‘Tottenham would say the same’: Paul Heckingbottom stunned by what referee told him at HT

‘Paul Heckingbottom hit out at referee Peter Bankes for knowing ‘little about the game’ as Tottenham Hotspur staged a stunning fightback against Sheffield United.

At half-time, with the scores 0-0, Paul Heckingbottom shared that he went to the referee to explain why his goalkeeper, Wes Foderingham, was taking his time playing out from the back, as his side were trying to ‘adapt’ to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham changing their tactics in-game.

But the Blades boss shared that he was told by the referee to, rather than play out from the back, ‘kick it long then’, as he told his press conference.

Heckingbottom let rip at the officials and stated that their ‘understanding of the game is appalling’ and he thinks that ‘Tottenham would say the same’.

It was a gut-wrenching end for the Yorkshire side because, heading into the 97th minute, they were taking home their first three points of the season.

But that’s when Richarlison found a new lease of life, with Heckingbottom having no issues with the result, but the performance of the referee, instead.

“Listen, it’s not funny,” said Heckingbottom. “The referees are killing the game, at the minute. They are ruining it. Absolutely ruining it. I have no qualms about the result. You can see me from 0-0, because he is telling our keeper to ‘hurry up’.

“So, we split to play out – then we do it again and get out a couple of times, so what are Spurs going to do? They are going to change. Put the ball down, Spurs change, so Wes (Foderingham) has to make a different decison. And he is getting told to play. Spurs have adapted to us. We have to change again and play something different. The referees are showing how little they know about the game.

“I go show them at half-time. I wanted to show them that I know they can’t see it. We are not taking long from goal kicks. From the moment it is down, it is taken within ten seconds. Spurs change what they do, so Wes has a different decision to make and he can’t make his decison until Spurs have moved.

“The referees haven’t got a clue. They don’t know what I am saying. The answer back to me was ‘well, kick long then’, so we worked all week long and how we want to play and the ref is a dictator to us. It can’t happen – understanding the game is appalling, that’s what I said after the game. I bet Spurs would say the same.”

This was turning out to be a quite outstanding win for Heckingbottom’s side and a much-needed three points following their promotion.

But to lose a game in that manner, even for the best of the best, it’s hard to swallow and accept.

As for Spurs, they are flying high, still unbeaten and proving that they can score goals at any time and change a game at any moment.