Paul Tierney has been accused of “sheer incompetence of the highest order” by one former ref, with ex-Everton striker Duncan Ferguson among those to agree.
Tierney is the subject of new scrutiny after another error in the VAR booth on Wednesday night, this time not recommending a clear red card for James Tarkowski.
While referee Sam Barrott only saw fit to book the Everton defender for his awful challenge on Alexis Mac Allister, the VAR saw what everyone watching on did as the airborne Tarkowski caught Mac Allister’s planted leg with force.
But there was no recommendation of a further review as Tierney judged there to have been no clear and obvious error in Barrott’s decision.
The PGMOL have since cleared up their stance that Tarkowski’s challenge met the threshold for serious foul play and the centre-back should have been sent off.
And while that is now moot, the focus should remain on Tierney’s latest error, with former referee Keith Hackett describing it as “sheer incompetence of the highest order.”
Writing on X, Hackett added: “Once again the finger of blame is rightly pointing at VAR Tierney who badly let down his colleague.
“What is the point of VAR if they are unable to judge a serious foul play offence?”
Everton manager David Moyes himself acknowledged that his No. 6 “could have been lucky” to stay on the pitch, which should only magnify the scrutiny over Tierney’s performance.
In the Sky Sports studio at half-time, both Jamie Carragher and former Everton striker Ferguson – who themselves were involved in a number of fierce clashes in the past – criticised the officiating.
“In terms of the referee, Sam Barrott, he’s in a brilliant position [to see the challenge],” Carragher explained.
“He should give that on the pitch. His position’s fantastic, he has to see that, has to.
“It’s a shocking tackle, we know it should be a red card, it’s not really going to be up for debate.
“It’s an awful tackle, we know Tarkowski knows what he’s doing there. He’s got previous as well actually against Everton for Burnley.
“The referee should give it on the pitch. For Paul Tierney not to give it on VAR is shocking.”
Sitting alongside his old derby rival, Ferguson added: “There’s no argument. Straight red. We noticed it right away.
“How they’ve never given the decision…it’s a straight red. Absolutely, he knows what he’s doing.
“Back in our day you might have got away with that, because you’ve tackled, you’ve got the ball, but he knows what he’s doing.
“He’s come right through in and that could have been a leg-breaker. That’s a straight red, all day long.
“Maybe the referee, maybe it’s his first derby, who knows if he’s a bit nervous to give the decision. He should have been taken to the monitor if he [was].
“As Jamie said, he was in a great position, he should have given the decision on the field. But it’s a straight red, terrible decision.”
