Former Premier League referee reveals the most difficult player he had to deal with – before telling hilarious Jose Mourinho anecdote
Former Premier League referee Jonathan Moss has revealed which player was the hardest to manage across his 11-year career in the top-flight.
Moss is one of the most iconic officials over the last 25 years in the English top-flight, refereeing a total of 274 games, brandishing some 907 yellow cards and 14 straight reds in his career.
He handed out 81 penalties at an average of around 3.4 games-per-spot-kick, and after retiring from top level refereeing, was named manager of PGMOL’s elite officials, before taking up a role as Football Australia’s Head of Referees.
Yet the hardest part of refereeing is surely handling the 22 players on the pitch, plus their managers, and keeping a lid on things out in the middle.
As such, Moss will have come across a number of big personalities and household names during his stint in the top-flight, but now he has revealed just who was the hardest to control.
‘Without doubt the most challenging player I ever came across in the Premier League was Kevin Nolan,’ Moss told the Row Z FC podcast.
Jonathan Moss has revealed who his most difficult player to referee in the Premier League was
He claimed former West Ham star Kevin Nolan ‘could argue with himself in a paper bag’
Moss refereed 274 games handing out 14 straight red cards and 81 penalties over 11 years
‘He could argue with himself in a paper bag. He would not let up at all, he’d be chirping at you [all game]. You’d give a simple throw in on the half-way line and he’d start arguing about it.’
Yet for all his apparent argumentative tendencies once the first whistle had been blown, Moss added that Nolan was ‘the nicest person off the pitch’.
‘We used to go into clubs and do pre season visits, and he [Nolan] would always come over and always chat to you,’ Moss explained.
‘He was always such a nice guy. But when you went across that white line, it was like “right here we go”. It just became fun. He was always bantering, arguing and you’ve got to hold your ground as a referee, you’ve got to throw a few one-liners back.’
Yet Nolan was not the only one to give Moss a headache or two out on the pitch, as he revealed, with Jamie Vardy rarely letting him forget that the striker was sent off in the run-in during Leicester’s fateful 2015-16 Premier League title win.
But it’s not just the players that officials have to deal with, as Moss explained.
‘I always had a love-hate relationship with Jose Mourinho. I sent him off three times, I thought he was a fantastic manager, in terms of the kind of character you want in the league he would be challenging at times, he would be fantastic company to have.
‘We went to the Europa League final with Anthony Taylor, and he greeted us in the car park 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 also claimed that Jamie Vardy often gave him headaches after sending him off in 2016
Moss then named Jose Mourinho (right, in 2014) as the hardest manager he’s ever dealt with
He told hilarious anecdote involving Mourinho pushing a player out of the way in a TV interview
He then tells a hilarious anecdote that is typical of the character Mourinho was during his time in the Premier League.
Moss tells that he spoke to Mourinho after a game about rarely hearing good comments about officials in the media, before a trademark unpredictable response from the Portuguese managerial legend.
‘I said “Jose, you never say anything good about referees on the TV!” and he said “Wait here!”
‘He runs in, one of his players is being interviewed on Sky, and he pushes him to one side 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 me one” and walked off!’
