Ref ‘guessed’ penalty decision, fumes Allardyce

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has called on the FA and Premier League to look into the way referees are recruited following a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool at Upton Park in which the officials made a string of embarrassing errors.

Referee Anthony Taylor allowed a West Ham goal through Guy Demel to stand even though Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet was clearly fouled by Andy Carroll, with the linesman flagging vigorously but ignored. Taylor then awarded Liverpool a match-winning penalty, the second of the evening given to league leaders Liverpool and both converted by Steven Gerrard, even though West Ham goalkeeper Adrian appeared to get the ball as he dived at Jon Flanagan’s feet.

An angry Allardyce said: “There were fouls given by the referee when he was 60 yards away, the second penalty was not a penalty, Adrian plays the ball. Controversially we are talking about the referee and the effect he had on the game. He made big mistakes in the game. He thinks Adrian hasn’t played the ball and he has. He has to be 100% certain. He was in a bad position but gave it.

“It looked like Andy Carroll fouled the goalkeeper for our goal as well but we got it. I think the referee just guessed. We don’t want that, nobody wants that. My real concern is that we are talking about referees every week. We don’t have enough quality referees. They try their best but something has to be done about it. We have to look at the way they are recruited. You want teams to win through the way they play not through the decisions of the referee.”

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was less inclined to enter the debate after the win sent his team back top with a match against second-placed Manchester City next weekend.

He said: “I don’t want to get fined! I probably thought that after the first goal he gave for West Ham he was chasing the game a bit because it was clearly not a goal. But it’s never easy for referees. I thought both our penalties were penalties; the first one was clear and for the second the goalkeeper gets a nudge with his elbow on the ball but then he catches Jon with his foot as he’s gone past. But we were the dominant team and deserved to win.”

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was adamant West Ham’s goal should not have stood, adding: “You can see clearly it’s a foul. But at half-time the manager said you can’t change anything; just go and give an extra 10%. That’s what we did. Now we have a huge game against Man City next week and the message is to stay calm. We know what we want to do.”