EFL boss calls for refereeing overhaul in damning assessment of ‘survivors’

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has called for a refereeing overhaul in the Championship in a long, post-match rant. Wilder was left bemused by the sending off of Hamza Choudhury on Wednesday, going on to slam referee Oliver Langford. Choudhury was shown a red card for picking up two yellows in the first half of the Blades’ 3-2 defeat to Portsmouth , with his second coming just before the break in the 44th minute. Pompey’s Ryan Kavuma-McQueen touched the ball around the Bangladesh international, who clipped his opponent’s legs and brought him down. Wilder believed the decision from referee Langford was harsh, with fans appealing that Choudhury was simply run into. But the Sheffield United midfielder was shown a second yellow card and given his marching orders, as his side went on to lose. What did Wilder say about Championship referees? The decision then sparked Wilder into a post-match rant, where he called for the pathway for younger officials to the second tier to be accelerated, labelling some existing referees ‘survivors’. “That’s three players sent off in his [Langford’s] last two games that he’s refereed [for us],” the Blades manager began. “The boy takes Mark McGuinness’ head off in the middle of the park, Japh [Tanganga] gets sent off down at Charlton last year for a reckless challenge… “I don’t know, I just think where are the young referees, up-and-coming referees that should be in the Championship ? “Instead of the ones that just, for me, survive, keep surviving, keep surviving… so no doubt we’ll have another survivor referee on Saturday. “Where’s the quality? Where are the ones coming through?” View Tweet: https://t.co/CcgcqQWqfJ Wilder then continued his rant, adding: “I like Simon Hooper [Sheffield United’s referee on Saturday] by the way…he came through the football league, into the Championship, into the Premier League . “But where are the referees coming through now? Because there’s a surviving group of referees, in my opinion, that are just doing that. “I just don’t know with Hamza…the chat was that he wasn’t going to send him off and then all of a sudden, I get opposition players going over, gamesmanship is part of the game, but I’ve got to say it looked as if he wasn’t going to send him off at the start and then he did.” How are Sheffield United doing this season? Wilder will have been angry at Sheffield United going down to ten men as it ultimately led to his side losing again. The Blades came from 2-0 down to level the game against Portsmouth at 2-2, even without Choudhury, but Ebou Adams scored an 89th minute winner for the hosts in the end. The defeat meant Wilder’s men have now lost three of their last four games, sitting 15th in the Championship table. They’ve won just three of their opening 10 matches, drawing another three and losing four. Next, Sheffield United take on Bristol City on Saturday before facing struggling Derby County on October 24.