Martin Atkinson has apologised to Harry Redknapp for the phantom goal that virtually ended Tottenham’s FA Cup hopes against Chelsea.
Trailing to a wonder strike from Didier Drogba Spurs fell further behind shortly after the restart when Atkinson judged a shot from Juan Mata to have crossed the line.
The referee appeared to be the only person in the stadium that saw the ball cross the line with television evidence proving clearly that Atkinson had got it wrong.
In contrast to Scottish referees that rarely admit to making a mistake Redknapp got an apology of sorts out of Atkinson although it was of little value as Spurs crashed out of the competition.
“I spoke to him (Atkinson), he says he feels worse than I do,” the Spurs boss admitted. “I said, ’I don’t think so’, but he says he feels bad. He knows he’s made a mistake and he says he’ll have a bad week as well.”
Asked if he felt that the ref had guessed at the decision Redknapp added: “He must have. He can’t have been sure. He’s just made a mistake, unfortunately. It was nowhere near a goal. It was an honest mistake but nowhere near over the line.
“He’s not done it on purpose. I don’t see how he can give the goal. It’s not as if it’s gone in and someone’s kicked it away, it’s so quick. There were bodies on the line and the ball couldn’t possibly get over.”
Following yesterday’s incidents at Hampden former referees Sturat Dougal and Kenny Clark are expected to come out in praise of the brave decision of Euan Norris to award Hearts a highly debateable penalty against Celtic.
Rangers v CELTIC Glasgow Cup Final, kick off 7pm, Ibrox April 16
CLICK HERE for spot-kick Norris strikes again
CLICK HERE for Lennon, Ledley and Thompson hit out at decisions
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Glasgow Rangers have successfully come out of administration today having been bought by a Middle Eastern Oil Company.
The new owners plan to tap into Glasgow’s under exploited Muslim community and is planning a radical shake up of the club, this includes realigning the Ibrox stadium, so that the Govan Stand faces Mecca, Minarets’ to placed on all floodlight towers and the Rangers manager’s name being changed to Ali McCoist.
Fans will also notice new initiatives including the replacing of Directors and fans singing of the ‘Sash’ with a new Rangers themed call to prayers, whilst in the clubs souvenir shop stocking new Royal Blue Hijabs as well as Burka’s featuring ‘Bocanegra 18?.
A spokesman at bitter rivals Celtic said ‘Of course we are delighted that the Old Firm games will continue on into the future and we think the new owners will help diffuse historic sectarian tensions. Now we just need to find out if they are Catholic Muslims or Protestant Muslims’
If the referee deemed Ledley or indeed Wanyama guilty of deliberate handball…why was neither player booked for the “offence” ????
Will we see a similar public apology….more chance of Rangers winning the CL in the next 100 years
Now Dallas is having a go at Lennon it still hurts he says take a leaf out of Harry why d;nt his refs say that they maked mistakes instead of ganging up, yes I said his refs because he runs them even though he;s not with them everbody knows anyway well done Euan Norris another Lanarkshire ref
Excuse me Mr Dallas but Stuart McCall did excactly the same thing a few weeks ago ,don,t remember you making comment then or do you just comment when it is Neil Lennon, and coming from someone who finds it funny to send abusive and insulting e mails i really don,t think your opinion matters
It is interesting to see the reaction to both refereeing decisions at the semi-finals from England and Scotland. Atkinson admits to a huge mistake and this mistake is recognised by all as the turning point of the match. Despite Chelsea going on to win 5-1.
Ex-referee Graham Poll argues for goal-line technology but says Atkinson’s decision was ‘unacceptable’ and he should never have given a goal if he was not 100% sure. Players and commentators are saying that such decisions are ‘killing the game’. And Chelsea went on to win 5-1!
Now turn to Scotland. No comment from the referee and, oh! what a surprise, the focus is on…Neil Lennon. Ex-referee’s supremo and disgraced Celtic hating bigot Hugh Dallas does not comment on the decision but on Neil Lennon’s reaction to the decision and says this is detrimental to the game. No comment from the SFA, despite this hardly being the first time that this sort of decision has gone against Celtic. In fact their are about 20 examples of ‘honest mistakes’ in the past two seasons alone.
Decisions go against clubs but not with the regularity they happen to one club in Scotland. The big debate in England is that big decisions always go the way of big clubs. Someone should have a look at what is happening in the poisonous little cesspit that is Scotland.
Another thing which confuses me is that Celtic supporters feel that Celtic should always have to score an extra three goals as these decisions will always go against us! BUT THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY. Jock Stein said this in the 60s. My grandfather told me this is the 1970s. You would think things would have changed over the decades. The rest of the world has.
Celtic do not deserve to be knocked out of a cup competition because the referee is determined to give a penalty to the opposition regardless if he seen the incident or not. Missing three sitters is neither here nor there, the rules are what matters. But the rules are easy to re-write, as the SPL are doing as we speak.
If he did not see it he cannot give it. Just how fast did he give the penalty anyway? Will he make a comment like Atkinson? No, it is the Scottish way! Shut it Timmy, know your place or go back to your own country where you belong.
I hope Neil Lennon continues to rant and rave and go onto the park to ask why these decisions are made with monotonous regularity. Keep doing this make them explain, expose their corruption.
Hugh Dallas said he has never, in 25 years, seen a manager march onto the pitch to confront a referee. This man must not watch football at all. If he means in Scotland only, well I can think of one instance in the past 8 weeks when a manager has done this. Pressley against Celtic at Hampden.
As usual Hugh is lying and does so to attempt to make an employee of Celtic look bad. But I suppose Dallas didn’t see this incident. Just like his proteges didn’t see two penalties that they immediately awarded against Celtic in recent big games.
I assume therefore that Mr Dallas finds the referee’s inept display to be acceptable to the worldwide audience.
I wonder what will cause most damage to our reputation a manager who confronts an official (Clearly he hasn’t watched any Baseball games) or an Official who doesn’t know / apply the rules properly.
I’d certainly not want to be associated with the abysmal standard of refereeing in this Country.