Ex-PGMOL chief believes the game failed to deliver value for money to the paying fans
Simon Hooper checks the pitch-side monitor before changing his decision to give Anthony Gordon a red card
Former head of the PGMOL Keith Hackett has called for an investigation into the Newcastle United and Liverpool game to ascertain why there were so many stoppages in the match. Liverpool scored in the 100th minute of the match to snatch a 3-2 victory at St James' Park in what was a proper smash and grab raid of three points by the champions.
Despite the excitement around the game and Newcastle's stirring performance with 10 men after Anthony Gordon was sent off, there has been some criticism around the stop-start nature of the match.
Statistics have shown there were 32 fouls penalised in the game, in which Newcastle also lost three players to injury.
Opta statistics also show the ball was only in play for 40.8 percent of the match, which is the lowest total for a Premier League game in 15 years, since Stoke City beat Blackburn Rovers in February 2020.
Hackett says those numbers are unacceptable and has called on the Premier League to investigate, although he believes it is not the referee Simon Hooper's fault.
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Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “This is frankly an unacceptable stat – it fails to deliver value for money to the paying fans. I would recommend that the Premier League launch an investigation to determine where time was lost.
“Hooper is an official who likes to keep his interventions to a minimum and create a good game flow. I would suggest that he is not to blame, but clearly can greatly influence the amount of game-time by ensuring the appropriate amount of added time is applied.
“The game has a problem that cannot be overlooked – the Premier League must investigate.”
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