Liam Rosenior said referee Paul Tierney should have focused on his job rather than on crashing Chelsea’s pre-match huddle after Newcastle won at Stamford Bridge for the first time in 14 years.
Anthony Gordon scored the only goal in the 18th minute as the Blues made a hopeless mess of pressing the visitors, but the focus afterwards was on the bizarre moment before kick-off when Tierney stood in the centre of the Chelsea players as captain Reece James spoke to the team.
Rosenior said he will contact PGMOL, the referees’ body, to seek clarity on why what has become a pre-game ritual for his team was disrupted.
Newcastle were due to kick the game off and Tierney was standing next to the ball near the centre spot, seemingly refusing to move as the home team congregated around him.
“I want to protect my players,” said Rosenior after Chelsea missed the chance to climb to third. “I’m respectful to the game. 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 is a decision between the leadership group and the team. There is nothing that they’re doing with that huddle that is disrespectful to the opposition.”
It has become a ritual under Rosenior for Chelsea players to gather in the centre circle before kick-off.
The manager has previously said the initiative came from the players, and it has already provoked controversy, with Aston Villa fans booing his side before their recent 4-1 win at Villa Park.
It is also not the first time issues have been raised around pre-match conduct this year, with Rosenior accusing Arsenal of disrespecting his team by encroaching into Chelsea’s half during their warm-up at the Emirates in January.
“Do you know what’s amazing?” said Rosenior. “Before the game we had a meeting with the referee. My assistant goes in. The first thing he talks about is our huddle. He said about when I complained about Arsenal being in our half. It wasn’t the (Arsenal) goalkeeper coach that was in our half, and people that were at that game at Arsenal know why I said what I said.”
Rosenior believed his team, who were below par and struggled to create chances, should have had a penalty when Cole Palmer went down under a challenge from Nick Woltemade in the second half.
“If Paul had focused more on his job, which was to make the right decision, we’d have a penalty today,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can say that Woltemade doesn’t kick Cole Palmer down in the box.
“I didn’t speak to Paul today, I didn’t think it was the right thing. But I’ll be speaking to PGMOL. I’ll be speaking to the refs. Just trying to get an understanding of what happened.”
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle won for only the fourth time away this season ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg against Barcelona on Wednesday.
“What the players gave to protect our goal was huge, and we’ve needed that more this season,” he said.
“We had a little bit of luck that’s eluded us on the road. I’m just really pleased with what the players gave. I think it’s been a really positive day for us.
“We needed to win today to give us any chance of winning in Barcelona and progressing.”
