merseyside derby in 2007 that left a bitter taste amongst Evertonians after a kung fu kick from Dirk Kuyt on Phil Neville went unpunished. The Telegraph say Southampton believe he was 'under particular pressure on his return to Everton.'
After the match, the Saints' manager, Mauricio Pochettino brought the fact that his players are particularly dashing into the debate on the way his team is treated by referees; 'We don’t want to be judged by our young, handsome, good-looking players.' He added 'We just want what’s fair. We can be assholes as well.'
'I don’t mean any disrespect against any referees but anyone watching the game can see there were two clear penalties.'
Moral of the story? The Southampton players' beards are too damn well-kempt to get the big decisions. I mean just look at them:
