Plymouth manager slams referee for making poor choices ahead of Stoke City match

As his team prepares to host Stoke City this weekend, Steven Schumacher has railed against big refereeing decisions going against them.

Plymouth won promotion from League One last season and have been adapting to life in the Championship. They are the top scorers in the bottom half with 29 goals from 18 games, have a positive goal difference, and have won five and drawn one of their first nine games at Home Park.

However, they have struggled on the road, drawing three and losing six of nine games, and manager Schumacher has been frustrated by major decisions that have gone against his team along the way. One example is Coventry’s midweek victory, when the visitors claimed the ball had gone out of play before Haji Wright scored.

“It’s a big call once again that has gone against us,” said Schumacher, all-but echoing Alex Neil. “How many times have I said that over the last few weeks? We are not getting the rub of the green on these big calls. In these games, which are so tight, and when we are up against these good teams, we need their decisions to even themselves out, but it feels like it’s not at the moment.

“We know where we are as a club. We are giving our absolute all just to be in games and to compete every single week. When we are not getting the rub of the green on these big calls, you feel aggrieved, but what can I do about it? There is not an awful lot I can do. I can’t moan about it too much. We have just got to get on with it and try to focus on what we can control, and tonight we probably could have controlled our performance better.

“Some of the attacking players who have been so consistent and so exciting and accurate, I just didn’t think we had it. There were too many passes that just went to the wrong side. We passed balls behind people, and touches got away from us. It was a night where it just didn’t click going forward. We got into some really good areas and didn’t work the goalkeeper enough. That’s on us, and that’s what we can control.”

Plymouth won 2-0 at home against Sunderland last weekend but couldn’t match that performance when they travelled to Coventry.

Schumacher said, “It’s dead frustrating. I’m gutted about the controversy surrounding the goal, but, overall, I thought the performance probably wasn’t our best. It wasn’t really good enough. We didn’t show enough quality to score or create enough big chances, so that’s on us, and it’s something we need to do better at.

 

“Maybe it was a bit of tiredness; I don’t know. The pitch was fantastic, but some of our basic control and techniques didn’t seem to be quite there. Some of our decision-making was poor as well, so when we got into really good areas, the final ball let us down too often. At this level, if you do that, you don’t get anything from the game.”