Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper blasted Jeremy Simpson and told the referee he should be dropped to the conference after his team were held to a 1-1 home draw by Blackburn Rovers.
Simpson sent off Swansea midfielder Tom Carroll and Blackburn’s Bradley Dack and failed to award the Liberty Stadium outfit a second-half penalty for what Cooper saw as a handball by Dack.
In the first half Andre Ayew cancelled out an opener from former Swan and now Blackburn striker Danny Graham as both teams ended the game with 10 men.
But it was the decisions of West Lancashire official Simpson which infuriated Cooper, while his opposite number Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray described him as “embarrassing.”
“I’ve seen the penalty decision back for handball and it’s just a massive error from the referee,” Cooper said. “Because he knows he made the error he’s then made the poor red card decisions and he’s lost his composure really. I didn’t think either was a red card because I’ve looked at them back.
“He’s made four major decisions and he’s got them fundamentally wrong. I’m only being honest. I am criticising him, but I’m saying it as I thought at the time and I’ve seen the decisions back.
“I’ve been to see him as well. He knew the ball hit his (Dack’s) hand so he said that but his hand isn’t next to him, it’s out. I get it if there are loads of players around him, but it’s travelled 15 yards before it has hit his hand. He is going to be embarrassed when he sees it back on TV.
“He’ll probably be refereeing in the conference now.”
Cooper confirmed he thought Simpson had got the two second-half yellow cards for Carroll and Dack wrong. He also felt his team should have had penalties for the Dack handball and when striker Sam Surridge was felled by Rovers defender Ryan Nyambe as Swansea pushed for a winner late on.
“Anywhere else on the pitch, it’s a penalty,” Cooper said of the Surridge incident as he continued attacking Simpson. “I think he lost composure because he knew he’d made some big errors. He was nervous. I was very respectable afterwards because I knew he was uncomfortable with his night.
“He’s a professional and I want him to progress, but we have to be honest and unfortunately he’s going to get marked down.”
Both Fulham and Leeds fans have started petitions to have Simpson banned from refereeing in the Championship after their teams fell victim to poor decisions from a man who has 26 years experience of being an official. Dack was sent off for an over-the-top foul on Matt Grimes.
“I’ve watched Dack’s sending off for a second yellow card. It’s embarrassing really,” said Mowbray.
“I thought at the time he had stepped over the top of the ball and put his foot down on the boy’s foot, but no, he sticks his backside into the lad and the lad goes over. It’s embarrassing.
“It would be so out of character for Dack to do anything like that. He’s got no malice in him whatsoever. It’s wrong to say, but it felt like he (Simpson) was evening things up.
“Maybe he thought he didn’t get the first sending off right. He’s only a human being and maybe he wanted to even it up a bit, I’m not sure.”
Swansea’s draw with Blackburn means they are now winless in seven matches and remain in 11th place, level on points with bitter rivals Cardiff.
