Portsmouth boss questions referees’ Ebou Adams treatment after Bolton Wanderers suspension blow
The Pompey has spoken to referee body Pro Ref over the treatment of his midfielder from officials, after collecting a one-game ban.
John Mousinho believes Ebou Adams is being hampered by reputation for physicality after being dealt a Pompey suspension blow.
And the Blues boss highlighted officials potentially feeling they need to ‘get on top’ of the midfielder, after he was hit with a one-game ban against Stoke City.
Mousinho: ‘I don’t know if refs look at Ebou and think they need to get on top of him’
Adams will serve a one-game ban for picking up a fifth yellow card of the season in his side’s weekend defeat at Fratton Park.
That means the 30-year-old will miss the trip to Bolton Wanderers when Pompey return to action on November 21, after the international break.
Mousinho was hugely frustrated by the nature of Adams’ weekend caution against the Potters, as he was penalised after tangling and being floored by grounded striker Robert Bozenik.
The Pompey boss explained he’s spoken with Professional Game Referees (Pro Ref), who oversee match officials in the English professional game.
And he aired his concerns with them Adams is being subjected to uneven treatment by match officials.
He said: The yellow for me on Saturday, it’s an interesting one with Ebou and I’ve spoken with Pro Ref about this.
‘Away at Southampton Ebou is booked for absolutely nothing.
‘I don’t know if refs look at Ebou and think they need to get on top of him, because of the way he plays and his physicality.
‘Sometimes he goes over top and that’s fine, I’ve got not issue with that (being punished). I’ll always look at it and think (that’s a yellow) if someone has gone in and is over the top.
‘The first challenge the other night, I didn’t think it was that poor but fine he’s been booked for it.
‘Maybe (it is his reputation preceding him), against Stoke he gets tripped up by the player on the deck and suddenly finds himself booked. I couldn’t really understand it.
‘I think once the Stoke player trips him and he goes over him, he’s grabbed hold of the lad whose running through and pulled him down.
‘But as far as I’m concerned he’s been impeded - it’s just a real blow for us.’
Collecting five yellows by the 15th game of the season means Adams now faces a lengthy run to avoid collecting a two-game suspension for accumulating 10 yellow cards.
The cut-off for five yellows is up to and including match 19, with the 10-game cut-off up to and including match 37.
Collecting 15 yellow cards before the end of the season will result in a three-game ban, with the punishment for 20 yellows before the final league game at the discretion of a disciplinary committee. All cautions collected are competition specific.