Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher and Jay Boothroyd clashed over several contentious penalty calls in the Premier League at the weekend.
Gallagher, 66, officiated in the top flight from 1992 to 2007 and now works as as a refereeing expert for Sky Sports, giving his opinion on many decisions.
On Monday, Sky Sports News presenter Rob Wotton ran through three borderline penalty calls from the weekend’s action – Aaron Ramsey’s foul on Jhon Duran which resulted in a penalty, William Saliba’s collision with Bobby Decordova-Reid that wasn’t given as a spot kick and Mathias Jorgensen’s clash with Jordan Ayew that similarly wasn’t awarded.
He said: ‘It’s all about the referee’s decision on-field because I don’t think the VAR can get involved in any of them and because how we all see things slightly differently, it’s about the on-field decision.’
Dermot Gallagher and Jay Boothroyd clashed over several penalty calls from the weekend
This included Aaron Ramsey’s foul on Jhon Duran which won Aston Villa a penalty vs Burnley
This frustrated former striker Boothroyd and Wotton who hit back at Gallagher for not answering clearly, before posing the question again.
After another answer that Boothroyd felt was unsatisfactory, he started to laugh and added: ‘Dermot, can we have a yes or no please?’
The pair began to argue and went back-and-forth with each other before Wotton then showed Jorgensen’s coming together with Ayew that wasn’t given.
Gallagher responded: ‘Rob that is why I answered the question like I did because this is all about the referee on-field because like I said, all three are so similar but you’ve got two non-penalties and one penalty.
‘As long as the referee is consistent in-game that’s all you can ask for.’
Boothroyd was left frustrated again as he added: ‘Is that one a foul then?’, before Gallagher replied: ‘You tell me which is a foul and which isn’t?’
The former Wolves and Cardiff striker bit back and said: ‘I think both of them are.’
Another coming together between Saliba and Decordova-Reid was then shown from Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Fulham.
As with Jorgensen-Ayew, the decision was no penalty and Gallagher used this as a defence of his argument.
He added: ‘I don’t think the VAR can get involved in any of the three. It’s all about the referee on-field.
‘The VAR will say none of the decisions are clearly and obviously wrong.’
This was the final straw for Boothroyd who retorted: ‘(Dermot) Your New Year’s resolution needs to be answering questions. Yes or no? (Are they penalties)’
He went on to give his view on the decisions as his frustration at Gallagher’s inconclusive responses grew further.
They also discussed William Saliba’s coming together with Bobby Decordova-Reid which wasn’t awarded as a penalty in Fulham’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon
The same decision was reached with Jordan Ayew’s collision with Mathias Jorgensen and Boothroyd grew increasingly frustrated at Gallagher’s refusal to give a clear answer
Boothroyd continued: ‘I look at all of them and I say penalty. It’s very good play from the forwards and the defenders can’t see what’s behind them.
‘They’re pens, he’s (Decordova-Reid) playing for it but that’s good from the forward and poor play from defender.
‘They’re all pens. At least I’m answering the questions, can I put it back to you?’
Wotton then intervened, realising that the argument was making no progress and brought the discussion to an end.
