ROBSON CONFRONTED THE REF
By Matthew Jones
November 11 2003
Newcastle United boss Sir Bobby Robson has revealed how he confronted referee Paul Durkin at half-time of the 5-0 defeat away at Chelsea at the weekend.
ROBSON CONFRONTED THE REF
Newcastle were already 2-0 down when Durkin sent off Andy O'Brien and Robson said: "Andy's very unhappy with that decision.
"It was a rough decision and a double blow because we had a penalty awarded against us and a man sent off.
"Andy's quite convinced that if there was a tug it was outside the box. Television will prove it, I'm sure.
"We didn't have a chance after that. I told Paul Durkin that I was unhappy with the decision. I told him it was a bad decision. Mutu fell outside the box and the referee gave a penalty - actually the linesman gave it.
"It killed the game. We were 3-0 down with 10 players at half-time.
"I said to my players that I didn't expect to win the match but I expected them to fight for pride and honour the shirt. We were going to have two banks of four and one up front and we did all right for a long period.
"At 3-0 I was wishing the game was over so we could get out of there."
Newcastle United boss Sir Bobby Robson has revealed how he confronted referee Paul Durkin at half-time of the 5-0 defeat away at Chelsea at the weekend.