Mark Ashton has revealed referees chief Howard Webb is set to visit Portman Road this week as the Blues chairman and CEO looks for answers regarding the various refereeing and VAR decisions which have gone against the Blues since the start of the season and in particularly over the last three weekends.
During the Manchester City game on the campaign’s second weekend, the Premier League champions were awarded a penalty after referee Sam Allison had reviewed footage following a VAR review, but a similar incident at the other end wasn’t even looked at.
Against Everton a fortnight ago, a penalty was awarded when Jack Clarke was tripped before referee Michael Oliver overturned the decision after VAR had intervened.
At Brentford, referee Lewis Smith initially gave a free-kick to the Bees after Harry Clarke had fouled Keane Lewis-Potter but again VAR looked at the incident and deemed that the infringement had taken place inside the box and the West Londoners were awarded a penalty.
It was Saturday’s game against Leicester which triggered Ashton to make a call to Webb, the chief refereeing officer for the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Town having been denied what looked a stonewall penalty at 1-0 by referee Tim Robinson, who appeared to be in a position from where he couldn’t clearly see the incident.
According to manager Kieran McKenna, the claim was looked at by VAR but not overturned. The situation was compounded by Kalvin Phillips being shown a very harsh second yellow card moments later.
In the days since, various ex-players and former officials have pontificated on the penalty decision.
“I get frustrated and I get angry at things when they don’t go our way, but I thought Saturday was a real injustice,” Ashton told BBC Radio Suffolk’s The Blue Hour.
“And those who know me know I care passionately about this football club and I will give my last breath defending this football club. And I made that very, very clear to Howard Webb.
“I thought long and hard today about what I should and shouldn’t say, knowing I was coming on tonight, this has been planned for along time, so there’s no knee-jerk reaction.
“I live in a world where if I say too much I’ll be put on a charge, so what I’m going to say to you know is putting me on that line.
“But I’ve tried to be honest and open with this fanbase since the day I joined, so I’ll give the train of events as they unfolded on Saturday.
“I actually messaged Howard when we were 1-0 up because I had a sense of the way this was going to go. I’ve been in this game a long time and I could feel it.
“I messaged him simply and said, ‘Look, can we speak directly after the game?’. We spoke directly after the game and some of that conversation needs to remain private because I’ll end up being on a charge, I’ll end up being on a stadium ban, I’ll end up being fined, none of which worries.
“But the context of some of what I said to him was this. When we were promoted to the Premier League in the summer, I’d never worked with VAR ever, so it was very new to me.
“And the Premier League presented to me why we should support retaining VAR, Wolverhampton Wanderers had made a petition for it to be removed.
“We listened to Wolves and we listened to some other clubs and we listened primarily to the Premier League and on the basis of what I was told, we supported the Premier League’s decision.
“And a key part of that was how high the bar was going to be set for decisions to be overturned and overruled, and at what point VAR got involved in the game.
“If I was asked to make that vote again tomorrow, I can’t look you in the eye say I’d vote the same way because I am still angry, I’m still frustrated.
“I think what I’ve seen thus far with VAR, as someone who has spent a long time in the Championship, who loves and cares passionately about this game, from an entertainment perspective, I believe the games are worse off with VAR from what I’ve seen in my own personal view.
“All I ask for with refereeing and VAR is consistency and we have not seen consistency. I do not personally believe and my colleagues don’t personally believe we have seen consistency over the games.
“You go back to Man City, penalty at one end, not at the other end and I could go on and on about specific instances, and they’re not [consistent].
“All I look for is consistency and right now, I’m confused. I think as a coaching staff we’re probably confused.
“The culmination of that interesting, shall we say, conversation with Howard on Saturday night is that we will meet this week at Portman Road to discuss it because we need answers, we need to understand.
“I can’t understand some of the decisions that were made, the refereeing decisions and I struggle to under stand why we weren’t awarded a penalty.
“I’ve seen on international broadcasters today, former referees giving their opinion that it’s not a penalty. You cannot be serious. Come on, don’t just back your former colleagues. It’s a stonewall penalty.
“Then why isn’t it VARed, why isn’t it checked? I don’t know and I need to have answers. I need to have answers for my manager, I need to have answers for my coaching staff, I need answers for my key stakeholders and more importantly I need to have answers for this fanbase.
“But I go back to the beginning, this fanbase needs to understand I will give my last breath fighting for this football club and I didn’t enjoy that Saturday, I felt there was an injustice to everyone in this town and this county, and I want some answers.”
Meanwhile, Ashton reiterated that the Cobbold Stand rebuild is a long-term aim and revealed that building behind the West Stand is an option under consideration in order to prevent the club losing significant capacity when the 53-year-old Cobbold is knocked down as the club ultimately aims towards a 40,000-seater stadium.
The Blues CEO also said changing the manager won’t enter his head, that McKenna is going nowhere this season whatever happens with the Blues currently in the relegation zone.
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