Premier League referees, you can't talk about them, and you can't criticise them, and they are correct pretty much all of the time.
That's apparently the situation according to the FA, but the players and managers who play in England's top tier often can't help themselves and the latest example of that is Everton's Phil Jagielka, but if what he's saying is true then it's entirely understandable.
Manchester City knocked Everton out of the Capital One Cup last night, but there was a lot of controversy surrounding a key goal in the game when Kevin De Bruyne swept home a cut-back from Raheem Sterling that had clearly crossed the end-line and should have been a goal kick.
Speaking after the game Phil Jagielka was asked for his thoughts on the decision, and he explained that he tried to talk to the ref about it but was dismissed in an arrogant fashion, with Martin Atkinson even questioning his defending.
You expect the officials who are supposed to be of a high level to spot that, but tonight obviously wasn't one of those nights.
I tried to [talk to referee Martin Atkinson], he told me that my defending was brilliant, so, it's difficult when things are going the wrong way and they become a little bit arrogant, but unfortunately that's the way it goes with some of them.
That must be extremely frustrating.
If the refs are going to be untouchable then surely they should be punished for that sort of attitude to the players. If what Jagielka is saying is indeed what happened then it does not look good for Martin Atkinson, who wouldn't have been the most popular figure among Premier League fans as it is.
Although, it's not like he's celebrating goals like Mike Dean..
You can listen to Jagielka's interview in full below:
via r/soccer.
