Cardiff City players remonstrate with referee Tim Robinson after he disallowed a Junior Hoilett goal
Referee Tim Robinson (second from right) is surrounded by Cardiff players after ruling out a late equaliser against QPR
Cardiff manager Neil Warnock believes his side were denied a perfectly good equaliser as they slipped to a fourth successive Championship defeat.
Junior Hoilett thought he had rescued a draw for Cardiff against Queens Park Rangers, but he was ruled offside.
The Bluebirds felt a defender had played the ball to Hoilett and the goal should have stood.
“It’s hard enough for us to score goals without having officials chalk them off wrongly,” Warnock said.
Cardiff moved up a place to fourth on goal difference despite the 2-1 defeat, but are counting the cost of dropping 12 points over Christmas and the New Year.
It also left Warnock unhappy with referee Tim Robinson who ruled out Hoilett’s effort after consulting with his assistant.
“The referee is in a good position… he thinks the ball was deflected and clearly it’s [QPR midfielder Josh] Scowen who has played the ball – so he [Hoilett] can’t be offside,” said Warnock.
“It’s very deflating and I thought he missed a penalty in the first 14 minutes.”
It is the second time over the holiday period that Warnock has criticised officials following his claim that Bolton were wrongly awarded a penalty in the 2-0 win over the Bluebirds on 23 December.
“Sol Bamba is jumping up his back to the ball and it’s hit his hand and Bolton get a penalty … it’s scandalous. I’ve never known it as poor, the officials, at the moment,” he added.
Warnock hopes to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window, but does not believe any new players will arrive before the FA Cup third round match with Mansfield on 6 January.
“We’ve got a good group of lads, a little bit limited, but hopefully we can get one or two in and get one or two lads back for the Sunderland game (13 January) and we go again and try and get over the disappointment and hope some of the dodgy decisions go for us,” he added.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/42539243
