Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell is banking on an appeal panel overturning Dan Casey’s red card after accusing referee Chris Graham of doubling down on the worst decision he has ever seen.
Well have submitted a wrongful dismissal claim to the Scottish Football Association after Casey was sent off following a clash with Kilmarnock winger Danny Armstrong during Friday’s 1-1 Fir Park draw.
Graham was handed the opportunity to reverse his decision by his video assistant but pointed down the tunnel, presumably deciding that the defender had grabbed Armstrong by the neck after pushing his arm away.
The Irishman has now had one yellow and two red cards this season and faces a three-match ban if a fast-track panel agrees with Graham.
Kettlewell is yet to meet anyone else who does.
“I’ve had contact with other football clubs, I’ve had contact with people that have been in the game a long, long time, people in the media, friends, family,” he said.
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“I’ve not spoken to one individual that sees that the same way as the outcome.
“What I’ve got that down to is one individual has seen it that way. For me that’s wholly unacceptable.
“I don’t think we can ever see that, that scenario where it’s so cut and dry, in my opinion, and I know there’s an appeal to be heard and all the rest of it, but I just find it baffling.
“I said it’s in the top three worst decisions that I’ve been involved with in a game of football. In hindsight, I’ve had Saturday and Sunday to look through it again and to compose myself.
“It’s not in the top three, it’s the worst one. It’s genuinely the worst one that I’ve seen.
“But we have to look at this bigger picture as well, and it’s worldwide. That game was on the television. We’re trying to give the best account of ourselves as we possibly can.
“We didn’t play particularly well as a team, but I don’t think that type of decision does the game in this country any favours whatsoever.”
“I can accept mistakes, but the bit I really, really challenge is that there’s an obvious error and you’re still trying to double down on it and trying to tell people that you’re 100 per cent right,” he said.
“You’re trying to find justification for it. You’re starting to talk about non-negligible force and all this type of stuff.
“Sometimes I genuinely am OK with somebody just putting their hands up and saying ‘I think I may have got that one wrong’.”
Kettlewell has had the chance to study other aspects of Graham’s performance and admitted that Andy Halliday’s challenge on Killie wing-back Brad Lyons was “as cut and dry a penalty as you’re going to get”.
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“The referee actually awards us a foul,” added Kettlewell, whose team travel to Celtic Park on Boxing Day.
“I struggle to see that one. I had a complaint about this after we had the same referee against Ross County, that there was 62 minutes of dead time. That was 59 minutes this time of dead time in a game of football.
“It’s not conducive to entertainment. It’s not conducive to any of us sitting, watching the game, enjoying the game. You ask the players, they just feel like it’s stop, start, stop, start, stop, start.”
The Scottish FA later confirmed an appeal hearing over Casey’s red card would take place on Christmas Eve.
