Graham Alexander reveals what ProRef told Preston North End after refereeing controversies vs West Brom
Preston were denied two penalties in the draw with West Brom on Saturday.
Graham Alexander has revealed Preston North End were told by ProRef they should have been awarded two penalties in Saturday’s draw with West Brom.
Preston earned their first point under Alexander with a spirited display against West Brom, but it could have been so much more if officiating decisions went their way.
Not only was the throw-in that started the move for Albion’s equalising goal initially given to North End before wrongly being overturned by fourth official Dean Whitestone, but two strong appeals for penalties were waved away by referee Elliot Bell.
First, goal-scorer Andrew Hughes was hit with a high boot and then Jusef Erabi was tripped. While Alexander can understand missing out on the second one, the kick on Hughes not resulting in a penalty, and even harsher punishment, still has the manager baffled.
Alexander told The Post ahead of Saturday’s game with Stoke City: “Altercation? When he got his head kicked off? It was more than an altercation. It was a challenge that I can't believe it wasn't...
“Listen, I've not talked about it because I don't want to drag it forward and stuff like that. We had a call from the head of referees that night, there was a high-ranking official that was actually at the game and said we should have had penalties from two different instances, the one on Jusef as well.
“I could half forgive that, understand that, because it's a challenge, but it was proved to be a foul.
“But the challenge on Hughsey was ridiculous really in the box. If it had have been one of my players I'd have just had my hands over my eyes, thinking: ‘What are we playing at?’
“To not give a penalty, it should have been a red card, to be honest because of the challenge.
“They've said they were wrong. That's it. We all make mistakes, so I'm not going to carry it forward. I think he's a really good referee, I think he just had a bad moment.”
Alexander names one of his football ‘bugbears’
Despite the reckless nature of the high-boot, Hughes actually got back up to his feet quicker than his assailant, Ousmane Diakite, with some fans wishing the burly centre-back had sold the collision further in order to win the penalty.
Alexander admits it’s a ‘bugbear’ of his that fouls are often not given if a player does not make a meal out of the contact.
“There's nothing on Hughesy for not making too big a deal of it,” he said. “We can't take any responsibility for that indecision.
“It's one of my bugbears about the game where they can see it's a foul but they're saying: ‘He hasn't gone down.’ Then you get players booked for buying things and using their body.
“I know that there was a directive from the referees, it was probably a year ago, about not all contact is a foul but I think there's still bits to be improved.
“Look, you're talking about two sets of players who are trying to win, understanding what the game is, and I think referees can set the level of what they're going to be like for the rest of the game.”
However, Alexander did stress it was important referees get support in their difficult job.
He added: “Without getting into it, I know how tough a job it is because I've spoken to plenty of referees over the years, and we all get frustrated and emotional at times, but without them we wouldn't have a game.
“So it's important we understand that and try and support them in the times we can.
“It doesn't take away the disappointment with that particular decision but we just have to try and focus on what we can control.”
Bell is not refereeing this coming weekend but instead serving as fourth official for the Premier League tie between Aston Villa and Fulham. He will then fourth officiate Tuesday’s Championship game between Birmingham City and Millwall. Whitestone has been appointed referee for the League One clash between Stockport County and Wimbledon on Saturday.
The man in the middle for the trip to Stoke will be Adam Herczeg, who was in charge of North End’s opening day defeat at Bolton Wanderers. He was also the referee when Preston last kept a clean sheet, the 1-0 win over Portsmouth on February 7.