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Mark Clattenburg

Mark Clattenburg: I allowed Tottenham to self-destruct against Chelsea in 2016
Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg says he "allowed Tottenham to self-destruct" when he refereed the 2-2 draw with Chelsea in May 2016 as Spurs conceded the title to Leicester.

Spurs needed to beat Chelsea to retain any hope of winning the league.

Clattenburg says he "went in with a gameplan" so he could not be blamed by Tottenham for losing the title.

He booked nine Spurs players in the bad-tempered match, but now says he could have sent off three players.

Chelsea and Tottenham received record fines from the Football Association following the game, while Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele was banned for six games for violent conduct against Chelsea's Diego Costa.

Speaking to NBC's Men in Blazers podcast, he said: "I allowed them [Spurs] to self-destruct so all the media, all the people in the world went: 'Tottenham lost the title.'

"If I sent three players off from Tottenham, what are the headlines? 'Clattenburg cost Tottenham the title.' It was pure theatre that Tottenham self-destructed against Chelsea and Leicester won the title."

Asked if he helped to "script" the game, he replied: "I helped the game. I certainly benefited the game by my style of refereeing.

"Some referees would have played by the book; Tottenham would have been down to seven or eight players and probably lost and they would've been looking for an excuse.

"But I didn't give them an excuse, because my gameplan was: Let them lose the title."

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42219327
 
nayenezgani said:
What in the name of fudge? 'My game plan was let them lose the title!?'

How about referee the fudging match properly you fudgein useless clam.

Surely this needs to be investigated thoroughly.
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Read it again.
He didnt send off 3 Spurs players.

My only comment would be, it's not his job to worry about the press or leagues. But you know they always do.
 
StephenH said:
Read it again.
He didnt send off 3 Spurs players.
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No he didn't, and at least one should have been, but if had reffed the game properly and not went out there with a game plan then maybe the situations arising to possible sending offs wouldn' have arisen.
That stinks tbh.
He avoided saying he didn't "script" the game because he would have been in a lot of trouble. He also didn't deny it though.
 
Referees are supposed to be completely impartial and apply the rules of the game. They are there to officiate.

Instead Clattenburg admits to trying to control the narrative around the game by effecting the games outcome himself.

Shameful, and I hope that he gets hell for it.
 
Clattenburg says he "went in with a gameplan" so he could not be blamed by Tottenham for losing the title.
"Some referees would have played by the book; Tottenham would have been down to seven or eight players and probably lost and they would've been looking for an excuse."

Some referees would have done their job properly. Booking players earlier (and not just Spurs players, he seems to conveniently forget there were early fouls coming from Cheatski as well) would have put a whole different perspective on the game. Yes, we are responsible for our own actions of course, but he had a job to do, and that job did not include having a "gameplan" to protect the brand of Mark Clattenburg.
 
Just read this, absolutely outrageous things to say!

May not have changed any outcome, but still WTF!?

I hate the assumption surrounding this game that we somehow blew it! It’s Chelsea away and we got a draw! Leicester would have won the title anyway even if we’d won!
 
LemonadeMoney said:
If we'd won that game and all the remaining games after, we would have finished second. He's just seeking attention.
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And that is a big problem with modern refs. They want to be a star in the same way players are.

A good ref is barely even noticed. Genuinely. And yet, when was the last time you watched a game and realised you hadnt payed the ref a single thought?

Modern refs priorities are all wrong.
 
Just a desperate attempt to get himself some publicity, looking for a job in the media when he's got as much out of the Arabs as he can. Will be interesting to see if the F.A. have any comments about a referee making decisions based on what the media might say, as most refs appear not to give a fudge what anyone thinks as long as they have a laugh!
 
He has been a pundit on Norwegian TV a few times this season, and in addition to proving that he is clueless by making very strange calls when asked his opinion on refereeing decisions, he has also said on a few occassions that he saw it as hist most important job as a referee to "create a good product" and make games entertaining, rather than always follwing the book. So he would try to avoid sending players off, for example, if that could have a negative impact on the game.

I thought they were shocking comments, as I've always seen it as the referee's job to lead the game in a fair manner and punish players when they deserve to be punished, not to make sure the games become entertaining or to create good product.
 
Just helps feed our paranoia after the report on the taxpayers stadium fiasco and the jaw dropping performance from the ref on Saturday, waiting with bated breath to see what type of "official" we get on Wednesday and whether his mates on the goal line are carrying buckets of water or driving little cars.
 
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