Hard done by? Kenny Dalglish says Liverpool have been
hurt by refs' decisions
Kenny Dalglish appears to have called into
question the integrity of match officials following what he calls
'inexcusable' decisions in Liverpool's last three
games.
The Reds manager, under fire following a slump in his
side's league form that has seen their Champions League challenge
wither, could now face an FA charge over his comments.
Dalglish even called on match officials to explain their
decisions to managers to avoid talk of a 'conspiracy' against his
side.
The Scot was particularly upset by referee Michael
Oliver's refusal to award Dirk Kuyt a penalty in Saturday's 1-1
draw at home to Aston Villa, maintaining that Oliver told Kuyt he
was 'unlucky'.
He was irate at two decisions that went against Luis
Suarez - the first, a booking for diving against Villa; the second,
a disallowed goal against Wigan for handball.
Dalglish also took issue with the decision not to award
Liverpool a penalty for Danny Simpson's handball on the line at
Newcastle.
He said: 'The last three games there are blatant decisions
that have gone against us that are, frankly, inexcusable, and I'd
say unexplainable as well.
'I won't raise it with the Referees' Association, I've
raised it now, and it's up to them. I think it really should be
their concern. I've raised it, and it's up to them now to look at
it.
Seeing Red: Luis Suarez (left) confronts referee
Michael Oliver (right) at Anfield on Saturday
'To not get a penalty because an opponent is
unlucky, surely that's not my concern, but the concern of the
Referees' Association because they have got to look at something
like that.
'I am stating a fact. If they have something like that, a
decision that isn't given that is so blatantly wrong – as we have
felt in our last three games – then surely it is their problem, not
mine.'
Dalglish added: 'I know where we are coming from. I know
we have integrity, I know we have integrity in bucketloads, but I
can't speak for other people and whether they have
integrity.
'What we have to do now, is ensure this football club
maintains its integrity, that the players keep their integrity, and
hope that people elsewhere have some integrity too.
'They [referees] have to look at themselves and ensure
they are seen to have integrity.'
Dalglish added that he thought those in charge of games
should apologise out of respect when they got things wrong - or
face accusations of conspiracy.
He said: 'It would be helpful and more transparent if they
told us, if they explained the decisions to us, or even just held
their hands up and say, "sorry I got that wrong", and we can see
they have integrity.
'But they never say anything. We don't get everything
right, do we? So it is understandable they don't either. But a wee
bit of respect towards us would help the situation
immensely.
'Otherwise, people might think there is a
conspiracy.
'We can't believe that, we can't let it affect us, and
take it into the games coming up, because that would damage us. We
have to keep going, and ensure it doesn't affect the
players.
'If there is something, then somebody needs to tell us,
and if there isn't anything, they need to explain it to us a bit
better. We just need to keep going, we can't let it get to that,
where we think it's a [conspiracy].'
