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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Sparky-moon on 2026-01-26 13:03:28+00:00.
Original Title: Graham Scott on his experience with Pep as the Fourth official at Brighton in May 2021: “He came up behind me. I felt his firm body pressed against mine, followed swiftly by his arms holding me tight before lifting me off the ground, causing my heart to skip a beat. He then whispered in my ear”
He came up behind me. I felt his firm body pressed against mine, followed swiftly by his arms holding me tight before lifting me off the ground, causing my heart to skip a beat. He then whispered in my ear…
No, not the start of my next trashy romance novel, but exactly my experience at Brighton in May 2021 as the fourth official, when Pep Guardiola decided to take our relationship to a more physical level.
It was in the final few seconds of Manchester City’s penultimate match of the season, by which time they were already champions. “We have won the league, and there is nothing you can do about it,” he told me in hushed tones, or words very much to that effect.
His heightened sense of what can only be described as perennial paranoia was to the fore again this weekend, when he laid into referee Farai Hallam at the end of his side’s 2-0 home win over Wolves.
Hallam had the audacity to decline the advice of video assistant referee (VAR) Darren England to penalise the visitors’ Yerson Mosquera and give City a penalty. For what it’s worth, I would have preferred Hallam to take England’s advice and award a penalty, in line with others that have been given this season.
Some will say Mosquera’s arm is in a justifiable position given his movement, but Hallam would probably have been praised for such a good spot had he given a penalty on first viewing, and even Wolves would not have objected vehemently had he gone with the VAR’s recommendation.
Guardiola’s decision – and be in no doubt that everything he does is for a purpose – to berate Hallam on the pitch at the final whistle made a great manager look a small man. It seems he cannot always be gracious, even in victory.
I am glad that his antics appear to have backfired, with almost every observer taking the referee’s side for once. Hallam emerged as the adult in the room and will take the field for his second Premier League match with an even greater sense of self-assurance.
He will argue that City should have been awarded penalties at home to Tottenham and away to Newcastle, but his memory seems more fuzzy when trying to recall Liverpool’s wrongly disallowed equaliser at the Etihad, or the second yellow card that should have been shown to Ruben Dias at Nottingham Forest.
Guardiola was adamant that Diogo Dalot should have been sent off in the previous week’s Manchester derby, but I’d be amazed if the key match incidents panel that sits in judgment of such decisions decrees that the VAR should have recommended a review.