Refereeing decisions bother Millwall boss Gary Rowett

Posted Friday, April 07, 2023 by PA

Millwall manager Gary Rowett questioned some of the decisions of Championship officials after his side were denied a late penalty in a 0-0 draw with play-off rivals Luton.

Defender Jake Cooper was wrestled to the ground in the final minute at The Den but ref Darren England saw nothing doing, leaving Rowett and a vociferous home crowd seething.

It was a game of few chances and one which failed to live up to its billing but it could have been so different according to Rowett.

“Coops gets held round the waist and dragged to ground and they let that play on,” said Rowett, after his side dropped points for the third game in succession.

“At some point someone has to be braver because Coops has had that all season.

“It’s been quite embarrassing how many shouts we’ve had and we haven’t had one go our way. Out of about 30 incidents we’ve had one.”

The afternoon’s talking point arrived at the death when Hatters captain Tom Lockyer wrestled with centre-back Cooper after a desperate, hooked ball into the box.

Rowett suspected that had VAR been in use, the on-field decision may have been overturned.

He said: “He’s 6ft7 and people say maybe he goes to the ground too easily but that’s not a reason to give one penalty.

“I think if you’d have that back, I think there’s every chance the decision is different.”

There were chances for Millwall to win the game earlier on, however.

The first big opportunity arrived perhaps too soon for Oliver Burke who was caught a little cold when played through by Zian Flemming inside two minutes.

An even better opening presented itself to Andreas Voglsammer early in the second half but the German failed to get a shot away from close range.

Rowett felt his side had the better of the play but admitted they were lacking a clinical touch, saying: “I thought it was a competitive game between two teams that didn’t want to give an inch, both very physical.

“I felt we got into some better positions and created some better chances. We looked slightly more threatening.

“We’ve had some good moments, Burke’s one early on, he’s just got a toe on it, which could have just wrong footed the keeper, Voglsammer just needs to swing at it and Murray [Wallace] has a chance from the set piece.

“It’s just creating more of those chances but it’s hard to do that against Luton.”

His opposite number Rob Edwards agreed with that assessment, conceding that it was a day when defences came out on top.

Edwards’ side looked to contain their hosts from the off and he admitted that they were ultimately pleased to be returning home with a point.

“It was a really tough day,” he said.

“If you’d asked me before of course we wanted to win the game, but with how the game went, the lack of flow and rhythm, going into the last 10 minutes it was a case of keep what we’ve got.

“It’s a tough place to come. Any free-kick or throw in, it’s a real challenge. We stood up to that well and to get a clean sheet here is difficult to do.”

Few tipped Luton for a play-off charge before the season began but with just six games remaining, they look a sure bet for a top-six finish.

Key to their unlikely assault at the top of the table has been their away form – Edwards’ side have lost none of their last nine away matches and he says they pride themselves on their defensive efforts.

He said: “Even when we haven’t got much rhythm you can see the fight and pressing from the front two, how hard that midfield three work and then the lads at the back are just relentless in terms of competing, blocking and winning headers.

“That ugly stuff isn’t what everyone loves talking about but you’ve still got to have people to defend and our lads really value that.”