Former Premier League referee Graham Scott has admitted he would not like to officiate Everton’s James Garner.
It was not a positive season for Everton when it came to their relationship with the officials, that’s for sure.
Everton had five VAR decisions go against them in the 2025/26 season, which is more than any other club in the league.
That was a disgraceful performance from Everton… something has to change! 😤
To put the cherry on top, former referee Scott has now named Garner as a player who looks like ‘hard work’ to control as an official.
Everton’s James Garner slammed as ‘hard work’ by former Premier League referee
Over on TalkingPoints, Everton supporters named Garner as their Player of the Season for the 2025/26 campaign.
Garner did not receive an England call-up, but he earned himself a spot in Thomas Tuchel’s thinking during the process.
However, speaking to The Athletic, Scott has slammed Garner as the player he would least like to referee.
How has Thomas Tuchel taken Jordan Henderson over James Garner? 😡
“James Garner (Everton). Nothing personal, I promise, but simply based on his record of 115 tackles and 12 yellow cards, both the highest in the league,” he said.
“I admire the energy and competitive spirit, but that looks too much like hard work.”
Ironically, the KMI panel admitted Garner should have been sent off for a second yellow card in the victory away to Aston Villa earlier in the year.
Garner may have picked up 12 yellow cards throughout the campaign, but it must be noted that the midfielder also played virtually every second of football.
Not only did the 25-year-old play almost every second, he also had to play out of position for a number of those games.
Cole Palmer named Garner as his toughest opponent this season, which goes to show just how good the Everton player performed.
It seems Scott has simply looked at which player got the most yellow cards and simply chose Garner as his answer.
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