Myles Lewis-Skelly red card appeal verdict as Newcastle monitor Arsenal conspiracy claim
Newcastle United continue to monitor the fallout from Myles Lewis-Skelly's controversial red card against Wolves on Saturday. The Arsenal defender was shown a straight red card by referee Michael Oliver.
Lewis-Skelly received his marching orders after stopping Matt Doherty from starting a counter-attack from the edge of his own penalty area. The 18-year-old appeared to catch Doherty on the top of his Achilles and was shown a straight red card by Oliver.
While the incident shocked Arsenal players, who surrounded Oliver to complain, video assistant referee Darren England, aided by Adrian Holmes, the assistant VAR, checked and confirmed the decision. They deemed it to be serious foul play with Lewis-Skelly not just stopping a counter-attack but also endangering Doherty.
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Although Arsenal ended up winning the game 1-0, there was still a huge amount of fury among the squad, fanbase and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta. Particular ire was directed at Oliver, with Arsenal fans threatening him and is a weird piece on conspiracy, accusing him of being a Newcastle fan and only sending Lewis-Skelly off so he would miss the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final between the two teams. As it stands, the left-back will miss Arsenal's first three matches next month. The second game of that ban is at St James' Park on Wednesday, February 5.
The fall-out has been intense, with pundits, the Premier League and the PGMOL getting involved. Ex-ref Keith Hackett, speaking to Football Insider, has given his verdict. He has backed the Gunners to have the red card successfully overturned. "It was a very poor red card. It was a reckless challenge worthy of a yellow. He should appeal," the 80-year-old ruled.
ChronicleLive takes a look at the statements released since the incident and what has been said about VAR.
Immediate statement
The Premier League released a statement on Saturday explaining why VAR didn't intervene to overturn the decision to hand Lewis-Skelly a red card.
"The referee's call of a red card for Lewis-Skelly was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed his challenge to have been serious foul play," it read.
PGMOL on Oliver
After Lewis-Skelly's dismissal, Oliver is said to have received alleged online abuse for his decision and the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) have since offered a sharp response.
Following online abuse of Oliver, a PGMOL statement read: "We are appalled by the threats and abuse directed at Michael Oliver following the Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal fixture.
"No official should be subject to any form of abuse, let alone the abhorrent attacks aimed at Michael and his family over the past 24 hours.
"The police are aware, and a number of investigations have commenced. We are supporting Michael, and all those affected, and are determined to tackle this unacceptable behaviour.
"Sadly, this is not the first time a match official has been forced to deal with threats in recent times. We will continue to support all investigations."
Red card stance
Although there has been a huge amount of anger at Oliver's decision, PGMOL have appeared to back why he chose to hand Lewis-Skelly a red card. The Mirror's Darren Lewis spoke to the PGMOL and shared their verdict on Sunday.
"I know that the PGMOL's position is that the challenge was extremely late, and the point of contact was high," Lewis relayed. "That's their position, and they supported Michael Oliver and Darren England.
"They felt that Darren had seen nothing in the replays to suggest that the decision taken by Michael Oliver was wrong. And so that's why they were supportive of both men.
"I also am aware that the PGMOL feel aggrieved at the tidal wave of criticism they have had from ex-players within the game. They feel terms like 'the worst decision ever' are quite sensationalist from their point of view because they are saying that you could make a legitimate case from seeing that footage for suggesting that Michael Oliver was right to take the decision that he did."
VAR protocol
Former referee turned pundit Dermot Gallagher has been discussing the role of VAR in the incident. Gallagher believes that better intervention could have helped Oliver and prevented some of the fall-out.
"One of the dangers we alluded to earlier in the season is freeze frame pictures. A freeze frame picture is great for [identifying a] point of contact – and that's all it is! It shows you where the boot lands," said Gallagher, speaking to Sky Sports.
"You make a great point about his (Oliver's) position. I actually think he's under optical illusion because he's coming from behind, he sees the tackle go in, he thinks it's gone down [his achilles].
"You look, it hasn't [gone down his Achilles]. But what happens is, you look at that book and it says about point of contact. You show a still picture and everything changes doesn't it? A still picture doesn't show the first four points of speed, intensity, where he's come from, where he's going.
"People talk about the monitor, the VAR. It's quite intriguing. Somebody said to me yesterday that if Darren England had said, 'Look, go and have a look and see what you think'. That's great in principle, but that's not part of the protocol. It's got to be, he thinks it's a clear and obvious error, then he recommends Michael go.
"What happens after is up to him. If he had gone to the monitor, he may well have held his ground. He may well have said, 'I still think it's a red card,' but that didn't happen. I think the follow up from it has caused massive, massive debate. It's caused some very toxic and unnecessary follow-up."