Eddie Howe clearly had issue with Arne Slot visiting the ref’s office at half-time in Newcastle‘s 3-3 draw with Liverpool, but avoided opening that “can of worms.”
Wednesday night’s 3-3 draw at St James’ Park was marked by a strange display from the refereeing team that saw a number of key decisions overlooked.
Both sides will feel they were denied clear penalties, most notably for Liverpool late on with a foul on Luis Diaz and a handball from Dan Burn.
Referee Andy Madley showed five yellow cards to Liverpool – three in the first half – and only two to Newcastle, with one of those being for goalkeeper Nick Pope after the game had finished.
Slot and his staff were visibly frustrated on the touchline for much of the game, and it was revealed afterwards that he visited Madley’s office at half-time.
This came after an invitation from the official to speak to him at any point, but in his post-match interview with Amazon Prime Sport, Howe was seemingly puzzled by Slot doing so at the break.
“I don’t think I’ll go there, because I think that’s a can of worms I shouldn’t open!” he said on the subject.
Asked if he would ever meet with a referee at half-time, Howe replied: “No I tend to focus on my team. I don’t know what happened at half-time, I’ve got no idea.”
Pope’s booking came when Madley blew for full-time with Newcastle on a dangerous counter-attack, with the hosts unsurprisingly furious at his decision.
“Well I was,” Howe said when asked if he felt the same way.
“Because when the five minutes goes up and we get a free-kick, I think there were probably about two minutes taken out of the game setting up the free-kick.
“[With] the dynamics of that you think ‘well, we’re going to be playing seven here’. That’s what I thought.
“So when he blew it at 5.15, I was really surprised and obviously devastated because we had a good situation.”
In his post-match press conference, Slot was questioned on his view of the referee, not touching on his half-time chat but interestingly admitting that “you always try to influence where you can.”
“I think it was an intense game and all the decisions made by the players, by me, by the other coaching staff and by the referee, they can have a big impact,” Liverpool’s head coach said.
“All these small details can have a big impact. So you always try to influence where you can or sometimes you have a bit of frustration.
“But in general I didn’t feel we crossed the line.
“There were moments in the game where we felt we could have got a free-kick, there were moments in the game where the Newcastle bench thought they could have had a free-kick. I think it’s always like this.
“It happens most in an intense game, where there are so many turnovers, that emotions get [high] – not only with the fans, sometimes with us as well.
“But I don’t think the referee had any influence on the result tonight.”
