Ipswich Town manager Paul Lambert slammed referee Alan Young following tonight’s goalless home draw with Wycombe Wanderers.
Young failed to award the Blues a penalty for a clear handball by Joe Jacobson early on, then head-scratchingly disallowed a Luke Chambers headed finish just before the break following a long delay and conversation with his linesman Aaron Farmer.
In a game in which he dished out 11 yellow cards, Young awarded Wycombe an 87th minute spot-kick from which, thankfully, Tomas Holy produced a wonderful save to deny Jacobson.
"(Luke) Garbutt has put the ball in, Luke (Chambers) has got across the front post, got a header, it hits the Wycombe guy and goes in. How is (Kayden) Jackson offside?" fumed Lambert.
"And how can you turn around and say the comms weren't working? What's your flag for then?
"They're saying it's offside. How can he be offside? Even if he's in an offside position, their guy heads it in the net.
"And why does the ball travel 50 yards to the halfway line before he flags it up? We're ready to kick off again. Incredible.
"It's an own goal. And the tug for their penalty is outside the box. And there was a handball in our box when (Jon) Nolan had a shot.
"Listen, everybody can have a bad game, I get that, but dear oh dear. This is a big football club to referee. If you want to referee this big football then you've got to have a bit of pedigree behind you.
"In big moments you have to get these decisions right. It's not Mickey Mouse football we're playing. It's big time. This is wrong, it's totally wrong.
"If that penalty had gone in that would have been an absolute travesty. Thankfully our goalie pulls off a brilliant save."
He added: "I'll probably phone Mike Jones tomorrow, the head of refereeing. I don't normally do things like that, but that wasn't acceptable.
"I think it's difficult to be a referee. It's a difficult gig they've got. All you're asking is for them to understand the game and make big calls at the right moments when there's a massive crowd.
"We're expecting a bit better than that."
Asked if his he felt his side, who remain five points behind the table-topping Chairboys with two games in hand, deserved to win the game, Lambert replied: "Yeah, absolutely. First half I thought we were absolutely brilliant.
"If we get the goal then Wycombe have to come out and give us a game. The whole picture changes.
"If teams want to come here and play that sort of football, sit in, sit in, that's their prerogative.
"But our effort, the drive, the atmosphere, it was fantastic."
With Town having claimed two points from two home games in four days, this match coming off the back of Saturday's 2-2 home draw with Blackpool, Lambert said: "We've only been beaten twice in the league. We're still where we are and we're only halfway. Nothing gets handed out in November. We're a hell of a good side. Let's see what happens in May."
Meanwhile, Lambert revealed Flynn Downes missed this game with a virus and that Kane Vincent-Young is going to be out for 'months'.
"Kane is going to be out for a right long time," he said. "I've just found out myself, but he's going to be out for a while.
"It's a different injury to what he had. It came from the Southend game. It's up in the abductor area.
"That's going to be a bit of a blow. It will be a few months I think.
"It's a blow but (Janoi) Donacien has gone in and been excellent for us. We just have to get on with it."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here