'Reprecussions' - Ex Premier League referee gives clear verdict on Chelsea and West Ham booking controversey

Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter has provided insight into the thoughts of Rob Jones when deciding not to show Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez a red card for a nasty late challenge on Chelsea man Cole Palmer.

The meeting between the Blues and the Red Devils crescendoed into a tense finish after second-half goals from Bruno Fernandes and Moises Caicedo left both sides fighting for a winner. The match reached boiling point when Martinez outstretched his right boot and saw his studs impact on Palmer's thigh in injury time.

The dangerous challenge was only seen bad enough to warrant a yellow card by referee Jones but that decision has sparked controversy with Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca leading protests that the tackle should have been a red card.

The Blues boss said: "He [Palmer} was there in the changing room with ice, we are waiting now and hopefully it's nothing important. I know you're going to ask me about the referee's decision. I think it's clear almost for all of us.

"For me, when there is no intention to go for the ball and you go for the player, it's red."

‘I was always taught...’ - Why Man Utd star didn’t see red against Chelsea

Speaking to Grosvenor Casino, Winter explained: "This shouldn't affect the referee's decision, but he possibly didn't catch him as badly as he could have done. But when you look, if it was a slightly late tackle you could feel for the defender, but he was nowhere near the ball, it was the other side of him. I think the commentator saying it was an orange was a very kind assessment of that, because it could have quite easily have been a red. 

"A different referee, a different day, and this is the frustrating thing about VAR, sometimes it uses a little bit of common sense and says leave it to the referee. Other times, needlessly, in my opinion, they get involved."

A statement from the Premier League Match Centre backed Jones' on-field decision after the incident. It read: "The referee issued a yellow card to Martinez for a challenge on Palmer. VAR checked for a potential red card and confirmed the referee’s call of no red card, deeming that it was a reckless challenge."

In further analysis, Winter added that it was likely Jones' had made his decision about the yellow card imminently by allowing the game to carry on. He said: "One thing that happened in that incident, I was always taught as a referee, if you're going to send a player off when there's been a really bad tackle, no matter how good the potential advantage is, you don't play on. Because if that potential advantage breaks down then there's repercussions between players and the action, so you can totally lose control of the game. 

"When if you'd have just stopped the game and issued an early red card, it would have calmed it all down. So, I think the referee who did have a good game and was well placed, I think he's immediately known it's not a red card in his mind, but I think Martinez, now it's not for the first time in his career, was rather fortunate with that one."

Edson Alvarez left referee ‘no option’

Winter was also on hand to provide his verdict on West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez being shown a red card as the Hammers were beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening. The former Premier League referee showed a little sympathy with the player’s second yellow card but admitted that blame had to be with the player.

He said: “There always seems to be a spate of incidents, they become the popular incident and then the referees clamp down on it. I've noticed increasingly in recent weeks, a player goes past an opponent, the arm comes out, it's not violent, but there's the little tug on the shoulder, the little pull back just to unbalance the player. All definite yellow cards. The commentators will normally say, and the feeling within the game is, he's took one for the team.

“So, Alvarez gets a ridiculous caution for me by pulling the player back. I think it was near the centre circle; it wasn't in a dangerous position. But then, having committed that and got his yellow card, just what was he thinking of? He was never going to get the ball and even if there was a 10% chance he was going to get the ball, there was a 90% chance he wasn't. And if he didn't, it was going to be another yellow.

“So, the referee was totally right with that one, he had no option but to send him off. But I'm just left scratching my head thinking what was the player thinking about because surely, you've done one, you're in the book, you tread a little bit carefully, don't you? But obviously Alvarez didn’t!”

Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui took a similar view of the Alvarez incident as he shared frustration as a situation that could have been avoided - the Mexican has now picked up two red cards this season.

Lopetegui said: “We can and we have to do much better. You can prepare the team but the players have to take the right decisions and we have to play with eleven men.

“It's one of the situations we can avoid because there was no danger of this. We had a lot of players in our box. It is a big advantage for the opponent above all because there is a lot of time in front of you. You are losing the match so it was a bad moment for us and a very good moment for them because they wanted to damage us on the counter-attack.

“That's why in the second half we tried to wait a moment. We were not able to because we suffered the second goal and it was different. That's why I repeat that today is a hard night for us. That's why we have to say first of all sorry for our fans. We are very disappointed today and we have to use these hard moments to push forward and to look forward to the next challenge.