Angry Jol spots an injustice for Spurs

14 April 2012

Newcastle 1 Tottenham 0

Like a fledgling comedian, Martin Jol is finding life tough on the northern club circuit. Hostile crowds and comperes unwilling to risk their wrath are in danger of taking the shine off a sparkling debut season. It was certainly no laughing matter for the Spurs head coach at St James' Park yesterday as his side lost their FA Cup quarter-final with Newcastle in controversial circumstances.

Referee Rob Styles twice failed to award penalties when the ball appeared to hit Lee Bowyer's hand, while he also ruled out Robbie Keane's 85th-minute strike for a dubious foul by Anthony Gardner.

It is, however, not the first time Jol's team have fallen foul of blundering officials on the wrong side of the Watford Gap this season.

Indeed, the pattern, which also includes Pedro Mendes's "goal that never was" at Manchester United and a hotly-disputed penalty in the 3-1 defeat at Bolton, could seriously undermine the club's chances of European football next year.

Widely praised for his magnanimous reaction to the Old Trafford debacle, Jol's irritation was clearly starting to show after his side's latest hard-luck story.

The Dutchman said: "Of course we are frustrated and it is always to dangerous to give your opinions straight after a match. It was all about decision-making. Two penalty decisions he had to make and he had to make another decision concerning Anthony Gardner.

"I have said it before, you win some, you lose some, but I don't think we could win anything with the man in black. If it was a home match then the decisions go your way more, but if you want to be a good referee then you have to make the [correct] decisions. It is a big disappointment."

Jol's players were even more forthright, with captain Ledley King drawing comparisons with last month's Bolton defeat which also saw Fredi Kanoute sent off.

He said: "The lads came in and said it was a clear handball [the second Bowyer incident] and the referee was in a good position to see it.

"If it did hit his hand, you wonder why it wasn't given. We had Erik Edman penalised for a handball at Bolton which was ridiculous, it would be nice if we got a bit of luck ourselves."

For midfielder Michael Brown, Styles's performance ensured Spurs went unrewarded for a game they dominated for long periods.

He said: "We didn't think decisions went our way, there were a few things.

"The one that hit Lee Bowyer in injury time was definitely handball. The ref was stood there. I think Lee would be the first to admit that it popped up and hit his hand.

"We thought it was a certain penalty. Also Anthony didn't think he fouled anyone. He said straight away, 'I don't know what it's for'. We are gutted, we thought we did enough to get something out of the game. We can't believe we didn't at least get them back to our place."

The omens looked bad for Spurs from the start. After just five minutes, Alan Shearer won a challenge with King before self lessly setting up Patrick Kluivert to put Newcastle ahead.

After that the home side were rampant, with Kieron Dyer repeatedly embarrassing Thimothee Atouba on Spurs' left-hand side.

Kluivert had the ball in the net again in the 10th minute only for an offside flag against a retreating Newcastle player to come to Spurs' rescue. But from the quarter-ofanhour mark onwards, the momentum shifted as Graeme Souness' side began to suffer from the exertions of their UEFA Cup victory against Olympiakos in Athens last Thursday.

With Kanoute at the fore, Spurs gained the upper hand. They were further boosted by a groin injury to Titus Bramble which led to the defender being substituted shortly before half-time.

His replacement, Jermaine Jenas, looked hopelessly out of position at left-back, and Jol decided to play on this weakness by switching Kanoute to the right.

The Mali international set up a glorious chance for substitute Keane in the 68th minute only for goalkeeper Shay Given to produce fine saves, first from the Irishman's snapshot and then from Jermain Defoe's follow-up volley.

As Newcastle began to wilt, the Spurs bombardment became more concerted.

The first Bowyer handball claim came when he appeared to fall on the ball when stumbling to make a clearance in the 84th minute, while the second incident occurred in the dying seconds following Kanoute's knockdown.

In between, Keane's close-range strike was ruled out for an alleged foul on Shola Ameobi by Gardner. It meant Given's clean sheet remained intact, but even Souness admitted Spurs were unfortunate to be out of the Cup.