Coventry boss Lampard says hair pull should have been a penalty

Coventry City manager Frank Lampard said a hair‑pull should have resulted in a spot‑kick after his team were beaten 3‑1 by Everton on Friday. The visitors turned the match around with a double from Thierno Barry and a late strike by Kiernan Dewsbury‑Hall. Coventry had taken the lead through Yann Gboho after the interval.

The incident involved James Tarkowski pulling the hair of Caleb Yirenkyi while both jumped for a ball, but referee Stuart Attwell chose not to award a penalty. This season’s rules on hair‑pulling have been softened, meaning a pull alone does not automatically constitute a foul or a red card; officials must also consider the force used and the intention behind it. Lampard argued that, despite the rule’s wording, the challenge merited a foul.

Lampard also maintained that Taiwo Awoniyi was brought down by Vitalii Mykolenko before Coventry’s opener, and that Barry had handled the ball before his second goal, although VAR official Timothy Wood judged there was no handball. He said: "They're saying it's not enough of a pull and I think it's a hard area to be in. What is a hair pull?

You've decided it is but it's not enough. I have looked at them, sometimes with emotions in the moment you can't be clear on the sidelines. I think the rules are fine.

It's not a red card. I kind of get that because I think in a game of football there's a lot of stuff happens that's not absolutely dramatic. You know they can happen but I think if the the rule remains that it's a foul so I felt it was a foul." He added: "Taiwo for me on the line of the box is a penalty.

You've got to give the foul in real time anyway, the ref did let it go, and I felt it was a penalty. The Barry one is handball, I've heard they are saying it didn't touch his hand but I've seen an angle where he has flicked it in with the final touch. VAR is there for that.

I can't sit here and say I know everything and they should give all three of them, if one or two of them don't go our way, but they would clearly change the game."

Everton head coach David Moyes rejected the claim that Barry had handled the ball and also questioned the hair‑pull rule, describing it as absurd. He said: "We've had plenty [of decisions] which have gone against us. It certainly doesn't hit his hand. The hair pull rule has changed so it would be a booking if it was but I still think it's ridiculous that rule is in the game. I can't understand why they don't fix this completely because I don't see it as a good rule at all."