Vincent Kompany:'One of the worst decisions this season!'

The Clarets manager was sent off for his protests after Lorenz Assignon’s severe expulsion, thus he was unable to participate in his post-match press obligations at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Mykhailo Mudryk was given a second yellow card by referee Darren England after it was determined that the Frenchman had fouled him inside the box, even though there didn’t seem to be any contact.

Cole Palmer scored the ensuing penalty, but Burnley managed to rally with ten men and force a 2-2 draw.

For the first time, Kompany addressed the issue prior to Burnley’s Tuesday night game against Wolves, stating, “I obviously disagreed with the on-field decision!”

“Well, I believe it’s crucial to clarify that I saw the officials after the game and apologized for the words I used.” I most definitely did not mean to imply or infer that an official would drive up to a game and decide to referee a team against another. That wasn’t my goal at all.

“Yet the reason for the dissatisfaction is that there have been a number of errors and it’s never conclusively proven.

“When it’s one game or one event, it’s always debatable. Just like this one could be debatable, but less so than other cases I think but you can always debate. But for us it’s the succession of it and the effects on points and the effects on our season. All of that gives you a feeling, it makes you more angry when the next one comes.

“I will have to do my best, I just hope it doesn’t happen again this season.”

Kompany has often been outspoken about the standard of officiating in the Premier League this season and, following Saturday’s dubious dismissal, he’s repeated that message.

“I will keep saying what I think, I’m not going to shy away from it,” he added.

“I said it to the referees themselves, the officials and I’ve said it to all the responsibles that I thought refereeing has not been good enough this season. I’ve said it in a constructive way I think, understanding as well it’s not easy for them, the scrutiny is massive, the pressure is bigger than it’s ever been on officials.

“The addition of VAR, more opinions, more officials, it doesn’t make it easy for them to do their jobs so that’s something I absolutely take into consideration.

“But I’ve said it before both last year and at the beginning of the season, for me English refereeing was the best in the world. Always. The reason being because it was always the league of common sense.

“Of course you make a mistake and you have a laugh about it and usually the traditional saying was ‘it evens itself out over the course of a season’. But this year I haven’t felt like this.

“Where we are in the league doesn’t really matter for me, it’s not in that conversation. It’s just when I draw back to my years of experience, either sharing the pitch with the officials or now talking to them, there’s a lack of consistency and there’s probably a bit of reflection needed to ensure the standards improve for the good of our game.

“I’m not afraid to say it in that sense because I saw the interview of my colleague Chris Wilder who I’m really fond of and really respect. He said he’s a hard-working Yorkshireman and he doesn’t want to be fined anymore.

“I don’t have any issues with being fined, I just want it to be right. It’s not something I say in a vindictive way, you can see I’m not even as angry anymore. It’s more we just have to get it right and at this moment in time it’s falling short.”

When asked if he intends to speak to PGMOL chief Howard Webb, Kompany continued: “I can do but I have done already. It’s not something you solve in one go.

“I’m saying it in this way because we were in the Championship last year and I had a stronger reference point – and they made mistakes and we had managers and moments where people complained as well – but I felt like the reference point was a lot clearer, if that makes sense.

“It felt a lot more like what I experienced in the 11 years I played in the Premier League. It felt a lot more like the flow of the game, the flow of the decisions, the intention behind decisions, I could reference it back to all the things I experienced over so many years of my career.

“This season that hasn’t been the case and I have stated that.”

Kompany, who expects to be on the touchline against Wolves despite his red, finished by praising his players’ response to the cruel setback.

“I think everything was said by Bellers [his assistant Craig Bellamy] after the game, we all felt very proud after the game but they’ve done what we know they can do,” he said.“Every single time we’ve had a tough time or are in a tough spot, you see they respond by working hard and going again and showing belief.

“We will carry on like this. We would have liked to have played this game with 11 men, but it shows what this team is about and we carry on.”

Vincent Kompany;’One of the worst decisions this season!’

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