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Swansea manager Steve Cooper could barely contain his emotions as he faced the media last night after his side’s 1-0 loss at Fulham.
Four key penalty calls went against his side and Cooper put the spotlight firmly on West Sussex referee Tim Robinson.
Wales Online examines the four key penalty decisions
Struggling to fight back stronger words, Cooper explained his frustration:
“We came here to win. But we’re struggling to look past the penalty decisions which were cruel on us. All four of them.
“It’s a tough one to take. There’s no disappointment with the players or frustrations with them, the opposite feeling if anything.
“They’re very angry and feel more than hard done by. We have to make sure it doesn’t affect us going into the next game at Blackburn.
“The first one was clear in the first half when the keeper brought him (Andre Ayew) down. And in the second half when Denis Odoi brought him down.
“And then it’s handball, the full-back, his arm was in an unnatural position, and then the one he gives, Connor (Roberts) doesn’t even know where he (Neeskens Kebano is.”
His club intends to take it further and this is where the story stands out from the normal post game losing press conference.
“I’ve been to see the referee and I’m not going to criticise him too much here. Obviously we disagree with the penalty decisions especially after seeing them back.
“We have to report this further and beyond the normal reporting system of referee’s performance, which we do online in a system but we have to take it a bit further, because that can not happen.”
The natural follow-up question, ‘what does ‘taking it further look like‘ was of course asked.
“We’re just looking at that now, what that looks like. We need to help the game. If we don’t share our feelings politely and respectfully, although that’s quite difficult to feel at the moment, then we won’t be helping the game.”
“There needs to be a realisation of what we are receiving on the pitch.
“It needs to go higher than the normal processes of filling in the forms online and providing feedback. It needs to go higher than that.”
Steve Cooper’s football background makes last night’s press conference even more interesting. He is not naturally anti-referee and is far from the stereotypical Mourinhoesque blame-shifter,
In fact, refereeing is in his blood. His father, Keith, was a Premier League referee who officiated the 1994 League Cup final and rose to international level. This included a European Championship qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Luxembourg in September 1987.
Keith’s views on the craft were sufficiently respected that he became the Referees’ Officer for Wales.
So this aspect of the game is steeped in son Steve’s DNA, which adds credibility to his thoughts that perhaps goes beyond the traditional blaming the officials for a loss.
Steve, a proud Welshman, however, briefly alluded to another issue when he said that others may look at “Little Swansea” and think their fate matters less than that of others.
Although a South Walian, he ensured he stayed in the Principality, living in Wrexham, when he worked for Liverpool FC as their academy coach in 2008.
To further cloud this aspect, Cooper is a former ENGLAND manager who has won them a World Cup.
He joined the Football Association as a youth coach educator in 2013 and landed the role of Under-16 coach in 2014.
He became their Under-17 coach in 2015, where he led a side that included Phil Foden, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jadon Sancho and current Swansea charge, the Welsh sounding but Chadwell Heath born, Rhian Brewster to the U-17 World Cup.
England beat Spain 5-2 in the final with Brewster scoring the opening goal. He also notched successive hat-tricks against the USA and Brazil in the quarter-final and semi-final.
Steve Cooper is therefore well known to the FA as a very competent coach, whose opinions carry weight.
However, Cooper’s case to be heeded also has a downside.
This is not his first referee outburst. Cooper criticised the performance of referee Jeremy Simpson after a 1-1 draw with Blackburn, ironically his next opponent, at the Liberty Stadium on December 11.
Cooper said the Lancashire official would be “embarrassed” by his performance when he subsequently watched replays and “will probably be refereeing in the Conference now”.
Ten days later, Simpson was still refereeing in the Championship somewhat ironically in South Wales at Cardiff v Preston. He has done eight further Championship games since, though none involving Swansea.
He has also done a League One, a League Two and an FA Cup match. This clear divergence between reality and Cooper’s post match opinion will not help him.
The FA charged him with a breach of FA Rule E3.
Their statement added:
“It is alleged that comments made by the Swansea City manager following an EFL Championship fixture against Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday, 11 December 2019 constitute improper conduct in that they question the integrity of the match officials and/or bring the game into disrepute.
“He has until Friday, 27 December 2019 to provide a response.”
Cooper claimed the official had “lost his composure” and made a series of errors.
Last night was Tim Robinson’s first Swansea match.
The episode presents therefore an interesting conundrum for the FA. Cooper has form on the referees but he was deliberately very careful with his words last night. There seems to be little material for a second charge.
However, the FA will surely not want to create a precedent that unhappy managers can bypass, or threaten to bypass, the normal online procedures to illustrate the depth of their dissatisfaction at the refereeing performance. That could quickly become an epidemic, especially if Robinson appears to be demoted. Nor will they want to add a second referee to the list of officials that need to be kept away from Swansea matches.
Perhaps even more awkwardly, will they want to be seen, in a game where perceptions matter, to be giving favoured treatment to a former employee?
Arguably above all, they will not want to be seen to be giving favourable treatment to a man with an inside track to the refereeing community.
It’s probably and sadly inevitable that at least some of these considerations will be more influential than the actual merits of the penalty decisions.
Probably only one thing is certain and another probable.
There will be some interesting conversations between father and son this morning about Swansea’s next step, and whether and how to take this further.
It may be also that it is Blackburn Rovers face the real backlash on Saturday. The referee for that match has an envious task and is for now, to be confirmed.
