Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has given a savage response to Mark Clattenburg after the former referee said the Blades should not have been awarded a penalty against West Ham.
What Did Clattenburg Say About Sheffield United’s Penalty Against West Ham?
With Sunday’s game between Sheffield United and West Ham in it’s dying embers and the Hammers 2-1 up, Oli McBurnie won, and scored, a controversial penalty against Alphonse Areola.
The goal snatched an all important point for the Blades, who currently sit bottom of the Premier League table.
However, the incident caused widespread debate, with former referee Mark Clattenburg weighing in on the controversial decision in his Daily Mail column: “This is not a foul by Alphonse Areola on Oli McBurnie.
“It is a foul by McBurnie on Areola! If you know football, and you know Sheffield United, and you know McBurnie, then you know he is going to try to disrupt the goalkeeper.
“He does that by launching his arm into Areola, who’s left with a bloodied lip for his troubles. It should be a free-kick to West Ham. Yet Salisbury awards the penalty to Sheffield United.”
Chris Wilder on Mark Clattenburg 🗣️
"Criticism only hurts when it comes from people you respect so I'll just leave that at that."
[The Bladesman]😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/7L4TSJyRMp
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) January 25, 2024
How Did Wilder Respond To Clattenburg’s Comments?
Blades boss Chris Wilder did not take too kindly to Clattenburg’s comments and offered a savage response to the former referee.
Speaking to the media ahead of his side’s FA Cup fixture against Brighton on Saturday, Wilder said: “I just think it’s really ignorant in terms of the way we play.
“He obviously didn’t watch that [West Ham] game and is just going on something even pre-me. In 2016 we were a pretty decent footballing side.
“Criticism only hurts when it comes from people you respect, so I’ll leave that at that. It’s just a nonsense, clickbait.
“We know what we’re about and what we’re trying to do, how we want to play and that we have an honest group of players.
“When people like that do make comments like that, they need to make sure they get everything right.
“And the majority of this season, when some ridiculous decisions have gone against us. The likes of Wes [Foderingham] getting nailed at Tottenham, Vini [Souza] getting nailed against Brentford. I’m competitive, I want the game to be physical. It has to be physical.
“But it’s nonsense and we have to deal with that. We just close ranks a little bit more. We know what we’re about and we know what we have to do, to try and bridge the gap and be successful.”
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