We’ll Roo poor ref decisions
WAYNE FUMES AS RAMS DENIED TWO MORE PENS
WAYNE ROONEY slammed the standard of referees after Derby missed out on another two precious points.
Tom Lawrence’s 66thminute penalty for a foul on him by Ben Sheaf gained Derby a point on fellow relegation rivals Barnsley – but Reading are starting to pull away.
Raging boss Rooney (right, confronting the officials) reckons his Rams would be much better off if the refs were better.
And referring to an email exchange with the PGMOL, the group overseeing refereeing standards, he said: “The referee had to give us one penalty out of the three we should have had. After the game I told the referee it wasn’t good enough.
“The referee might walk off the pitch and think, ‘I’ve done a good job. I’ve given a penalty’. But actually there were two clear penalties that he missed.
“We got emails back on Friday and apparently Festy Ebosele is too big and strong to go down in the Cardiff match.
“There was contact on Ebosele, but he was a strong lad he shouldn’t have gone down, they say.
“Curtis Davies got thrown to the floor in that game and they scored. He’s a strong lad and he should be able to handle himself we were told. That’s not good enough. How long ago was the Cardiff game and we were waiting for a reply?
“It doesn’t change the result does it?”
Cardiff won that game with Uche Ikpeazu’s goal following the Davies incident, but for a club that’s gone bust and players seem to be sold off or given away each week, Rooney is putting up a great fight.
If he is going to make
Derby safe despite a 21point deduction, it is likely to be at home because they can’t win a raffle away.
Eight of the 11 Derby players yesterday are out of contract in the summer, leaving Rooney with no team if a club buyer is not found. But the Rams are still fighting.
They had to come back from a terrific 28th-minute Coventry goal to save this one and set themselves up for another home game against Preston.
Callum O’hare and Matty Godden cut open Derby’s midfield and defence, O’hare’s header set Godden free and he a hit a terrific shot into the corner.
The Sky Blues are struggling themselves through Covid and injuries, but their patched-up defence held out until ref Darren Bond gave the pen and captain Lawrence calmly equalised.
Boss Mark Robins said: “Wayne, with all Derby’s problems, is doing amazingly.
“For us, our squad is getting really stretched and this was a good point.”
DERBY COUNTY: Allsop 7; Byrne 7, Davis 6, Cashin 7 (Ebosele 60, 6), Buchanan 6; Bielik 6, Thompson 6 (Plange 45, 5); Ebiowei 7, Bird 6, Lawrence 7; Morrison 6 (Sibley 78).
Subs not used: Roos, Forsyth, Stearman Knight.
COVENTRY CITY: Moore 7; Hyam 6, Sheaf 6, Clarke-salter 4 (Maatsen 13, 6); Dabo 6, Allen 6, Hamer 6, Bidwell 6; O’hare 7 (Waghorn 70, 5); Godden 8, Shipley 6 (Gyokeres 63, 5)
Subs not used: Wilson, Reid, Tavares, Howley.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Matty Godden. O’hare deserves half the award for setting up goal Godden brilliantly finished off.
REFEREE: Darren Bond 6.