'It was cynical': Dermot Gallagher weighs in on Malick Thiaw red card incident and other key moments from AFCB v NUFC
Malick Thiaw made his full debut for Newcastle United on Sunday, down on the south coast against AFC Bournemouth in the Eddie Howe derby.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw, preserving Bournemouth's unbeaten status against their old boss and sending onlookers to sleep in the process.
You know it was a poor game when all the talking points are refereeing decisions. We've looked at Nick Woltemade's penalty that never was, the Bournemouth free-kick that never should have been, and now the Malick Thiaw red card that maybe should have been.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has looked at the controversial decisions and given his thoughts on how they should have gone down as part of Sky Sports News' Ref Watch segment.
Malick Thiaw was fortunate not to be sent off on Sunday
Gallagher believes Malick Thiaw should have picked up his marching orders on Sunday. The German was given a yellow for a blatant handball, and then just a few moments later went in with a rough challenge, which gave away a free-kick, and many were braced for the second yellow that never came, which Gallagher believes was a mistake.
“It is ironic as I talk all the time about being mindful that not every foul after a yellow card is a second yellow card, but I actually do think this is a second yellow card – it is cynical, he knows exactly what he is doing and further evidence of that was his manager immediately substituted him.”
I was holding my breath watching the replays of the challenge and was very shocked that Thiaw wasn't sent for an early bath. Taking him out of the game was a good move by Eddie Howe, as Thiaw had effectively been rendered useless as he couldn't make any challenge unless he was 100% sure he was getting the ball.
Dermot Gallagher and Jay Bothroyd weren't sold on Nick Woltemade's penalty appeal
The other incident Dermot Gallagher was presented with was the non-penalty appeal from Nick Woltemade for the shirt pull. It looked for all the world like a penalty to those of the black and white persuasion, but Gallagher didn't seem to think so, and former Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd wasn't convinced either.
“If he [Nick Woltemade] was smaller, would you give him the benefit of the doubt?
“I would want it if I was playing but can understand why you would say it would be soft. When there are situations with taller players, they always say, ‘he should be stronger, look how big he is’. But a foul is a foul. Pulling a shirt is pulling a shirt.
“If the ref did give a penalty, people might be surprised but would say, ‘I understand why he’s given it’. You’ve seen penalties given for things like that.”
To us, that just screams that the laws on shirt pulling need to be more strongly defined. Of course, common sense has to be applied to every rule - we saw a ridiculous yellow card for Everton's Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Saturday for trying to take a quick free kick against Liverpool, which was probably one of the most mental decisions we've seen in a while. Zero common sense applied there. But when it comes to preventing someone from creating a goal-scoring opportunity, surely that's a breach of the rules.
