• Premier League

Allardyce demands refereeing upgrade

Sam Allardyce says the quailty of refereeing in the Premier League is not good enough and is demanding urgent action.

The West Ham manager spoke out after his side's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday was marred by disputed decisions.

"We're talking about the officials rather than talking about the game, sadly, at the end of it," Allardyce said.

"We're re talking about it nearly every weekend and that's my real concern. Having had professional referees for such a long time, we clearly don't have enough and we don't have enough quality.

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"We need to do something about it at the very, very top and do something as quickly as we can.

"They try their best, they don't go out there to make mistakes. They go out there to be as honest as they can be. We need officials to make fewer mistakes than they're making this season."

Two controversial incidents marred West Ham's match against Liverpool at Upton Park, with Allardyce claiming it had been decided by referee Anthony Taylor and his two assistants.

West Ham's equaliser was allowed to stand after Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet looked to have been impeded by Andy Carroll, while Jon Flanagan earned Liverpool a controversial when he was adjudged by Taylor to have been fouled by Hammers' goalkeeper Adrian.

Steven Gerrard scored the from that spot kick to claim the deciding goal and Allardyce said:""There were more than two major decisions, for me [it is] about the overall control of the game from the officials.

"There is a linesman that gives one that is far, way and beyond his reach, then it gets turned over by the referee and looks like a foul on Andy.

"Then they get a penalty that's not a penalty. Flanagan is going down before Adrian has even played the ball. Adrian plays the ball, the referee is not in a great position. He can't be 100 per cent certain, so guesses.

"Both teams want to play the game and have the result determined on how we've played, not by what the referee's decisions were and the big mistakes he made today."

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