Newcastle United won't believe who the referee is for Brighton - 'should be nowhere near'
Chris Kavanagh will referee a Newcastle United game for the first time since the infamous Aston Villa.
Chris Kavanagh will referee Newcastle United’s Premier League clash at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
The Magpies head into the game on the back of five straight defeats, whilst also losing nine of their last 12 Premier League matches. With only four games remaining, Eddie Howe’s side sit 14th, looking down the table rather than up.
Indeed, Newcastle are as close to the bottom three as they are to the top six, with eight points the difference either way. The dismal form has prompted some fears of being dragged into the relegation picture but a result at home to Brighton would put an end to that.
Chris Kavanagh appointed referee for Newcastle v Brighton
Newcastle are winless in their last six matches against the Seagulls, including the previous three at St James’ Park, and overseeing the fixture this weekend is a certain Mr Kavanagh.
Kavanagh’s last match in charge of the Magpies won’t be forgotten in a hurry after he and his assistant Nick Greenhalgh made a series of errors in their 3-1 FA Cup fourth round victory away to Aston Villa in February.
Greenhalgh failed to call offside for Tammy Abraham’s opener while Kavanagh avoided sending off Lucas Digne for a high challenge on Jacob Murphy and then failed to award a penalty for handball against Digne in the second half, despite the ball clearly being inside the penalty area.
Greenhalgh had a good view of Digne’s handball but didn’t overturn the referee’s call. Fortunately, Sandro Tonali scored from the resulting free-kick to equalise before the Italian made it 2-1. Nick Woltemade added a third goal late on.
Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney described the awarding of a free-kick rather than a penalty for Digne’s handball as ‘one of the worst’ decisions’ he’s ever seen.
Kavanagh and Greenhalgh were dropped from the following weekend’s Premier League matches but have since returned to action. Kavanagh’s next game is a trip to St James’ Park but he won’t be joined by Greenhalgh, who is one of the assistants for Manchester City versus Everton on Monday night.
The decision to appoint Kavanagh has caught the attention of supporters, one of whom wrote ‘he should be nowhere near a Newcastle game.’