Stunned!!!

I watched the highlights on Quest last night. I can understand referees missing things, the HRK handball for instance. I can even understand that in today's football how he interpreted Ferguson's attempted tackle as a sending off, though I felt it harsh. What I can't grasp is how anyone could give a penalty like the one he did. I won't describe what happened as I'm sure everyone has seen it. What I will say is I can't grasp how anyone could be under the impression that a foul was committed. Even Bowyer called it "soft". A Sunday league ref making his debut wouldn't have given it. The reporter on Sky Sports News was stunned by it as well.
There was another bizarre occurrence: Bilic sending Brunt on for his seasonal debut for the last few minutes( although only 3 on the clock it turned out to be ten) whilst leaving Townsend on the bench.

It’s one of the worst penalty decisions I’ve seen since the one against Stephen Reid at Chelsea when we were seconds away from breaking mourinio’s lengthy home record.

From where I sit in the East Stand I couldn't judge if it was a penalty or not but when I saw it on TV I was absolutely amazed. How could a referee make such a dreadful decision in the 94th minute of a game. I know that it shouldn't matter what minute the incident happens, the decision should be the same, but at such a late stage you need to be 100% sure. The red card for Ferguson was correct but he then proceeded to send the wrong player off. It was a poor performance by the referee all round culminating in the diabolical penalty decision which cost us two points.

Sit in the East Stand also level with where the incident happened and we were all looking at each other wondering what he had given the penalty for.
Thought there might have been a handball that we had missed or something.

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Originally Posted by baggielad

Sit in the East Stand also level with where the incident happened and we were all looking at each other wondering what he had given the penalty for.
Thought there might have been a handball that we had missed or something.

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Where I sit is opposite the penalty spot at the Brummie End so you obviously had a better view than me.

Haven't seen the highlights yet but my initial impression at the game was the red seemed harsh. Based on that decision I wouldn't have lasted five minutes without a red when I played. The decision to send Diangana off in the first instance was farcical beyond belief. From where I was stood the penalty award was nothing short of shambolic. Then again the referee couldn't spot the difference between Diangana and Ferguson so who knows? And people wonder why referees come in for stick.

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Originally Posted by Albionic68

Haven't seen the highlights yet but my initial impression at the game was the red seemed harsh. Based on that decision I wouldn't have lasted five minutes without a red when I played. The decision to send Diangana off in the first instance was farcical beyond belief. From where I was stood the penalty award was nothing short of shambolic. Then again the referee couldn't spot the difference between Diangana and Ferguson so who knows? And people wonder why referees come in for stick.

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The ref should be suspended (indefinetely 😈).

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Originally Posted by Albionic68

Haven't seen the highlights yet but my initial impression at the game was the red seemed harsh. Based on that decision I wouldn't have lasted five minutes without a red when I played. The decision to send Diangana off in the first instance was farcical beyond belief. From where I was stood the penalty award was nothing short of shambolic. Then again the referee couldn't spot the difference between Diangana and Ferguson so who knows? And people wonder why referees come in for stick.

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I've seen the highlights now. While I can understand why the red was given I still feel it was harsh. It was (in my opinion) a strong but fair challenge. The smirk on the ref's face when he eventually got around to sending the 'right' player off tells me all I need to know about what a smugly arrogant w@nker he is too. Very slimy looking and rather smee. The kind of face not even a mother could love and would probably rather slap. While I wouldn't condone such an action of course, if he were bullied as a child I could understand why. As for the penalty if any decision needed to be made it should have been a free kick to us. Their player clearly jumped into Ajayi and even caught him across the temple with his elbow. Matt Donohue (Donowho?) is the living embodiment of general ineptitude. Dicksplash.