Town boss Kieran McKenna says there is a wider issue around abuse in football ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Southampton, which will be refereed by Michael Oliver, the subject of death threats over the last few days following his controversial red-carding of Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly last weekend.
Oliver dismissed Lewis-Skelly for tripping Wolves’ Matt Doherty as the Irish international broke out of his own area. The decision was upheld by VAR but the red card overturned by an FA independent regulatory commission.
Both the referees’ body, the PGMOL, and the Premier League condemned the online abuse aimed at Oliver, who is widely recognised as one of England’s top officials.
McKenna was asked whether he believes referees aren’t being given enough respect by players, the Gunners having been charged by the FA after their players surrounded Oliver following the controversial sending off.
"I think it's certainly an issue,” McKenna said. "I think there's a wider issue around abuse in football in general, whether that's referees, players or managers.
"There's an issue around what's acceptable and abuse for somebody doing their best job for me will never be acceptable.
"And for referees, I think there's still work to do in football, certainly so at all levels of the game.
"I think as managers we have a responsibility to try and set a good example and we all know they've got a very, very tough job to do and that they do it with the best intention and to the best of their ability in a really fast-paced and dynamic sport with really, really fine margins.
"So they certainly deserve respect and we try at this club to set a good example of that irrespective of mistakes that any of us might make, I think abuse of a personal nature can never be acceptable.”
The Blues boss was quizzed on whether he has any reservations about Oliver taking charge of Saturday’s game given the affect the last week might have had in the 39-year-old.
"I don't think so,” he said. "I've not thought about it a lot because we're trying to control what we can control here, but I'm pretty certain Michael's a vastly experienced referee and a very, very good referee surrounded by experienced people.
"I’m sure if he's selected for the game it means that he feels ready to crack on and do what he does well and if that's the decision then we support that.”
Put to him that he’s the person in football not to have had abuse, McKenna joked, "Check out Phil’s website! In League One when we didn’t win for eight or nine games, I wasn’t too popular then!”
More seriously, McKenna doesn’t believe abuse is something which should come with the territory, that people in football should be able to just brush off.
"I don't think it should be, and I think each individual is different,” he said. "I think as much as it's part and parcel of society and of football nowadays, I'd also hope and wish that if it's whether it's a player or a staff member or referee that, if they did feel that it was adversely affecting them that they could come speak to people and get the right support whatever that support means.
"We've certainly had cases of that here in the last few years where people have taken criticism or unacceptable things being said about them, and they've taken it strongly and been affected by it.
"I think in that type of situation, I'd like to think that the support networks are there that people come out and say that this has affected me, and I don't feel it's appropriate, and I need support.
"We've had instances and different clubs have had instances of people looking for that support and I think that's right.
"I don't think it's something that you have to accept. I think it's, unfortunately, something that you have to be prepared for, but I also think that everyone should have the right to express their emotions and get the support they need if, understandably, something like that affects them negatively.”