Bemused Stuart Kettlewell hit out at referee Kevin Clancy and his VAR team as he claimed goalkeepers in Scotland have become a protected species.
The furious Fir Park boss had to watch the last half an hour of Motherwell’s pulsating 2-2 draw with Rangers from the stand after being sent-off following a bust-up with fourth official Peter Stuart. But he was even angrier after seeing whistler Clancy intervene to chalk off a Butland own goal after the Rangers No. 1 punched an Andy Halliday corner into his own net with his team leading 2-1.
VAR checked the incident but agreed Tony Watt had fouled Butland – a decision that stunned the Steelmen gaffer. Asked if Butland got out of jail, he said: “I think that’s fair to say. I’m just left bemused by the on-field decision. For me it’s complete over-protection of a goalkeeper.
“I saw an incident a few weeks ago involving Tottenham when they scored direct from a corner and there’s a similar type of incident. What do they do down south? Have a quick look, give the goal and carry on with the rest of the game. Down there, there’s no over-protection of the goalkeeper but for some reason here, we’ve decided that there’s enough to merit a free kick.”
Kettlewell’s latest complaint comes hot on the heels of his angry outbursts over the disputed Parkhead penalty his team conceded against Celtic and and a ridiculous red card for Dan Casey against Killie that had to be overturned on appeal.
Responding to his second-half red card, he said: “My frustration’s purely pent up from this now going into the realms of five or six weeks, with key decisions going against us. Some of them have been confirmed as wrong. It’s kind of a pat on the head, ‘we’ve got that one wrong, we’ll move on to the next one’.
“Now, I don’t blame referees, officials for outcomes of games but what I do ask for is the correct decision. I’m not asking for a rub of the green here, I’m asking for the correct call. I’m a passionate person. Sometimes you’ll see a bit of emotion.
“But genuinely, there was nothing abusive or anything like that towards the fourth official, towards the linesman. I was just flabbergasted with the decision [to book Lennon Miller for a foul on Oscar Cortes].”
But Kettlewell was delighted with his team’s efforts as they bounced back from a 4-0 trouncing at Celtic Park. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Tawanda Maswanhise’s strikes had them ahead before Hamza Igamane fired back for Gers. He said: “I’m immensely proud of the players for what they put in. This was never going to be an easy couple of days for us.”