Chelsea trapped referee Paul Tierney in their pre-match team huddle in one of the most bizarre sights of the Premier League season.
Tierney looked utterly bewildered as the players leant in around him ahead of their clash with Newcastle at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
Cole Palmer stared directly at the official before having words with him after the huddle dispersed.
And Enzo Fernandez was barely able to hold himself together as he had a laugh while the stars arranged themselves around Tierney.
The awkward episode lasted for around half a minute, during which time viewers were left scratching their heads.
Chelsea have been congregating on or near the centre circle in recent weeks but surrounding a referee is an unprecedented step.
Chelsea surrounded referee Paul Tierney in their pre-match huddle before playing Newcastle
The bizarre episode dragged on for around half a minute, with Tierney standing still
Cole Palmer hugged the referee at one stage and kept looking at Tierney before speaking to him afterwards
Tierney appeared to accept his fate and made no attempt to escape the mass of bodies encircling him.
They did seem to be holding a genuine team talk, with Palmer the only player who looked more interested in Tierney than their discussion.
In fact, Palmer went a step further at the start of the huddle and simply hugged Tierney from behind without invitation.
Fans on social media could not make sense of what they were seeing.
‘This has absolutely fried my head why is he just standing there and not trying to get out,’ one wrote.
‘I like that Cole Palmer acknowledges the ridiculousness of the situation by hugging him,’ another said.
‘This is just so weird from all involved,’ one said.
‘Genuinely thought this was AI,’ said one viewer seeing the clip on social media.
‘How is he allowing that to happen?!’ another asked.
Liam Rosenior and the players will surely be asked after the game to explain what happened.
Rosenior has brought the tone to a more comedic level at Chelsea and man viewers on social media wondered if this was simply another gag.
Others speculated that it held some sort of tactical value – getting inside the referee’s head, for example, but without an explanation there is no way to know.
More to follow.
