Paper Talk: Seeing red

Last updated : 23 February 2004 By Paul Farrington
The striker was sent off in the 75th minute of Saturday's 1-1 draw for allegedly kicking out at full-back John Halls.

And if the dismissal does stand, he'll have to sit out the games against Crewe, Bradford, and former club West Brom who sold him for £1.4m last month.

Latics manager Paul Jewell was today watching the video of the incident after not getting the clearest of views when it initially happened.

"Jason just said he didn't do it," said the boss.

"We'll look at the video, and if he has done it, he's been silly at best.
"We've had a couple of dealings with this referee this season, and the less said about him, the better."

The sending-off was a major talking point of an action-packed game at the Britannia Stadium, but it was a foul on Gary Teale, which left him nursing a serious shoulder injury, which Jewell was more concerned about.

Teale was chopped down by Clive Clarke as he broke down the wing in the final few minutes of the first-half.

He landed awkwardly on his shoulder and it is thought the joint briefly dislocated.

But while referee Phil Prosser awarded a free-kick, he wasn't certain which Stoke player was involved and Clarke went unpunished.

Reflecting on the two major decisions, Jewell said: "With the sending off, I didn't see it, I honestly didn't.

"I had the Arsene Wenger view but it would be out of character for Jason.
"While I didn't see that, the referee didn't see who damaged Gary Teale's shoulder and collarbone.

"It was a bad tackle from their lad to stop a great situation for us.

"But the ref didn't even know who it was, he went over to the linesman who didn't know either, and that is what we're up against."

Latics needed an 84th-minute equaliser from Nathan Ellington to take a point from the game, Ade Akinbiyi having given Stoke the lead on the stroke of half-time.

But Jewell couldn't praise his players enough, claiming their display had merited much more.

"Our performance was outstanding, the passing and movement excellent, and the only thing missing was a goal until the Duke scored.

"I expect Tony Pulis can't believe how he got a point out of the game. We came here and played some great stuff on a lovely pitch.

"I thought we out-muscled Stoke and made them make mistakes, we were tremendous.

"Even if we had lost the game 1-0, I couldn't have asked any more from the players.

"I can't speak highly enough of the players and I was proud to be their manager.

"You know me, I don't often go over the top with praise for them, but they gave everything they had got.

"For us not to have got anything out of the game would have been a travesty of justice. Towards the end I started thinking it wasn't going to be our day.

"We had created numerous chances, had one chalked off for offside, hit the bar, while their keeper made some good saves.

"But the players made sure we were going to get something out of the game and this was a big result for us.

"This result and the manner it was arrived at should stand us in a good stead.

"We are going to need plenty more performances like that."

Source : Wigan Evening Post.