No apology from Nuno as FA probe slight on Mason

WOLVES manager Nuno Espirito Santo has refused to apologise for his “words and thoughts” after criticising referee Lee Mason’s performance following the Premier League defeat at Burnley.

The Football Association has sought observations from Nuno after he said on Monday that Mason “does not have the quality to whistle a game in the Premier League” and he did not want to see the Bolton official again.

The Wolves boss, who revealed he would be discussing his post-burnley comments with the FA on December 29, said he would only apologise for the timing of his outburst.

Nuno said: “They were not in the best moment to come across because it could be a bad interpretation. For that I will apologise on my timing, but I won’t apologise for my words and thoughts.

“I never ever will judge or question the integrity of a referee. I never did it and I will never do it in my life. What I said is about the ability of the referee, what I felt and what I saw in the match and previous matches.”

Nuno, speaking ahead of Sunday’s home game with Tottenham, said after Wolves’ 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor that Mason makes players “nervous”. The Portuguese added that it was “not about crucial mistakes or decisions”, more so “the way he handles the game”, and that he had to make his point after previous matches refereed by Mason.

“The Premier League is the best competition in the world — the only thing missing is the fans — and we expect high levels of performance and high standards,” Nuno said.

“As managers and players what we expect is from the referees to be confident, to maintain authority on the pitch, to control the players and to handle the game.

“We want referees to improve because as managers we have to improve and I’m the first one when Wolves does not perform to admit it.”

Asked whether he would stick with his comment that Mason was not good enough to officiate in the top flight, Nuno replied: “The Premier League has the best system in referees. It is a thought and a belief (about Mason) that we have before in matches.

“I will not be comfortable if I did not say it in this particular situation, because we want to go to a match without worrying who is the referee, but every time unfortunately we had problems, so we just don’t want them to repeat.”