Livid Livi boss David Martindale let rip at referee Kevin Clancy and claimed even the SEAGULLS could see his side were denied a stonewall penalty in their defeat to St Johnstone.
The fuming Lions manager also reckons the whistler got it wrong with Saints’ spot kick after three minutes - claiming Murray Davidson was offside in the build-up.
Livi slip to eighth as a result of the defeat - their third in a row - and now must beat Motherwell next week and hope results elsewhere go their way if they are to clinch a top six place.
But Martindale reckons his side should at least still have been level sixth with an extra point.
And he estimates the decision could cost his side anything up to £2million after the split if they miss out on the chance of two more games against the Old Firm and a shot at Europe.
He fumed: “Murray Davidson is offside from the free kick at their penalty. The linesman is looking straight across the line. So there’s the first problem.
“The second problem is - everyone in the stadium including the seagulls knew we should have had a penalty.
“How we are not given a penalty I will never know. That decision could be massive for this football club. I’m fuming.
“I don’t want to talk to Kevin Clancy. I asked how he got it wrong. You don’t get anything back.
“I spoke to Steven McLean the fourth official who is a very, very good official. He calmed me down.
“But everyone saw it was a stonewall penalty.
“You saw our one with Daizen Maeda at our place when Fitzy was pushing himself to get up off the ground. And we got a penalty against us.
“Now this. He gets the offside wrong at the penalty against us then gets our penalty wrong.
“It’s really difficult trying to sit here and not blame officiating for where we are.
“But when decisions go against you like this it’s really difficult to take. What do I say to the players that are sitting in there gutted? They feel hard done by and so do it. We have every right to feel hard done by.
"That point could be worth anything between half a million and £2m to the club."
Martindale insists the incidents confirm the need for VAR.
He continued: “They are only human beings, I get that, I could never do the job, I’d be sacked in a month.
“But the sooner we get VAR in Scottish football the better because, for me, that was a horrendous decision that went against us.
“They shouldn’t have had a penalty and we should’ve had one. I praised the players, they controlled large portions of the game.
“But when you give the opposition a goal of a start, it gives them something to hang on to.
“ St Johnstone defended their 18 yard box extremely well. The score line allowed that to happen, to sit in their final third and give us possession.”
