Boab 73 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Lindsay Herron reports from Ibrox WALTER SMITH cursed his luck and the referee as Rangers crashed to their worst European home defeat in 14 years tonight, losing 4-1 to Sevilla. The manager was bamboozled by referee Jonas Eriksson's incredible decision not to award a penalty for Rangers nine minutes before half-time. It was clear that Abdoualy Konko tripped Stevie Naismith and, given it was a goal-scoring opportunity, he should have been sent off. Neither a penalty nor a red card was awarded by the referee to the astonishment and fury of Rangers. To rub salt into the wounds it was Konko who headed Sevilla into the lead in the second half as the Spaniards clinically took their chances and in the end were worthy winners. Smith said: "You can't say it was a turning point overall. However, when we play against teams of the level of Seville we need a set of circumstances to go with us and they didn't do so. "It was a vital decision for us in that first half period. I felt for an hour of the game we played well tonight and during that period we need a bit of a break and we didn't get it. "The referee had two decisions to make; one, whether it is a penalty or not which was clearly shown that it was and then the second one is that he has to send the player off. "That makes it awkward for the referee but I think tonight he opted out of what was a very clear-cut decision. "You have to say that at Champions League level you would expect a better decision from what was a clear-cut circumstance. After that I felt our best spell was in the opening moments of the second half of the game. "We had a couple of corner kicks and a couple of free kicks around the box and we pinned them back for a period. "Then from one of those a Seville player clearly headed the ball out and inside of giving a corner they gave a goal kick. "Seville then went up the pitch and one a free kick they should not have had in my opinion and from that free kick they scored a goal. "After that we had to open up play and Seville showed their quality in terms of their finishing but I was a little disappointed at our own defending, "It was a strange game because had we gone ahead we might have gone on to acquit ourselves well." http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/He...1812607,00.html I disagree, I think the Penalty decision just before half-time was the turning point. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyc06 6,927 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Aye spot on walter! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegendofCoop 17,487 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I hate blaming refs....we should be able to clear our lines after all. HOWEVER....those two instances Walter has highlighted clearly went a massive step towards taking the game away from us. Probably the worst performance I've seen from a Ref at Ibrox in a long while!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stardog 11 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Totally correct. The referee needs sacked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robblacky 0 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I hate blaming refs too, i always feel that 1 or 2 decisions shouldnt decide a game that lasts for 90 mins! But it would of been interesting to see how Sevilla would of reacted if they had to chase us if we converted the penalty! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
whytes3 254 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Lindsay Herron reports from Ibrox WALTER SMITH cursed his luck and the referee as Rangers crashed to their worst European home defeat in 14 years tonight, losing 4-1 to Sevilla. The manager was bamboozled by referee Jonas Eriksson's incredible decision not to award a penalty for Rangers nine minutes before half-time. It was clear that Abdoualy Konko tripped Stevie Naismith and, given it was a goal-scoring opportunity, he should have been sent off. Neither a penalty nor a red card was awarded by the referee to the astonishment and fury of Rangers. To rub salt into the wounds it was Konko who headed Sevilla into the lead in the second half as the Spaniards clinically took their chances and in the end were worthy winners. Smith said: "You can't say it was a turning point overall. However, when we play against teams of the level of Seville we need a set of circumstances to go with us and they didn't do so. "It was a vital decision for us in that first half period. I felt for an hour of the game we played well tonight and during that period we need a bit of a break and we didn't get it. "The referee had two decisions to make; one, whether it is a penalty or not which was clearly shown that it was and then the second one is that he has to send the player off. "That makes it awkward for the referee but I think tonight he opted out of what was a very clear-cut decision. "You have to say that at Champions League level you would expect a better decision from what was a clear-cut circumstance. After that I felt our best spell was in the opening moments of the second half of the game. "We had a couple of corner kicks and a couple of free kicks around the box and we pinned them back for a period. "Then from one of those a Seville player clearly headed the ball out and inside of giving a corner they gave a goal kick. "Seville then went up the pitch and one a free kick they should not have had in my opinion and from that free kick they scored a goal. "After that we had to open up play and Seville showed their quality in terms of their finishing but I was a little disappointed at our own defending, "It was a strange game because had we gone ahead we might have gone on to acquit ourselves well." http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/He...1812607,00.html I disagree, I think the Penalty decision just before half-time was the turning point. A refreshing, excuse free summary by Smith there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchieshearercaldow 22,242 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 It was a stone wall penalty, if we had scored it could have been a very different result, however the way we're playing at the moment it looks like penalty opportunitys are the only way were going to get goals Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johngers Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Walter, once again, hits the nail on the head. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
likeacare 9 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Can't beleive he didn't give the penalty. Terrible refereeing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedWhiteBlue1872 407 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 Good interview Walter dignified to say the least. We all know it was a fuckin shocking decision and deep down he will be absolutely furious. Weird game.... anyway chins up Sunday matters more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts