Dermot Gallagher baffled live on Sky Sports by incident in West Brom defeat v Birmingham
Dermot Gallagher was baffled by the decision to award Birmingham City a penalty against West Brom on Friday (6 October).
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch on Monday (9 October, 11:50am), the ex-Premier League referee said the “clues are there” as to why a spot-kick shouldn’t have been awarded as Koji Miyoshi only appealed for a corner following the challenge by Cedric Kipre.
He added that he thought the official had “given a goal kick” at first because both players slipped and there was no foul committed by the Albion defender, with the decision eventually leading to the hosts picking up a 3-1 win at St Andrew’s.
“Stephen (Warnock) and I spoke earlier about this and all the clues are there,” said Gallagher. “The clue is that the only Birmingham player that appeals for anything is the one who appeals for a corner.
“When the referee pointed, I thought he’d given a goal kick at first because I think he slips. The Birmingham player slips, Kipre slips into him, gets the ball with one foot – goal kick for me.”
Unacceptable
It’s completely and utterly unacceptable for a referee to be making an error of this magnitude in what was such a big game.
It would be poor for it to happen on any occasion, but in a huge derby game, where there is so much at stake, the officials simply have to do better.
It appears as though the only person who thought it was a penalty in the entire stadium was the referee and, unfortunately for West Brom, it was solely his decision to make.
The Baggies were in the lead at that moment in time and it played a significant role in Birmingham turning the result around to come away with the three points at St Andrew’s.
Gallagher’s surprise at the decision being awarded just shows how shocking it was from the official and mistakes like that can’t afford to happen.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Kilbane is baffled by this Albion player’s international call-up.