Martin O’Neill in ‘apoplectic’ verdict on talkSPORT after what he saw in Everton defeat to Liverpool
Martin O’Neill admitted he would have been “apoplectic” if he was Everton boss Sean Dyche after Ibrahima Konate was not sent off for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.
Konate had already been cautioned for pulling Amadou Onana to the ground early in the second half but referee Craig Pawson baffingly opted not to get his cards out again when he did a similar challenge on Beto 15 minutes later.
Dyche was left fuming having already had Ashley Young sent off and former Celtic and Aston Villa boss O’Neill conceded he too would have been left furious.
Speaking on talkSPORT (23 October), O’Neill said: “If the referee has sent off Ashley Young for the two bookable offences then Konate’s got to go, he’s got to go it’s really as simple as that and I don’t understand what the referee was thinking about really at the time and I’m quite sure now in retrospect that the referee must think ‘well why did I think that this wasn’t a bookable offence?’
“Getting back to Sean Dyche, yeah I would have been apoplectic on the touchline. It’s a momentum mover in that sense, you know Sean Dyche cleared it (up) by saying game-changing and then he changed his mind and I understand that there, who knows but it should have been levelled up, they should have 10 men each.”
Ridiculous
Dyche is not the only one who was “apoplectic”, Toffees fans in the stadiums, watching in the pubs, or watching at home were left absolutely furious and understandably so after an abysmal decision.
Even now, two days later, it is impossible to know why Pawson failed to send Konate off and the official will be disappointed not to have made the right decision, it was such a clear foul.
Whether Everton – who went on to lose 2-0 – would have avoided defeat, no one can really know. But all you want in these huge games is a bit of fairness, a bit of consistency. Young had gone, rightly so, but to not even it up and send Konate for an early bath is a head-scratcher.
It seems to be a pretty regular pattern this term that referees are making high-profile mistakes, they have an extremely tough job no one is denying that, but some decisions are more ridiculous than others and this fits firmly in that category.
In other Everton news, Alan Shearer branded Ashley Young ‘stupid’ for his sending off.