Sean Dyche has once again been moved to express his frustration at the current laws of the game and those officials charged with interpreting them after Amadou Onana was harshly adjudged to the handled the ball illegally in the area during this evening’s 3-1 defeat to Manchester City.
The Belgian midfielder instinctively raised his arm to protect his face at point-blank range from Manuel Akanji’s attempt on goal and referee John Brooks awarded a 61st-mimute penalty on the advice of his assistant Lee Betts.
The decision gave Julian Alvarez the chance to put City 2-1 ahead and Dyche, who cut a visibly incredulous figure on the touchline, was aggrieved by a number of Brooks’ decisions on the night and he didn’t mince his words during his post-match press conference on the enigmatic topic of handball in modern football.
“We can debate the penalty all day,” Dyche said. “It has been by managers on Zoom calls to say it’s a farce but that’s the way it goes.
“That’s completely natural. He’s not putting his arm up to save it, he’s literally jumping in to try to block the ball. How that is given as a penalty is bizarre in my world, but I must be from a different planet.
‘Tonight the linesman gives that and he’s 18 yards away so I don’t know who is giving what any more Who knows? All the managers are debating it.
“Someone needs to stand up at some point and realise that can’t be a penalty because he’s just throwing himself in front of it to try to block the ball. That’s it.”
Ex-Everton boss, Roberto Martinez, and former Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg, agreed that the laws around handball need to be reviewed.
“For me, it is not a penalty at all,” Martinez said. “For me, football people know that it is not a penalty. It’s something that needs to be reviewed. But the law is something that doesn’t match the game.”
Speaking on Amazon Prime, Clattenberg said: “It changed the game. It was a big decision. When you block a shot on goal with an outstretched arm – even though he’s trying to block the ball because it’s a shot on goal – this is where referees will always look to penalise as a penalty.
“Do I agree with it? I don’t, but we’ve been discussing hand ball for many, many years and we’re still no further forward of actually improving it. One week it’s given, one week it’s not. Is it deliberate? Is it not?
“Every week we’re debating it and the referees are just trying to apply the criteria – the laws of the game. If the referee didn’t give that penalty, he would be criticised.
“The law needs changing and it needs the coaches, the players, the referees to get round [a table] and try find a way to understand handball.”