Rosenior to raise Paul Tierney huddle incident with PGMOL
Mar 14th 2026
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior says he will speak to referees' body PGMOL after referee Paul Tierney positioned himself in the middle of the Blues' pre-match huddle before Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle.
- Rosenior will ask PGMOL and the referees for an explanation why Tierney remained inside Chelsea's pre-match huddle.
- Tierney was standing over the ball on the halfway line and did not move away as players gathered.
- Cole Palmer briefly wrapped his arms around Tierney while teammates watched and reacted with bemusement.
- Former assistant referee Darren Cann said he had never seen anything like it and suggested Tierney may have been controlling the ball ahead of kick-off.
- Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said the incident was irrelevant to him and did not affect the match outcome.