‘Bad decision’ referee set to hit Stoke City in the pocket – Narcis Pelach Reacts

Stafford-based referee Steve Martin flourished his yellow card like it was going out of fashion as

Stoke City lost to Middlesbrough

Card-happy referee Steve Martin is expected to have cost Stoke City a £5,000 fine with his

controversial performance at Middlesbrough.

Stafford-based Martin surprised pretty much all of a 24,610-strong crowd at the Riverside as he showed

his yellow card an incredible 11 times in a game that never threatened to boil over – to the point that

new Stoke head coach Narcis Pelach‘s first answer in his post-match press conference was to talk about

the need for more aggression.

The officials were also criticised for decisions which led to the opening goal; an alleged foul by Lewis Koumas on

Emmanuel Latte Lath and an offside call against Ben Doak,

although no one in the Stoke camp was suggesting this would have changed the result on what was a tough afternoon.

Stoke received seven cautions and that means a £5k penalty from the FA.

If they receive six or more bookings in any further fixture this season the fine will be doubled to £10,000 and

it would increase by a further £5k with every repeat.

The FA disciplinary regulations rulebook states: “The Association will take disciplinary action against a

club if six or more of the club’s players are either cautioned or sent off in a match falling within Category 1 or Category 3.

On the first occasion that this happens in a playing season,

the Association may offer the club a standard punishment [of £5,000 for any Championship club].

“For each successive occasion that this happens in the same playing season,

the standard punishment offered will be a fine that is double and then treble (and so on) the amount set out.

“A club may either; a) accept The Association’s offer of a standard punishment or; b) make written representations

in mitigation before a regulatory commission no later than 28 days following the date of the offence.

In the event the written representations in mitigation are rejected, the regulatory commission may

consider whether or not the standard punishment should be increased.”

Martin also booked four Middlesbrough players in a strangely-handled game.

Ben Wilmot, Junior Tchamadeu, Michael Rose, Wouter Burger, Tom Cannon,

Million Manhoef and Sam Gallagher were all put into his book, as well as George Edmundson,

Finn Azaz, Hayden Hackney and Ben Doak.

The Teesside Gazette wrote during their live coverage: “Finn Azaz the latest to go into the book as referee

Stephen Martin has gone card-happy in this game. Azaz is Boro’s fourth into the book,

while Stoke have had five. It’s not a dirty game by any stretch.”

It is the first time in Martin’s senior career that he has booked 10 players or more in the same game.

Pelach said about the opening goal after the game: “It was not a foul by Koumas.

This free-kick leads into the goal and it was a bad decision in my opinion but it is what it is and

I don’t want to be talking about the referee every week. It has happened in these two games, that’s true,

that big moments have gone against us. If it hadn’t been given as a foul it was a big chance for us 4 v 2 in a

big space in transition and probably a big chance – but it goes the other way, they start fast, goal.

The players were complaining to the referee, I understand, but I don’t want complacency.

I want my team to be strong mentally and go through things we can control.”