Rowett: Officials had impact on Birmingham defeat

Following Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett questioned the standard of officiating in a post-match interview with the BBC. Rowett suggested that the officials ‘didn’t do their jobs properly’ and felt that had a major impact on the end result.

Prior to Danny Graham giving Rovers the lead, Clayton Donaldson went down in the penalty area after a challenge from Ben Marshall. Rowett also suggested that Jordi Gomez should have been sent off after a rash tackle on Stephen Gleeson.

The defeat and results elsewhere meant that the Blues slipped a few points away from the play-off race. They are now two points behind Ipswich Town, who jumped into the final top six position on Tuesday evening.

The former Burton Albion manager and ex-Birmingham defender was very adamant in his assessment of the quality of the referee’s performance and felt that he got the big decisions wrong in the game,

“You look back to the biggest moment in the game, that would have turned it on its head and the officials didn’t do their jobs properly.

“The referee said [Donaldson] went down easily then said there was no contact.”

“There was another big decision when Jordi Gomez went right over top of the ball against Stephen Gleeson, which was a disgusting challenge.

“There’s a massive gash down Gleeson’s leg. The referee is 10 yards away, he decides to have a lovely little chat with Gomez about it but doesn’t book him. I have to say I think it’s the most inept officiating I think I have seen this season.

“I’ll see the referee and ask his opinion [about the incidents]. He’ll do what they usually do and say ‘sorry if I’ve made a mistake, I apologise’. But it doesn’t make any difference, it’s not going to get us the points back.”

Although he was unhappy with the referee, Rowett was also quick to point out that his team were well below their best from a defensive aspect. He insists that they must improve ahead of the remainder of the season,

“There’s no excuse, it’s very poor defending.

“The first goal [comes from] a ball that bounces in between two of our defenders in the box and we don’t deal with it.”

Birmingham hope to get back to winning ways this weekend when they travel to Molineux to take on local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.

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