During a conversation, Roy Keane brought up Wolves in relation to the recent statement released by Arsenal, which called for an improvement in officiating standards.
The former Manchester United captain was speaking on The Overlap YouTube channel during a recent Stick To Football episode.
This season, many poor decisions have been made by Premier League referees.
It seems to be that we are talking about controversies on a weekly basis, and the PGMOL has really come under fire in recent times.
After Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United last Sunday, Mikel Arteta was not happy. He slammed the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s winning goal to stand.
Then, an unusual step was taken. The Gunners released a statement in support of Arteta and the comments he made and called for improvements in the level of officiating.
This was a divisive move, and Keane made a comment about Wolves.
Gary Neville and Ian Wright discussed the Arsenal statement, and Roy Keane believes Wolves might have responded after making a number of bad choices that hurt the team.
Neville suggested that it is a ‘bad’ thing for football institutions to be making public statements like this.
Wright argued that we have reached a point now where clubs should be able to say how they feel, suggesting there is too much at stake for such errors to take place.
Wright said, “You don’t believe, Gary, that it’s even more dangerous that we’ve got an institution where no one can say anything? Because if you say something, people say ‘Oh you’ve got to support them’. So you can’t say anything. But if you don’t say anything, the fans will say to you, ‘Well, I just saw what I saw’.
“The clubs want them to be the best they can be.”
Keane then said, “What if they all start making statements every week? Wolves could have made statements.
Neville said, “Exactly!”
There are several reasons for Wolves to be making statements.
The statement Arsenal released was controversial. Some have backed the club in calling for improvements, while others have slammed the public nature of it.
It doesn’t come across as particularly classy.
Wolves have had several terrible decisions go against them this season—the latest being the penalty decision given against Fabio Silva at Bramall Lane—and lastly, they have never put out a statement like the one Arsenal did.
It is fine for managers to express their frustrations in interviews after games. Arteta’s emotion and passion were actually fairly admirable.
But it is a step too far for clubs to release public statements.
