FORMER PREMIER LEAGUE referee Graham Poll has revealed Jose Mourinho told him he was no longer ‘a friend’ after Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool in 2006.
The Blues’ hopes of a domestic treble were ended by a 2-1 defeat to Rafa Benitez’s side at Old Trafford, with referee Poll awarding a controversial free-kick for Liverpool’s opener before ruling out a John Terry goal.
Poll’s revelation comes after Mourinho’s latest rant, in which he labelled the referee of Wednesday’s 0-0 Champions League stalemate at Dynamo Kyiv as ‘weak and naive’ for failing to award his side a penalty.
Poll hit back at Mourinho’s bullying tactics and shed light on the Portuguese’s referee mind games.
“Mourinho likes referees to favour his teams, he wants them to be seen by him as ‘friends’,” Poll wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“After Chelsea lost to Liverpool in the 2006 FA Cup semi-final, he told me I could no longer be seen by him as a friend because no friend would allow his team to lose such a match.”
Poll, who retired from refereeing in 2007, said officials were unlikely to be swayed by Mourinho’s comments.
“Referees who are described as ‘weak and naive’ by Jose Mourinho will probably think he is pathetic and childish, but they have more sense than to drop to his level. What those comments will definitely not do is affect decision-making — referees will not award Chelsea more or fewer free-kicks or penalties.
“Referees always go on to the pitch with the desire and intention to be impartial, whatever history exists between them and the players or managers.”
