Is Clatts Imploding Again?
Infamously self-destructive Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg seems to be at it again.
Clatts has been suspended from Premier League action this weekend after committing two refereeing faux pas.
First, he contacted Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock by phone after the draw to West Brom. No word on what was said or why Clatts felt the need to make such a call, but referees can’t talk one on one with managers without other officials present.
After that, he apparently took off on his own – without his assistants – to drive to an Ed Sheeran concert. For security and “integrity” reasons, referees have to travel in packs.
The thing is, Clatts knows these things.
He’s 39 years old, and no doubt one of the best, most naturally-gifted referees in England, if not the world. He’s certainly one of the most experienced.
With Howard Webb’s retirement, he was basically poised to be England’s top referee. But lately, he’s been idle or gotten smaller Premier League, or even Championship, matches – and now a suspension.
You’ve got to wonder what the guy is thinking…
Note: It should be noted that Clattenburg refereed the Cup match between Tottenham and Brighton the day this story broke (Wednesday, October 29). He’s also up for UEFA matches Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. It’s possible he was being rested over the weekend rather than taking a Premier League match (particularly if he’s got to travel), and the media has overblown this. Clatts has been taking a lot of matches the last few months.
PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 
To big for his kit silly boy
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Seems more a symptom of not caring than anything…
He was taking games left and right there for a while. You’ve got to wonder if he’s burning out.
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Looks like Clatts has got a UCL call-up this week.
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Yep. That was expected. And on Tuesday, too. With a Wednesday Cup game, it makes sense he didn’t referee this weekend. He’d have to travel to Sweden today, and even Superman needs rest days.
Mountain out of a molehill.
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He didn’t contact Warnock, Warnock phoned him & he reported that to the PGMO himself. Managers should not be allowed to have referees phone numbers. Simple. If a manager does phone a ref then he should be fined for doing so.
As for the leaving the ground on his own, it happens quite regularly & there is a thingy in the PGMO rules that cover it being acceptable.
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I agree with you. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I feel like this whole narrative was overblown by the media.
As for whoever called who, Clatts probably shouldn’t talk to the managers without other officials present, just to protect himself from this kind of stuff.
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Bit difficult though if you take a call from a number you don’t recognise & it turns out to be a manager. I’d be more worried about who has been giving out his phone number than anything else.
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