Tony Mowbray could not hide his frustration at Dean Whitestone's throwback refereeing display in Sunderland's 2-1 defeat at Coventry - saying it seemed the official had 'left his whistle at home'. There were any number of criticisms that could be levelled against Whitestone's eccentric performance, with both Black Cats boss Mowbray and his Coventry counterpart Mark Robins unhappy with the Northamptonshire official.
Mowbray's gripe centred on the way Whitestone allowed challenges that have incurred free-kicks all season to go unpunished, and says he would not have minded had he been forewarned. "I don't really want to get onto the officials today," said Mowbray.
"I spoke to the fourth official inside the first five minutes when he [the referee] had let two or three tackles go that all season would have been called fouls. I'm just a bit disappointed that today no-one said 'we ain't playing fouls', or 'you're allowed a bit of contact'.
