Former Premier League referee Jonathan Moss has revealed which player was the most difficult to manage during his 11-year career in the top.
Moss is one of the most iconic civil servants in the English top flight in the past 25 years, who is a total of 274 games referee, who waves around 907 yellow cards and 14 straight Red Roden in his career.
He handed out 81 penalties with an average of approximately 3.4 games per spot kick, and after his retirement from the referee of the highest level, he was appointed manager of PGMOL's Elite officials before taking a role as head of the referees of Football Australia.
Yet the most difficult part of the referee is certainly the 22 players on the field, plus their managers, and to keep a lid in the middle.
As such, Moss will have encountered a number of great personalities and well -known names during his stay in the top, but now he has revealed who was the hardest to check.
“Without a doubt, Kevin Nolan was the most challenging player I ever encountered in the Premier League,” Moss told the Row Z FC Podcast.
“He could argue with himself in a paper bag. He wouldn't let go at all, he would go to you [all game]. You would hit a simple half -line and he would argue about it. '
But for all his apparent argumentative tendencies as soon as the first whistle was blown, Moss added that Nolan was 'the nicest person outside the field'.
'We used to go to clubs and we visited the season, and he [Nolan] Would always come by and always talk to you, “Moss explained.
“He was always such a nice guy. But when you went over that white line, it was like “we're going to go here”. It just got fun. He was always a chat, a fight and you have to keep your ground as a referee, you have to throw a few one-liners back. '
Yet Nolan was not the only one who gave Moss one or two headaches on the field, as he revealed, with Jamie Vardy rarely forgetting that the striker was sent away in the run-in during the fatal 2015-16 Premier League profit of Leicester.
But it is not only the players that civil servants have to deal with, as Moss explained.
“I always had a love-hate relationship with Jose Mourinho. I sent him away three times, I thought he was a fantastic manager, in terms of the kind of character you want in the competition he would sometimes be challenging, he would be a fantastic company to have.
'We went to the Europa League final with Anthony Taylor, and he greeted us in the parking lot like a long-lost brother. There have been times when I was toe to toe with him in the dressing room where I had to stand my ground. '
He then tells a hilarious anecdote that is typical of the character that Mourinho was during his time in the Premier League.
Moss says that after a competition he spoke with Mourinho about hearing good comments about media officials, before a trademark unpredictable reaction from the Portuguese management legend.
“I said,” Jose, you never say anything good about referees on TV! ” And he said, “Wait here!”
“He runs inside, one of his players is interviewed on Sky, and he pushes him aside and goes on the camera and says,” I thought the referee had a great game today! “
“He then walked into the dressing room and said,” There you go, you owe one “and walked away!”
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