There was an unexpected person in Chelsea’s pre-match huddle on Saturday: The referee.
Under recently hired manager Liam Rosenior, Chelsea’s players have made a habit of gathering in a circle around the ball on the halfway line in the moments before the first and second halves begin in a display of unity.
Before the Premier League match against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge, referee Paul Tierney took hold of the ball next to the center circle 鈥� only to soon find himself surrounded by the Chelsea team.
Cole Palmer was even seen placing his arms around the shoulders of Tierney, who looked slightly bemused as a team talk took place with him in the middle of it.
Rosenior said he was 鈥渄isappointed鈥� that Tierney got involved in the huddle.
鈥淚f Paul had focused more on his job, which was to make the right decision, we have a penalty today,鈥� Rosenior said.
鈥淪o,鈥� he added, 鈥渓et鈥檚 focus on the things that are important. My team showing unity is not as important as getting the decisions right on the pitch.鈥�
Rosenior felt his players did nothing wrong.
鈥淚 want to protect my players. I鈥檓 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,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is not my decision. That was a decision between a leadership group and a team. There is nothing that they鈥檙e doing with that huddle that is disrespectful to the opposition.鈥�
Asked for his thoughts on the incident, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said he 鈥渄idn’t pay any attention鈥� to it.
鈥淚t’s got absolutely zero relevance to me 鈥� I was totally non-fussed by it … it’s not going to help us win or lose the game,鈥� Howe said.
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