After Chelsea lost 0-1 to Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior told referee Paul Tierney to pay more attention to his job. The Magpies won at the Bridge for the first time in 14 years thanks to Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 18th minute.
Chelsea had the ball most of the time, but they couldn’t turn their chances into goals, making their bad week even worse. Joe Willock made a perfect pass that set up Gordon, who finished cleanly past Robert Sánchez to quiet the home crowd. Chelsea are now in fifth place in the table with 48 points, having missed the chance to move up to the top three in the Premier League standings.
Rosenior was especially angry that Tierney was part of Chelsea’s now-famous pre-game huddle in the centre circle. After the game, the Chelsea head coach didn’t hold back:
“My players made a decision that they wanted to be around the ball to respect the ball and show unity and leadership. That is not my decision, that was a decision between a leadership group and a team. There is nothing that they’re doing with that huddle that is disrespectful to the opposition.”
The Blues manager went even further and talked about a conversation that his assistant had with the referee before the game that left him confused:
“Do you know what’s amazing? Before the game, we had a meeting with the referee, my assistant goes in, the first thing he talks about is our huddle… We’re not being disrespectful to the opposition. If Paul [the referee] had focused more on his job, which was to make the right decision, we have a penalty today.”
Rosenior was talking about a play in the second half when Cole Palmer fell down after being challenged by Nick Woltemade in the box, but Tierney did not give a penalty. The Chelsea manager said he didn’t speak to the referee after the game, but he promised to call PGMOL for more information about the whole thing.
What Is Chelsea’s Centre-Circle Huddle and Why Has It Sparked Controversy?
Chelsea’s pre-game ritual began on January 28, when they played Napoli at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in their last group-stage match of the Champions League. Before each half starts, all of the Chelsea players gather in the centre circle around the match ball for a team huddle. This has made rival fans boo and opposing players complain.
Rosenior has made it clear that the ritual didn’t come from the dugout; it was all the players’ idea. Willie Isa, the team’s player development officer, is credited with helping to bring the idea to the team. The Blues have won six, lost four, and drawn two of their 12 games in all competitions since the introduction of the huddle.
But the huddle took a strange turn when referee Paul Tierney refused to move from the centre spot, leaving himself stuck in a circle of Chelsea players holding the match ball. Cole Palmer watched the referee the whole time, and Wesley Fofana talked to Tierney for a short time before the players left.