Chelsea’s pre-match routine has sparked a fresh refereeing row, with Mark Clattenburg branding the image of Paul Tierney standing inside the Blues’ team huddle as a ‘very unusual’ mistake.
It was the same old story for Chelsea, who conceded an early goal against Newcastle United, taking their streak to three games in a row of conceding first.
A lapse in concentration saw Joe Willock race through to square for Anthony Gordon. Trevoh Chalobah found himself way out of position and Wesley Fofana didn’t even bother to run back.
To be fair to Liam Rosenior, he kept a settled XI this time round, but they just lacked any kind of creativity; it was very one-dimensional at times.
However, the major talking point came before a ball was even kicked, as Paul Tierney was surrounded by the Chelsea players in their pre-match huddle.
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Mark Clattenburg suggests Paul Tierney was in the wrong
Speaking exclusively to The Chelsea Chronicle, Mark Clattenburg gave his honest opinion on the bizarre Chelsea huddle that took place prior to kick-off.
“A very unusual situation happened before the Chelsea v Newcastle game, which could have been avoided by the referee, Paul Tierney. Chelsea did their pre-match huddle in the centre circle where the referee was standing.
“This image was not great for referees who must stay impartial and could have been avoided if Tierney was more aware and changed his position to allow Chelsea their huddle.”
It was strange enough seeing the Chelsea players surround the centre circle against Aston Villa, but this just took it to a whole new level. Especially with Cole Palmer staring at Paul Tierney.
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Micah Richards gives Liam Rosenior his seal of approval as Chelsea boss
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The meaning behind Chelsea’s bizarre huddles
Liam Rosenior absolutely loves the huddle, but revealed that it was actually the idea of his players. He played no part in coming up with it.
“It wasn’t my idea, it’s come from the players and I really like it.”
Interestingly, Chelsea aren’t the first team to have done this.
In European competitions, RB Leipzig have frequently used a centre-circle huddle as a power move to occupy the middle of the pitch until the very last second before kickoff.
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