'Utter injustice': Former PGMOL chief blasts rules after Newcastle United man received marching orders against Brentford
Dan Burn will serve his one-match ban on Saturday after picking up two yellow cards in the game against Brentford just before the international break.
On the balance of things, justice was probably done as the ref waved away a penalty that perhaps should have been given, which would have resulted in a second booking for Dan Burn just minutes before giving a penalty and sending off Burn for a similar challenge.
However, replays showed that the referee had got both decisions wrong, and the 'foul' that resulted in the penalty was nothing more than a coming together with very minimal contact. The first penalty appeal was deemed to have been minimal contact, but the second one seemed to be even less.
Regardless, there's a strong case to be made that Burn should have gone after the first penalty incident and the fact that Eddie Howe didn't pull him out of the game immediately is still a huge bone of contention amongst Newcastle fans, especially given what happened next.
Keith Hackett thought Dan Burn's red card against Brentford was an injustice
Former head of the PGMOL, Keith Hackett, is still livid about that decision and has also taken a swipe at the rules around appealing such decisions, telling Football Insider's The Final Whistle podcast that it's an 'utter injustice' that clubs can't appeal a ban when a player receives two yellow cards.
“I have to say that, when Dan Burn got his second yellow-card, I really disagreed with that.
“I didn’t think there was an offence, I thought there was a coming-together, a natural coming-together. I don’t think there was a trip, I don’t think there was a pull, and I think Burn was very unlucky to get that second yellow card.
“Of course, yellow cards you can’t appeal at the moment, and I think that in itself is a total and utter injustice that I have been screaming about for years now.
“I’m glad to say that the IFAB are looking at whether, in fact, to bring in appeals on second yellow cards. If they do that, it’ll be a good move.”
Lewis Hall will be back to fill in for the suspended Dan Burn on Saturday
Thankfully, Newcastle have Lewis Hall back from injury in time to reclaim his place from Dan Burn against Manchester City this weekend, which is what we'd have hoped even if Burn was available.
We absolutely adore Dan Burn, but that game and that sending off showed exactly why we have heart palpitations every time he's named at left-back.
He simply doesn't have the pace to operate efficiently in that area. To give him his dues, he's done well there this season for the most part, but we'd prefer someone with pace and a bit more close control who can get us out of trouble at the back and then power forward to support the attack.
