Thomas Frank expects apology over Newcastle penalty

Posted Sunday, September 17, 2023 by PA

Fuming Brentford boss Thomas Frank is expecting an apology from referees’ chief Howard Webb after seeing his side slip to a controversial Premier League defeat at Newcastle.

The Bees went down 1-0 at St James’ Park on Saturday evening after Callum Wilson converted a second-half penalty awarded for a foul by keeper Mark Flekken on Anthony Gordon.

Frank said: “It’s so rare that I complain about it because it’s human beings who make mistakes and we all make mistakes so that happens. But it’s extra frustrating when we do so many things right and lose because of that.

“We just got told four weeks ago when Kevin Schade went through against Tottenham, where the keeper took him out, that no, he pulled out before, so it can’t be a penalty. Mark pulled out before, now a penalty.

“It’s not the ref who has given it but the linesman, and he needs to be absolutely bang-on, 100 per cent sure if you want to decide an even game between two teams that gave each other a fantastic game, in fact.

“That means that VAR have checked, but can’t do anything because it’s not a clear and obvious failure. I’m pretty sure that Howard Webb will come back to us and say ‘Sorry, we made a mistake’.”

The penalty – one of two awarded by Craig Pawson, although the second was rescinded after he was advised to review it – came minutes after Wilson had seen a “goal” disallowed for a foul on Flekken.

The England striker dispatched his 64th-minute spot-kick with supreme confidence to claim his 14th goal in his last 17 league appearances in the final game before Newcastle launch their Champions League campaign at AC Milan on Tuesday evening.

Wilson put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension on Friday and Howe, who first signed him for Bournemouth in July 2014, has seen him grow during the intervening period.

He said: “He’s gone from, when I first signed him, a Championship player to now an international, a Premier League player, a Champions League player.

“But his character is still the same. He laughs, he jokes, he’s positive, he’s kind. He’s a really good team-mate, he’s a parent and he’s a really good father to his kids and he’s a husband, so a lot has changed in his life, but I think the general character around the person is exactly the same.”

Howe, who confirmed that Brazilian midfielder Joelinton will miss the trip to San Siro with a recurrence of a knee injury which will keep him out for several weeks, was delighted to see his team end its three-game losing streak.

He said: “It was a massive win for us, we needed it. I don’t think it was us at our free-flowing best, but there was a lot to like about the resilience, the defensive mindset, the work rate, the commitment.

“It’s not always going to be an open, attractive game and today it probably wasn’t. Brentford made it very difficult for us, but we certainly defended very well and it was great to see us keep a clean sheet.”