Scott Lindsey revealed that he nearly took his Crawley Town side off of the pitch as a result of poor refereeing decisions in their draw with Swindon Town.
The Red Devils played out a 2-2 draw at Broadfield with the League Two promotion chasers, with Kellan Gordon salvaging a point in the 90th minute after the Robins took a late lead.
Lindsey Incandescent With Decision
Speaking after the match at the weekend, Crawley boss Scott Lindsey was outraged with the referee’s decision to award Swindon a second-half penalty, which was subsequently converted by top scorer Aaron Drinan.
Filozofe Tabole and Scott Malone contested a Robins corner at the back post, with minimal contact, seeing the former fall to the floor and being handed a penalty by Simon Mather, which gave Ian Holloway’s side a leveller in the contest.
When discussing the decision to the media, Lindsey said: (Quotes via Swindon Advertiser):
“It is really difficult for me to describe how I feel at the moment, because I am so angry at what I have just seen, and it is going to be really hard for me to do this interview without getting into trouble.
“[The penalty] is the worst decision that I have ever seen in football. I have to think about whether I go in [and speak to the referee] or not. My analyst is printing off a list of things for me to talk about.
“I don’t know whether or not I will do it, as two things will happen, either I will say something I shouldn’t say and get in trouble again and miss a game, which I can’t afford to do, or it is a waste of time.
“It was so bad, and it is actually dangerous. It got to the point where I was actually thinking in my head about dragging the players off, because it was actually getting dangerous out there, and it is not right.
“[But you would get in trouble for that]. Of course I would, you just have to stand there and take it, but it is not right.”
Is It An Overreaction?
With Crawley dropping some points in their hopes to avoid back-to-back relegations, the pressure is certainly on to try and keep the Red Devils clear of the bottom two for Scott Lindsey.
The former MK Dons boss has focused on a few key flashpoints in the second half during his other post-match interviews, mentioning an elbow to Kellan Gordon as well as being sent into the side hoardings.
However, as seen in recent months following the AFCON final debacle, bringing your side off of the pitch would have made the match a farce, and certainly be an embarrassing way to tackle their perception of refereeing decisions.
Those calls made by the referee will have to be looked into further, with Lindsey certainly having some form of a case with how dubious the given penalty for Swindon was.
