Ipswich Town chairman and CEO Mark Ashton is set to meet with referees’ chief Howard Webb this week in his quest for ‘answers’ on the inconsistencies in officiating and use of VAR that he believes are costing the Blues Premier League points.
After both of Ipswich’s last two matches have resulted in key decisions going against them – in the 4-3 defeat at Brentford, having been 2-0 up, and in Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Leciester City when they relinquished the lead in the 94th minute – Ashton decided to take things up with the authorities.
He had been lined up as a pre-arranged guest on BBC Radio Suffolk’s The Blue Hour programme last night and decided to give an open and honest account of what he sees as an ‘injustice’ and lay out how he is set to fight for his club, who remain winless after 10 games since promotion with five draws leaving Kieran McKenna’s side third-from-bottom of the table.
VAR rules against Town over four games
Town also felt they were wronged during the Manchester City game on game-week two when the Premier League four-in-a-row champions were awarded a penalty after referee Sam Allison had reviewed footage following a VAR review. However, a similar incident at the other end was not even looked at.
Against Everton a fortnight ago, Ipswich fans saw a penalty rescinded on Jack Clarke after he was tripped, with referee Michael Oliver overturning his on-field decision after VAR had intervened.
At Brentford last weekend, referee Lewis Smith initially gave a free kick to the hosts after Harry Clarke had fouled Keane Lewis-Potter, but again VAR looked at the incident and deemed the infringement had taken place inside the box and the west Londoners were awarded a penalty.
It was Saturday’s game against Leicester which triggered Ashton to make a call to Webb, the chief refereeing officer for the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Town having been denied what looked a stonewall penalty at 1-0 by referee Tim Robinson, who appeared to be in a position from where he couldn’t clearly see the incident.
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— IPSWICH TOWN FANS (@IpswichTownFans) November 2, 2024
Ashton texts Webb during match after forseeing ‘an injustice’
Speaking about the incidents detailed above, Ashton told BBC Radio Suffolk’s The Blue Hour: “I get frustrated and I get angry at things when they don’t go our way, but I thought Saturday was a real injustice.
“Those who know me know I care passionately about this football club and I will give my last breath defending this football club, and I made that very, very clear to Howard Webb.
“I thought long and hard today about what I should and shouldn’t say, knowing I was coming on your show tonight; this has been planned for a long time, so there’s no knee-jerk reaction.
Saw this on Tiktok and it's spot on, every week getting shafted by completely inept officials and VAR #itfc pic.twitter.com/OTlUbIfwU2
— Matt (@mm268888) November 4, 2024
“I live in a world where if I say too much I’ll be put on a charge, so what I’m going to say to you know is probably putting me on that line.
“But I’ve tried to be honest and open with this fanbase since the day I joined, so I’ll give the train of events as they unfolded on Saturday.”
He continued: “I actually messaged Howard when we were 1-0 up because I had a sense of the way this was going to go. I’ve been in this game a long time and I could feel it. It felt like there was an injustice coming and I didn’t like that.
Bent and Goldsteins take on Saturdays debacle#itfc pic.twitter.com/noM6X70n43
— Harps ITFC (@harps2000) November 4, 2024
“I messaged him simply and said, ‘Look, can we speak directly after the game?’ We spoke directly after the game and some of that conversation needs to remain private because I’ll end up being on a charge; I’ll end up being on a stadium ban; I’ll end up being fined, none of which worries me. But the context of some of what I said to him was this….
“When we were promoted to the Premier League in the summer, I’d never worked with VAR ever, so it was very new to me.
“And the Premier League presented to me why we should support retaining VAR (after)Wolverhampton Wanderers had made a petition for it to be removed.
“We listened to Wolves and we listened to some other clubs and we listened primarily to the Premier League, and on the basis of what I was told, we supported the Premier League’s decision.
“And a key part of that was how high the bar was going to be set for decisions to be overturned and overruled, and at what point VAR got involved in the game.
“If I was asked to make that vote again tomorrow, I can’t look you in the eye say I’d vote the same way because I am still angry, I’m still frustrated.
Thread…
Two ex professionals are utterly bewildered by the decision and an ex profession referee thinks the opposite, surely tells you everyone’s frustration with VAR. How can it still be this complicated!?!#itfc #ipswichtownfans #refwatch #lcfc #skysports pic.twitter.com/jpOMUhI5X1— Adam (@adam_conuel) November 4, 2024
“As someone who has spent a long time in the Championship, who loves and cares passionately about this game, I think what I’ve seen thus far with VAR, from an entertainment perspective, I believe the games are worse off with VAR.
“All I ask for with refereeing and VAR is consistency and we have not seen consistency. I do not personally believe, and my colleagues don’t personally believe, we have seen consistency over the games.
“You go back to Man City, penalty at one end, not at the other end and I could go on and on about specific instances, and they’re not [consistent].
“All I look for is consistency and right now, I’m confused. I think as a coaching staff we’re probably confused.
“The culmination of that interesting, shall we say, conversation with Howard on Saturday night is that we will meet this week at Portman Road to discuss it because we need answers; we need to understand.
“I can’t understand some of the decisions that were made, the refereeing decisions, and I struggle to understand why we weren’t awarded a penalty.
“I’ve seen on international broadcasters today, former referees giving their opinion that it’s not a penalty. You cannot be serious! Come on, don’t just back your former colleagues; it’s a stonewall penalty.
“Then why isn’t it VAR-ed, why isn’t it checked? I don’t know and I need to have answers. I need to have answers for my manager, I need to have answers for my coaching staff, I need answers for my key stakeholders and more importantly I need to have answers for this fanbase.
“But I go back to the beginning, this fanbase needs to understand I will give my last breath fighting for this football club and I didn’t enjoy that Saturday, I felt there was an injustice to everyone in this town and this county, and I want some answers.”
Asked whether he felt there was a bias against the so-called smaller clubs in the Premier League in terms of officiating,he replied: “I would hope not. I’d like to see the statistics on that, but it feels that there is a sway towards those larger clubs; I really hope not.
“I would hoot that over the season that evens out.”
He continued: “When I sat on the board of the Football League I was involved in numerous committees that involved referees and there are some really good referees, but we’ve got to get that consistency.
“Some things are not checked. Some things are overruled. some things aren’t overruled. I’m sitting in the hotseat and even I don’t understand it.”
McKenna going nowhere
Meanwhile, Ashton reiterated that the Cobbold Stand – which contains the away fans on one end – being rebuild is a long-term aim and revealed that building behind the West Stand is an option under consideration in order to prevent the club losing significant capacity when the 53-year-old Cobbold is knocked down, as the club ultimately aims towards upgrading to a 40,000-seater stadium.
The Blues chief was asked by BBC Radio Suffolk commentator Brenner Wolley about the possibility of making a change in manager as the season progresses, if the winless start continues.
He repliued: “It doesn’t even enter my head, it’s madness.”
Ashton went on to add McKenna, who signed a lucrative new contract in the summer to fend off interest from other Premier League clubs ‘is going nowhere this season’.
