Neves fumes at referee over Schar tackle
RUBEN NEVES took a furious swipe at referee Peter Bankes after Newcastle’s Fabian Schar ‘almost broke the leg’ of Pedro Neto.
Neves — who scored Wolves’ opening goal before a stunner in the 90th minute from Allan Saint-Maximin salvaged a draw for Newcastle — returned to the dressing room for a second look at the tackle before launching a stinging attack on Bankes.
The incident occurred two minutes into the second half when Schar was very late and caught the shin of Neto.
But after a VAR check, which caused a four-minute delay, Bankes was told to stick with his original yellow card without a second look at the pitchside monitor, much to the astonishment of Wolves captain Neves. ‘Everyone saw it — I truly can’t believe it,’ Neves said. ‘I saw the images already when I went to the dressing room because Neto’s leg was scratched from leg to ankle. He was really lucky to be fit after that challenge.
‘Like I said to the referee, how can he not go to the screen and watch the images, because he almost broke the leg? ‘I spoke to Schar as well, he said it was not on purpose. Of course it was not, but when it is so dangerous, someone needs to see it.’ Meanwhile, Wolves boss Bruno Lage revealed defender Willy Boly chose to boycott the match, despite being selected for the squad, in a bid to force a move away.
Wolves last week rejected a bid from Nottingham Forest for the 31-year-old. But Lage made it plain that Boly, who was on the substitutes’ bench for the club’s opening three Premier League games, has no interest in staying with four days remaining in the transfer window.
‘He’s been a great professional but he’s trying to force something,’ Lage said.
‘Boly was on the squad list but he didn’t come. I have a good relationship with him and he has a proposal in his hands and wants to go.
‘He is being a top professional but I said, “Look, I understand you want to move but understand I need a top player like you on the bench”. After that Boly took his own decision.’