Kevin Nolan labelled the officiating “absolutely ridiculous” after our 4-0 win, directing his anger at the referee rather than his own side’s performance.
While the Imps delivered a dominant display at Sincil Bank, the Northampton Town boss focused heavily on two decisions that he felt went against his team.
Lincoln were already two goals ahead through Ryan Oné and Jack Moylan when the major flashpoint arrived just before the hour. Jack Vale was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Ben House, a moment that Nolan believes killed any realistic chance of a comeback.
Although he admitted his side were second best on the night, his frustration was clear, especially over the first goal.
“The first one is possibly offside and there’s also a certain push in the back of our player. It might be soft but nine times out of 10 it gets given but obviously the referee didn’t want to give it.”
In fairness, both of those assumptions are wrong. My readers know I am balanced when it comes to officials, and having watched the goal back, there is no foul in the build-up, and the ‘push’ is for far less than his players were doing all night (as were ours). It’s not offside, and even as fans the best thing to do is watch a replay before you speak, so you don’t make yourself look a bit silly. For a manager, I’d say it is a fundamental.
Nolan then turned his attention to the red card shown to Vale, describing the decision in uncompromising terms.
“The referee was poor throughout the night and I thought she was well out of her depth if I’m honest. The red card is absolutely ridiculous. We will appeal it but they won’t overturn it, I know they won’t, and now I’m going to lose my striker for three games.”
He perhaps is overplaying the impact of losing his striker, a player with five league starts all season. As for the foul, I’ll say it was 50/50 whether it gets given. He’s high, he’s over the ball, but there is an argument for a booking. Sadly (for Vale) there is also an argument for a red. We were already 2-0 up, it didn’t feel like a huge turning point, but Nolan insisted the timing and nature of the decision made it pivotal.
“It’s a really, really poor decision at a critical time in the game. Nobody else would give it. The referee has gone off their shouts and screams. Nothing else. Everybody knows it. To send him off for that is incredible.”
He also suggested House exaggerated the incident, dropping a word I’m not 100% sure I like, claiming our number 18 is a cheat. He also suggested Vale had made legitimate contact with the ball, something else I’m not sure about, especially the ‘taking a shot’ bit.
“He actually takes a shot and he gets the ball and their lad does what you would call ‘good cheating’. He’s probably not expecting a red card but they’ve all got in the referee’s face. Jack’s not that type of player and he’s just getting himself into a run of games and now he’s out for three games.”
Despite the complaints, the result stands. Lincoln punished ten-man Northampton with two further goals to complete a 4-0 victory, while Nolan’s post-match message centred firmly on the officiating decisions that, in his view, shaped the evening.
I strongly suspect the former Bolton boss will feel a bit silly when he watches the decisions back this morning and realises his assessments probably focus on the wrong moments.
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