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Ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher assesses the controversial moments from the weekend's action, including Spurs' penalty shout at Fulham and a potential handball in the Carabao Cup final.

Fulham 2-0 Tottenham

INCIDENT: With Tottenham 1-0 down against Fulham, they had a great shout for a penalty. Lucas Bergvall went down in the box after being challenged by Calvin Bassey. VAR said Bergvall kicked into Bassey.

DERMOT SAYS: "When I saw the first angle, I didn't think it was a penalty. I thought Bergvall had gone into the back of Bassey.

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"But when I look at the second angle, Bassey is extremely lucky. Bergvall gets the ball, Bassey doesn't. You have to get the ball in that situation. On the second angle, I do think it's a penalty.

"I heard the VAR, they felt Bergvall had gone into the back of Bassey, but Bergvall got the ball.

"Seeing that, I think it's a penalty. What's interesting is with the handball between Everton and Man City years ago, they concentrated so much on an angle that wasn't conclusive. But there was one angle that was.

"When I first saw it live and the second angle, I wasn't convinced [this one was a penalty]. But when I saw the other angle, I can see Bergvall gets the ball. And that's conclusive.

"The first two angles, you can dismiss, because they don't give conclusive evidence."

INCIDENT: Spurs defender Djed Spence clearly pushed Fulham's Raul Jimenez with two hands in the back but no penalty was given.

DERMOT SAYS: "He puts two hands in the back, how much contact there is? I don't know.

"But is there enough contact for him to go flying like that? I would suggest no. That didn't help his cause. The referee said no, I don't think the VAR is ever going to go against him.

"Spence is lucky because if you give a referee a choice to make, don't be disappointed if he goes against you. If the referee gives a penalty there, Spence couldn't argue."

Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle

INCIDENT: There was a handball shout on Kieran Trippier in the penalty area in the Carabao Cup final. VAR checked the incident and stuck with the on-field decision of no penalty.

DERMOT SAYS: "Not handball for me. As regards to Europe, Newcastle know all about penalties in Europe having been knocked out last year [when Paris Saint-Germain were awarded a contentious penalty for handball].

"Trippier is running, it's his running motion. It strikes, no doubt about that. But that's all it does, it strikes him.

"If at the end of the game, you can't remember the incident, that tells the story."

STEPHEN WARNOCK SAYS: "It didn't really even stick out in my mind that would be even looked at as a potential penalty."

SUE SMITH SAYS: "If that's given, it would've been so harsh."

INCIDENT: Newcastle had a goal ruled out just before their second goal. Alexander Isak scored, but his effort was ruled out for a subjective offside against Bruno Guimaraes, who was in the way of goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

DERMOT SAYS: "If you watch sideways on, Kelleher has to go around Guimaraes.

"I have a theory: if a player is so close to that goalkeeper in the six-yard area, he has to be in the goalkeeper's vision. Kelleher has to go round him. By going round him, he loses all sight.

"He does make the save, but can he make a cleaner save? We'll never know. But I think he's in his line of vision."

Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea

INCIDENT: The ball hit Marc Cucurella's arm in the box early in the game between Arsenal and Chelsea. The Spaniard thought he was fouled by Jurrien Timber but the referee let play go on, and Arsenal missed several chances from the same attack.

DERMOT SAYS: "Play on. It's high up, his arms are tucked in. The forward [Timber] is a clue, he also doesn't think it's handball, he's the closest person to it.

"I don't think he handles the ball. Quite right to play on."

INCIDENT: Wesley Fofana challenged Declan Rice, following up by standing on Rice while the Arsenal midfielder was on the floor. The VAR said this didn't cross the threshold for violent conduct.

DERMOT SAYS: "Fofana was really, really lucky throughout the game. It wasn't just this, he committed a number of offences.

"Ironically he got yellow carded later in the game for delaying the restart.

"I don't think this was a red card, but it was a yellow card. And if he gets a yellow card, it may stop him committing the number of fouls and offences afterwards."

INCIDENT: Arsenal fans may wonder how Fofana stayed on the pitch. No card for the Rice challenge and no cards for two challenges on Leandro Trossard.

He did eventually get booked for delaying a restart but is there an argument that could have easily been a second yellow?

DERMOT SAYS: "The second one is a yellow card for Fofana in its own right [but he was not booked].

"If he's not going to give a yellow card for the Rice one, you pull him out and tell him: that's your last one. When he commits the next one, you say: what do you expect?"

Man City 2-2 Brighton

INCIDENT: Brighton saw an early goal at Manchester City ruled out when Kaoru Mitoma was accused of heading the ball out of City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega's hands.

DERMOT SAYS: "Once the keeper has both hands on the ball, he is deemed in possession and you can't challenge him.

"Ortega clearly has both hands on the ball. It is a split second and in fairness to Mitoma, he has to go for that ball because when he does, Ortega doesn't have control of it.

"So he has to go for it, that's his job. He accepts it straight away, he says it's a foul. People have to challenge for balls.

"Would it have been disallowed for handball against Mitoma anyhow?"

Everton 1-1 West Ham

INCIDENT: Darren Bond awarded Everton a penalty at the end of the first half, he thought Konstantinos Mavropanos had fouled Beto but soon changed his mind when he saw it again at the monitor.

DERMOT SAYS: "A number of issues: clearly not a penalty as Beto kicks the ground and not Mavropanos. Not a penalty.

"VAR intervened very, very quickly. He took a look at the screen once and said no.

"Mavropanos was never fearful that was going to be a penalty."

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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou bemoaned the "soft" goals his side conceded in the 2-0 loss at Fulham as they suffered their 15th defeat of an "unacceptable" Premier League campaign.

"Fifteen defeats nowhere near good enough," said Postecoglou following their latest loss at Craven Cottage, where former player Ryan Sessegnon added insult to injury by scoring Fulham's second.

The result leaves Spurs languishing in 13th, with 34 points from 29 games, having lost their joint-most games at this stage of a league season since 1997-98.

Any prospect of European football next term rests entirely on winning the Europa League.

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"I said to the players, I'm not going to let anyone just think about Europa and nothing else," Postecoglou said.

"We can't let this league season go the way it has. We've lost way too many games, unacceptable.

"I understand the supporters' frustrations with that. It was another day where we let a game get away from us when we shouldn't. We had chances to go 1-0 up which would have put pressure on them, then they scored a really soft goal.

"Today the opposition haven't blown us off the park. For 75 minutes we were where we wanted to be, the fact we come out of that game with nothing is disappointing."

A crucial victory over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night kept alive Spurs' campaign with Europa League progression and Postecoglou shuffled his pack with seven changes in west London.

That decision ultimately came back to bite the Australian as, after a dull first 45 minutes and a series of squandered second-half chances, Rodrigo Muniz and latterly Sessegnon pounced.

Asked if it is difficult to get his players motivated for the Premier League, Postecoglou added: "I don't think so. Hope not. We made a lot of changes today.

"When we get back [from the international break] this is going to be our schedule we need to make sure we have as many [players] in good condition.

"They had to play today to top them up. We had to rest a couple as well. Sometimes players go through these spells and he needs to find a way to break through that."

Bissouma hooked as Postecoglou tries to manage squad

Sky Sports' Peter Smith:

Postecoglou spoke plainly when asked why Yves Bissouma had been subbed off at half-time for the second Premier League game in a row. "Sometimes Biss lets the game drift by him," said the Tottenham boss. "He needs to be more dominant in the way he gets on the ball. The game gets away from him and today we needed more in that position.

"But at the same time Biss and a few others are lacking a bit of confidence."

His replacement, Lucas Bergvall, added impetus and energy after the break at Fulham and was unfortunate not to win a penalty at 1-0 down. So why not start him? Because Bergvall - just 19 - started in the Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday and Postecoglou is trying to get the balance right in his squad.

"We need to make sure we have as many in good condition [as we can]," he said, referring to the seven changes he made from the AZ win. "They had to play today to top them up. We had to rest a couple as well."

The Europa League quarter-final with Eintracht Frankfurt is the priority for Spurs now. Postecoglou wants as many options on the pitch and on the bench ready to swing that tie their way. But he has also described Spurs' 15 Premier League defeats this term as "unacceptable" and Mathys Tel was filmed trying to placate Spurs fans after the final whistle at Craven Cottage.

Getting the balance right between rotating in the league but still delivering performances and results to maintain confidence and momentum for the key European nights is going to be a challenge.

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Ange Postecoglou has hit back at 'Mr Hindsight' critics and vented about doubts over his ability to manage Tottenham Hotspur.

Postecoglou, who led Spurs into the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday, came out fighting with an extraordinary response to the pressure he has been under during his second season at the club.

Ahead of facing Fulham on Sunday in the Premier League, Postecoglou was asked how he had handled questions over his future and whether there is more scrutiny at Tottenham than in his previous jobs, with the club sat 13th in the table.

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In a press conference that lasted for over 30 minutes, he said: "Yeah, the scrutiny is more because there's more noise, but that doesn't mean it needs to affect you.

"I've said many, many times that it doesn't concern me because I'm not really sure how people kind of perceive this role and particularly me as a person, that they would think that I would worry about tomorrow if there's a negative outcome. I just don't live my life that way. I don't speak that way. I don't think that way.

"I love what I do. I get up every day, take on the challenge, see where the possibilities are and keep moving.

"There's a lot of noise. I think there's always kind of two sides to that. One is people kind of do some critical analysis of what I do. Others, just like the story of a manager being under pressure, people get excited by that.

"Some people really enjoy that process for some bizarre reason and the more they try and push individuals, whether it's me or anyone else, to that sort of position, then it generates for them whatever sort of satisfaction they get out of it. But it doesn't infiltrate my world.

"Irrespective of what happened last night (vs AZ Alkmaar), I still would have gone home and asked my kids how the concert went. My life goes on. It's not that overwhelming that I feel the need to block it all out or to react to it. It doesn't bother me.

'Google my name and get some headlines'

When asked if it is more intense because of where he comes from, Postecoglou said: "If I say that, then people will just kind of see me playing the victim card and I don't want to do that. But 100 per cent there's an element of that. There's no doubt about it.

"Let me give you an example. Whatever profession you're in, you're a journalist, you're a plumber, you're a policeman, you're a lawyer, you're a doctor, you've been doing that job for 26, 27 years.

"Irrespective of whatever you do, do you reckon that person's got a pretty good idea about that job? Would you ever question his knowledge on that job? Would you ever question whether every decision he makes he's thought about or experienced before?

"If you survive for 26, 27 years, it means you haven't stuffed up too many times. Whatever you do, because if you're a plumber, then everywhere you've gone, if there's leaks, then you're not going to get another job. If you're a doctor and people are dying, then you're unlikely to kick on.

"If you're doing it for 26, 27 years, he's got a fair idea about what he's doing. But then you might say maybe he's just a grinder?

"But then if that person started pretty much on the factory floor of that industry, whatever industry it was, maybe you're a CEO or whatever, and he ends up in the position where the top one per cent of his profession get to, then you've got to say, OK, this guy must have something. You don't get to that from the factory floor, from the basement to the top one per cent in your field.

"I'm talking about the level, I'm not talking about expertise. But then you might say, OK, but he's out of his depth now. But if you've taken a club that finished eighth to fifth in your first full year...so when you put all that together and then you hear, like I said, he's out of his depth, he doesn't know what he's doing, he's got no idea, his methods don't work, his philosophy doesn't work. In any other industry, you wouldn't do that.

"You might be critical of his performance, but you wouldn't do that. Google my name and get some headlines. Just plaster them on a wall. And you'd say, I don't think that fits somehow. But it does. Because that's kind of where we're at.

"There's critical analysis of performance at every level. And like I said, as you get higher, there are bigger things at stake, for sure.

"Forget the football manager, forget me. Just any other, would you say he's got no idea what he's doing. He's got no plan B. He's stubborn, his methods don't work. He's out of his depth.

"Where does that come from? From people that probably...some weren't even born when I first started managing. I started in 1996-97.

'A manager's greatest nemesis is Mr Hindsight'

"You've got to just accept that it's part of the world I'm in. But I accept it. I don't have to react to it. I can just laugh it off because I just think it's ridiculous.

"And it doesn't change me as a person, It doesn't change anything I do or what I believe or how I continue to go on. Because my career will go on. Everyone realises that, whatever happens, my career will go on. That's a long answer, isn't it?"

Do you still enjoy it even during this time?

"I love it. No, I'm not saying that sort of facetiously. I love the fact that, you know, there's a massive challenge there and people are doubting you and all that sort of stuff.

"I do love it. But I also think that some of it is just ridiculous beyond its nature of being anything other than just cheap and very shallow. I'm not talking about critical analysis. I'm not talking about, you know…oh, jeez, I'm going on now…

"I've got one more story and then I'll let you go. You know who the greatest nemesis for any manager is? In today's world, and he's only come to the surface probably in the last five, six years, maybe 10 years. Mr Hindsight.

"You know who Mr Hindsight is? He's the guy who, when the outcome's there, the result's already done, he's got all the answers with the greatest of certainty that was so obvious, and he's never wrong.

"And Mr Hindsight will go out there every time and profess to be the oracle of all oracles because he just deals with what's happened after the event, never before. And there is such a mass of Mr Hindsight. The Killers should do a song about him. I'd definitely buy it.

"You want to be critical or you want to have really strong sort of opinions about things? State them before the event. Make them really clear and stand by them when they're wrong because I guarantee you they'll be just as wrong as any manager who's wrong probably more often.

"But there aren't many of those. There are some who if they don't do it before the event, after the event will always put a perspective on their analysis. But I see them, mate, and I hear them after the event. 'Oh, so obvious. Oh, how did he get that team selection wrong?'

"It's easy to deal with an outcome. Anyone can deal with an outcome. You don't need to even understand football. That team won, that team lost, that team's better, that coach is better, those players are better, that system's better, those selections are better, those decisions are better, they were always going to be better - I could have told you that before the game. You never did. Everything's obvious so what's the point?

"If it's just results what's the point of having anything else? All we'll do is whoever won, you put a column there and say everyone writes the same piece for that and whoever lost, you put a column there, everyone writes the same piece there. These managers are under pressure, these managers are the best. And then flip it the following week because results always go the other way.

"But anyway, we should have had this offline, I've said too many things that I'm going to regret tomorrow."