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Smith anger at referee display

30 Sep 2009 - 07:50:49

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Rangers boss Walter Smith slammed referee Jonas Eriksson after the Swedish official denied his side "a clear-cut" penalty during Tuesday's 4-1 Champions League defeat at home to Sevilla.

Smith was furious after Eriksson waved play on when Steven Naismith went to ground late in the first half with the scores locked at 0-0.

"You could say it was a turning point," said Smith."Certainly when we play against teams of the level of Sevilla in the Champions League, you need a set of circumstances to go with you and tonight they didn't.

"It was a vital decision for us in the first half. I felt for an hour of the game we played well and during that period we needed that little bit of a break and we didn't get it tonight.

"From where I was sitting it was clearly a penalty. But one of the problems that all referees have just now is that they have two decisions to make, because they obviously have to send the player off.

"That makes it awkward for the referee. Tonight he opted out of what was a very clear-cut decision.

"At Champions League level, you would expect a better decision from what was a fairly clear-cut circumstance.

"Referees have to make strong decisions at this level. You can say that anyone can make an error but that was a fairly clear-cut one and he was up with play and he did see it.

"He has opted out of the decision and for a referee at this level that is disappointing."