Troy Deeney has been charged by the FA for accusing a referee of ‘bottling’ several decisions in Watford’s 3-3 Premier League draw against Bournemouth.
Watford twice led in a thrilling match, but rather than be critical of his own side, Deeney, who scored twice, took issue with referee David Coote.
Deeney has until 18:00pm Tuesday 15 January to respond to the FA charge.
The Watford captain was certain that Dan Gosling should have been given a red card for a heavy challenge on Tom Cleverly and that his side should have been given a penalty for a handball in the area by Nathan Ake.
In a statement, the FA said: “Troy Deeney has been charged following post-match media comments he made about the appointed match referee for Watford’s game against Bournemouth on 2 January 2019. He has until 18:00 on 15 January 2019 to respond to the charge.”
In a Match of the Day interview alongside Ryan Fraser, Deeney was critical of the referee’s assessment. “You can't tell me that their boy didn't try to do Clevz. He knows it. They know it. Hence the reason of the reaction.
“I think the referee, to be fair, bottled it on a few occasions. There's a handball right at the end. I'm not one to hammer refs, but he bottled it on a few occasions today.”
Standing next to him, Fraser humorously raised his eyebrows at the comment and added: “We’ll both look at it as both teams should have had a player sent off, bad defending.”
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said the challenge in question on Clevery was “mistimed” and “not a red” while suggesting Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure was lucky not to see a “straight red card” for a tackle of his own.
