Joe Cole sends plea to Conference Final ref

Joe Cole has told Spanish referee Carlos Cerro Grande to be bang on the case against any  tactical Fiorentina fouling in the clash against the Hammers tonight.

The opposition boss Vincenzo Italiano has let it slip that his team could resort to such tactics in the game should they need to.

And Cole made it quite clear that he may now be regretting letting such words escape his lips during a press conference a couple of weeks back.

Speaking on BT Sport the former hammer said: “This referee has to be very strong – the first time it happens there has to be a yellow shown and the second and third time. There can be none of that. We are here to watch a great game of football.

“I’m quite sure in that in retrospect the Fiorentina manager had wished he hadn’t made such a statement publicly because the referee could well be on it from the start.”

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon