Chelsea to DITCH their centre-circle huddle after kick-off gimmick turned ‘an excessive amount of of a distraction’ – and ended up with ref caught within the center!

Chelsea are set to scrap their centre-circle huddle idea after deciding internally that it has grown into too much of a distraction, Daily Mail Sport understands.

Saturday’s 1-0 Premier League loss to Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge involved remarkable scenes when Liam Rosenior‘s players surrounded the referee, Paul Tierney, after he had refused to move from the kick-off spot.

That may now end up being the last time this particular pre-match routine is seen. While Chelsea have not been ordered to stop staging their huddle in the middle of the centre circle, club sources say we can expect it will be performed in their own half from now on.

Chelsea face Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last-16 second leg on Tuesday night, with a 5-2 loss last week leaving them in need of a historic comeback.

Rosenior has said they never intended their huddle approach to be seen as an antagonistic act or disrespectful to their opposition, but the noise it has generated from the outside has led to a rethink on the inside surrounding whether it is worth the hassle.

Chelsea’s centre-circle huddle is being ditched after the controversy involving ref Paul Tierney

Speaking at his pre-PSG press conference, Rosenior did not confirm they would be moving their huddle out of the centre circle, but did hint at a change by saying: ‘It’s been blown out of proportion, to be honest.

‘It’s a small, small thing amongst many, many serious things that we need to address, such as a massive game against PSG. The lads have always wanted to show unity and togetherness.

‘I think they’ll continue to do that. What we don’t want to do is antagonise or bring the noise on ourselves and we’ll make the decision on where we do that on the pitch tomorrow.’

Chelsea skipper Reece James, along with his vice captains and Willie Isa, their ‘cultural architect’ hired from rugby league, came up with the huddle idea together.

They first debuted it on January 28 away at Napoli in the Champions League but it grew into a talking point after their Premier League defeat by Newcastle.

Chelsea’s players gathered like usual to perform their huddle in the middle of the centre circle, only to find Tierney refusing to move. That saw James and Co surround the referee in what was a strange scene in a match being beamed live to millions worldwide.

Rosenior later said Tierney should have been more focused on doing his job rather than obsessing over their huddle, adding it was the first item of business brought up in the pre-match meeting in the referee’s room.

Rosenior pledged to contact the PGMOL as he also believed they deserved a penalty when Nick Woltemade challenged Cole Palmer.