04-10-2021, 02:08 PM
(04-10-2021, 01:42 PM)TBP Wrote: I think the pitch should have been person of the match. It should have been cutting up like nobody's business. As it was, there were no safety issues, so the referee could keep going. The roll of the ball was neither here nor there, the players are professionals, they should be able to adjust for the run of the ball. The semi-artificial surface is a big step forward.
The roll of the ball is important. It is one of the criteria for which a referee can call a game off. Had it been 0-0 or even 1-0 I'm sure he would have called it off, but I expect he got so fed up at having Sunderland in his ears about it that he was determined to finish it.
But if he really said to Johnson that the ball was rolling OK so he was playing on, then he was out of order really. He should have just said it was safe to continue.