Let's blame the ref!
Last updated : 28 February 2006 By Sid Plummer
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After a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Stoke City, Millwall assistant manager Tony Burns has pointed the blame for yet another poor performance at the feet of the referee.
Many Lions fans would argue that the management duo of Burns and David Tuttle should take full responsibility for letting another game that was there to be won slip through their grasp as they failed to take advantage of yet another Sheffield Wednesday defeat elsewhere.
Tuttle took the bizarre decision to leave new signing Berry Powel on the bench - despite the fact the Dutchman has been our most dangerous striker in recent weeks - and replace him with Carl Asaba, a striker who has only just returned from injury. Asaba was woefully short of match fitness and despite a promising start, when Ben May scored his second in two games after only eight minutes, Millwall conspired to throw the game and three valuable points away.
But according to Burns, that was the fault of referee Mr. C Webster of Tyne-&-Wear, rather than the odd decisions made by Tuttle and himself.
"Personally I didn't see the referee all day," remarked Burns. "He came, did he?
"Every game we play turns on a referee's decision lately. We made a bright start, got lots of crosses in, got the goal, and then the referee had decided this is not good enough.
"I don't get too down about it, but they're pushing me to my limit at the moment."
Burns then stated that he felt Millwall could have been three goals to the good by half-time but for the ref's penalty decision then hinted that The Lions probably didn't deserve to get anything out of the game
"We could've (blamed the decision) if we'd played better in the second half, but as it was, I think we let the club down with the way we played in the second half," he said.
"Let's hope it doesn't happen again.
"When you're in this position, the slightest thing gets players down. It's mine and David's job to get them up again but we've not managed that today."