Gary O’Neil made some very interesting comments after Wolves lost their latest Premier League game against Manchester City.
Wolves put in a big defensive effort at Molineux and looked on course to take a point.
Jorgen Strand Larsen gave Wolves an early lead, but were pegged back when Josko Gvardiol scored a brilliant equaliser.
Right at the death, John Stones scored from a Man City corner. That has been highly controversial due to the role that Bernardo Silva played.
He had been standing on Jose Sa’s toes when the corner was being taken. But he then moved off him as Stones headed in. The goal was given, despite protestations that Bernardo was still interfering.
After the game, Gary O’Neil suggested that there was unconscious bias in favour of the bigger clubs in the Premier League, and former referee Peter Walton agrees with what the Wolves manager has said.
Peter Walton says Gary O’Neil is right about subconscious bias
After the defeat to City, O’Neil said (via BBC Sport): “I can categorically tell you they don’t mean to. They are 100 percent honest. I just know from a human point of view it’s tough.
“I feel different playing Manchester City than someone else in the Carabao Cup first round. I’m sure they feel it, they are human. I don’t know if I’m miles off, it just feels there could be.
“If I had to upset someone in the street and there’s a big and little guy in the street, I’m upsetting the little guy.”
O’Neil’s comments have sparked a debate on social media, and the FA will now ask for him to explain his post-match observations.
Some do feel that officials do unintentionally give the bigger clubs in the Premier League the rub of the green.
Former referee Peter Walton has written about O’Neil in his latest column for The Times – and he is generally in agreement with the Wolves head coach. But he also feels he has picked the wrong incident to open this particular conversation.
He said: “O’Neil has been asked by the FA to explain his comments, but he is right. Referees are human beings and of course, their judgment can be influenced or skewed unwittingly, no matter how conscientious they are.
“During my time as a Premier League referee, we were given tuition to make us aware of risks of this kind. One obvious factor is a big partisan crowd. It is a massive challenge for someone who has never experienced 60,000 people screaming at them to give a penalty to go through that for the first time.
“But that is why referees are developed over a long period, so when it happens, they are ready.”
Hard for Wolves to take
It is fascinating to read Walton’s take on what O’Neil said and seemingly, the Wolves manager may well be right in what he’s saying.
There has to be enormous pressure on referees when there is one of the biggest clubs in England playing and competing for the Premier League title, versus a side who are down at the bottom.
Sunday’s defeat to City was a tough one to take for Wolves given it was such a gutsy performance and the gameplan was spot on.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 15 |  West HamWest Ham | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 8 |
| 16 |  EvertonEverton | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 15 | -6 | 8 |
| 17 |  IpswichIpswich | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | -10 | 4 |
| 18 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 3 |
| 19 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 18 | -12 | 1 |
| 20 |  WolvesWolves | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 23 | -13 | 1 |
To lose in such circumstances, when the team is desperate for points, will have been gutting for those players who left it all out there.
Wolves fans might have felt that they were due a decision, given they have been on the wrong end of so many controversial ones in recent years.