Former Premier League referee Graham Scott has revealed which manager he found most difficult to deal with, and supporters have not taken his verdict well.

Scott officiated in the English top flight for ten years, overseeing 105 matches before calling time on his career at the top level at the end of the 2024/25 campaign. Generally revered as one of the more consistent referees the Premier League has had to offer in recent times, the Oxford-born official surprisingly never made the step to take charge of games in European competitions.

Since hanging up his whistle, Scott has stepped into the media realm, taking a role as an Expert Referee Correspondent at The Athletic.

A well-trodden career path for ex-referees, the 58-year-old is following in the footsteps of the likes of Mike Dean and Mark Clattenburg by provoking outrage with some of his insights into his career.

Graham Scott Names Mikel Arteta as Most Difficult to Deal With Manager

Speaking on The Athletic FC podcast, Scott named Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta as the worst manager he had to deal with on the touchline.

"Well, the trite answer is all of them when they're losing," he said.

"I know whatever I say at this point just gets me pelters, and it will be 'Well, it's all because you hate them and you hate him!' But it is Arteta.

"He is the hardest work, and he really does push all the limits, all of the time. I don't mind that in many ways, he's trying to get a competitive advantage for his team. That's fine. That's part of his job, and of course, he's entitled to push those limits, and it's up to us to police them. But he does make your life extremely difficult. He's out of his box all the time.

"I watched him recently in their game against Everton, and every time Everton had the ball anywhere near the touchline on his side, he was like joining in the press. His toes are on the touchline, and as a fourth official, it's a nightmare.

"If you step forward and do anything about it, you're being pedantic, you're being petty. By the time you get there, the ball's moved on; it looks like nothing's going on here by the time people look at you.

"But he does get away with rather too much, and the officials do need to be a bit tighter, and I was one of them who let him do that, I'm not going to deny that."

Scott Slammed For Arteta Verdict

Arteta has developed a reputation for being an erratic coach on the touchline, often seen almost interfering with the game with how animated he can get. However, waving arms and exiting the parameters of the technical area aren't minor infringements that are exclusive to the Spaniard, and this has unsurprisingly been pointed out amid Scott's comments.

"I am not for one second saying Arteta doesn’t do these things but to say he’s the worst is hilarious. [Jurgen] Klopp was awful on the touchline and other managers do their thing just as much," one fan claimed on social media.

"Officials used to say it was Wenger, now it’s Arteta. They may as well just be honest — they hate Arsenal. You never heard this talk when Jose was doing it," another added.

Another fan chimed in on this perceived unfair targeting of the Arsenal manager: "Wow... how silly & stupid can you get? What has Arteta done that other managers don’t do? We all know the entire association hates Arsenal but at least try to hide it a little bit.”

Meanwhile, another claimed that Scott's frustration with Arteta was rooted in the Premier League winner's antics forcing the official to do his job: "He makes his life difficult because he makes them do their jobs. These referees are awful and never take accountability for how poor they are on a weekly basis.”

"Based on zero comparison evidence against other managers. Good journalism," another wrote.

Finally, one fan called Scott out for making these comments in an attempt to stay 'relevant'.

"Another ref desperate to remain relevant and refusing to acknowledge or be accountable for how crap they all are. Pathetic," they posited.