'Bin his coaches' - PGMOL insider blasts Anthony Taylor and Howard Webb after Sunderland vs Brentford incidents
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Credit: Sky Sports
Oliver Walton
Sat 30 August 2025 18:53, UK
Keith Hackett has criticised Anthony Taylor for his lack of consistency in Sunderland’s late win against Brentford as two potential penalty calls each went the way of the Black Cats.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that Taylor missed a foul on Brentford‘s Nathan Collins in the area in the first-half, before he gave Sunderland a spot-kick late on for a push by Rico Henry on Habib Diarra.
He also told Football Insider that refereeing chief Howard Webb needs to re-evaluate his assessment system of officials after a number of controversial showings in the Premier League on Saturday (30 August).
Sunderland and Brentford played out a goalless first-half on Wearside, but Brentford felt they should have had a penalty with five minutes until the break as Collins was hauled down by Reinildo in the area.
The Black Cats’ full-back was at it again in the second-half, and he was penalised by Taylor for the same action on the same player, but Kevin Schade missed his penalty.
Brentford soon took the lead through Igor Thiago, but Sunderland hit back from the spot as a similar incident to the first pair saw Rico Henry push Habib Diarra to the floor and Enzo Le Fee slotted his spot-kick home.
Sunderland went on to win 2-1 against Brentford late on through Wilson Isidor’s added-time strike, but the visitors will feel hard done by after not being given an earlier chance to take the lead.
Credit: Imago
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This article contains exclusive comments from ex-PGMOL chief, FIFA official and former professional referee Keith Hackett.
There were 40 minutes on the clock when a Brentford corner was swung in and the ball missed everyone in the area due to big centre-back Collins being on the ground.
The Ireland international had ended up on the deck due to Reinildo’s rough tackle that saw him dragged down before he could reach the cross, but no penalty was given by referee Taylor.
Credit: Imago
Taylor did then go on to point to the spot for nearly the exact same action by the Black Cats defender in the 57th minute, proving that he should have also been cautioned for the first foul.
The official then gave Sunderland a penalty with ten minutes of normal time to go as Brentford full-back Henry and Black Cats midfielder Diarra seemed to grapple together, with the latter ending up on the floor, but it was not as clear-cut a foul as the first two challenges.
Other controversial decisions on Saturday saw Josh King’s goal ruled out against Chelsea for a contentious foul by Rodrigo Muniz on Trevoh Chalobah, while Fulham also felt hard done by after Moises Caicedo looked to have fouled Alex Iwobi before Ryan Sessegnon was penalised for handball in the box.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, ex-PGMOL chief Hackett blasted Taylor for his failure to give a penalty for Reinildo’s first foul on Collins as he went on to award penalties for the other challenges.
He said: “The inconsistency in these two [incidents] is alarming.
If you are awarding a penalty kick for the [Henry incident], then why was the [first Reinildo incident] not a penalty kick?
Hackett went on to urge refereeing chief Webb to take action and change his approach to assessing referees after numerous debatable decisions in Saturday’s Premier League action.
He added: “With the International break coming up [Howard] Webb must get his officials together and sort out the unacceptable, inconsistent and poor officiating that we are witnessing.
“He needs to get a better system of evaluation of performances, bin his coaches and re-introduce assessors.