Troy Deeney told talkSPORT that the decision to send Fabian Balbuena off against Chelsea over the weekend was ’embarrassing’.
The West Ham defender has since seen his red card been rescinded following an appeal by the club, as they confirmed on Tuesday.
Balbuena, who was trying to clear the ball, caught Chelsea defender, Ben Chilwell, at the back of his leg on his follow-through, but the referee and VAR then judged that he should have been given his marching orders.
But Deeney, who earned promotion with Watford over the weekend, shared that he’s not looking forward to returning to the Premier League because just a simple shoulder barge might be deemed as ‘too physical’.
“That was officially a moment where you go, the game is gone,” said Deeney. “He has cleared the ball, it’s just a follow-through and it happens.
“It’s getting a bit embarrassing. I have to be honest, it’s something I am not looking forward to next year because I am now going ‘Am I going to be to use my shoulder to barge anyone, anymore?’
“Or is that too physical? It just becomes silly. And as Moyes said, there was another instance where one of the Chelsea boys should have been sent off.
“But they have to start looking at these rules.”
Whilst West Ham were losing 1-0 at the time of the sending-off, it did kill any energy they were looking to extract during the final ten minutes.
And given that a Champions League place is up for grabs, it was a costly defeat and a potentially costly decision.
What is worrying is that, like Mike Dean against Thomas Soucek, these referee’s are seeing these replays, with VAR consulting them, yet they are still sending off these players, which is a huge, huge worry.
But it’s a clear sign as to where the problem lies.
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