Ghost of Attwell’s past comes back to haunt Clement’s men

PAUL CLEMENT admitted in his programme notes that he needed a break — instead he got a slap in the face twice.

The two big decisions of a tight game both went against him leaving his Swansea side still anchored in the Premier League’s relegation zone.

Referee Stuart Attwell — you might remember him as the ‘ghost goal’ official — made two big 50-50 calls that both went against the Welsh club.

First he disallowed Wilfried Bony’s effort just before half-time because he thought an innocuous challenge by Jordan Ayew on Nathan Ake was a foul.

Then in added time at the end of the game he turned down frantic appeals for a penalty and said Tammy Abraham had slipped when replays suggested he might have been clipped by Adam Smith.

Clement grumbled: ‘I thought [the Ayew challenge] was a soft foul to give. I think if that was between the two boxes the game would have carried on.

‘Overall I thought the referee had a really poor game and wasn’t up to speed. There was another incident where the trailing arm of a Bournemouth player has caught Roque Mesa in the head, split his head open, and that wasn’t given as a foul.’

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe had a different opinion. He said: ‘You won’t be surprised I saw it the opposite way.

But it is typical of the way things are going for Clement (right( that the fine margins are going against him — and Swansea deserved more for a far more spirited display. Clement, knowing that the longer he goes without a win the more the pressure will build, shook up his side with five changes and gave Bony, whose £10million return from Manchester City has so far been a huge disappointment, the armband. As inspiring captain’s performances go it was a long way behind Steve Smith in the Ashes, but Bony did hold the ball up well. And Clement’s side had nobody to blame but themselves for missing the game’s only real chance, when Leroy Fer went on a mazey run, saw his first shot saved, and somehow managed to scoop the ball against the bar from four yards.

Bournemouth were far from their best and needed a quality display from Ake to hold their defence together.

‘We’re disappointed with our performance,’ admitted Howe. ‘We never truly got going.

‘But we dug in well and made sure we didn’t lose the game which hasn’t always been the case. I know we can play better.’