Neil Warnock has had an impressive managerial career.
He has guided several clubs into the Premier League.
That he hasn’t been able to keep them there, shouldn’t detract from a remarkable achievement.
His problem however is that he can’t stop questioning referees’ decisions.
He used to boast that he had passed the exam on the Laws of the Game and seemed to think that this gave him some authority over referees. Instead it has cost him a lot of money.
Quite recently he has been fined £7,000, but he’s still at it if we look at his behaviour at Reading’s match against Middlesbrough.
Apart from haranguing the fourth official constantly, it happened mainly when a Middlesbrough player was sent off near the end of the game.
I watched the highlights of the game in the evening on Quest television’s EFL show. it was quite clear that from his position in the technical area, Warnock could not see what happened.
Apart from being 70 yards away, the penalty area was crowded with players.
The close-up replay showed quite clearly that a Middlesbrough player had lunged at the ball at the same time as the Reading goalkeeper dived to save it just outside his goalmouth.
I wrote recently that a lunge from any angle can be classified as serious foul play.
The reason is that once a player lunges foot first, he loses control.
In other words, he’s not able to stop his action, so if an opponent is in the way it will result in an injury.
There is a degree of severity for lunges. For instance, when the player is off the ground, any injury is likely to be worse.
Then there is the distance and speed of the lunge and whether the studs are showing or the leg is straight which increases the seriousness of any injury.
We can’t tell if the Reading goalkeeper was injured, but as he received treatment we assume so.
None of this concerned Warnock, who claimed, when interviewed afterwards on Quest, that this year’s Championship referees were the worst ever.
Time to get an updated Laws of the Game, Neil.
