Steve Bruce rages at officials after West Brom 4-0 thumping v Nottingham Forest
West Brom manager Steve Bruce was absolutely furious with the officials after ‘awful’ decisions in the 4-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Monday.
The Baggies were reduced to ten men after just 17 minutes after Darnell Furlong was given a second yellow card for handball.
They then saw a corner given against them despite the ball clearly bouncing off Djed Spence’s knee for what should have been West Brom’s ball, and Bruce labelled it ‘ridiculous’ that the officials got it wrong.
“Well, look, I’ve seen the penalty incident. Furs is on the ground and his head’s away looking at the goal,” Bruce said, as quoted by Birmingham Mail.
“So it hits his arm, yeah, OK, you give a penalty, do you have to give a yellow card and a sending off? And all of a sudden, the game is evaporated.
“Then the debacle over the throw-in,” Bruce continued, “really, it’s ridiculous.”
“The linesman’s flagged it’s our throw, referee’s overruled him because he’s got something in his ear from the fourth official. Why he gets involved is beyond me, but there you go, when he doesn’t get involved with anything else.
“However, we still should have defended the corner better, but it’s been an awful couple of decisions and, before you know it, we’re 2-0 down, 10 men and two big decisions have gone against us.”
Dismal
Considering the Baggies had somehow got themselves back into contention for the playoffs with their recent form and other results going for them, Monday night was woeful.
There was no commitment, no effort, no control and no quality and while it’s always tough with ten men, that was down to their own doing that they were in the situation.
It’s a clear yellow card for Furlong, so Bruce is wrong to moan about that one but the corner decision was dismal. It was clear as day who it came off and the officials have to get basic decisions like that right.
The playoffs are definitely gone now and planning can resume for another year in the Championship, where the club will have to deal with the poor officiating without technology once again.
They have nobody to blame but themselves though, because this season has been absolutely dreadful and the players have a lot of making up to do to the fans.
In other West Brom news, Premier League side ‘working hard’ on details to complete deal for West Brom ace according to a report.
Be sure to follow West Brom News on Facebook for 24/7 updates on the Baggies plus more exclusive interviews with Kevin Phillips.