Leeds United came from two goals down to record all three points against Millwall yesterday.
Leeds have blasted Millwall manager Gary Rowett for his comments after his side suffered a 3-2 defeat at Elland Road in the Championship on Tuesday night.
Rowett alleged that referee, Darren England, was pressurised at half-time and then, in the second half, the Leeds fans ‘put him under pressure’ because ‘that’s what they do here’.
Whilst Rowett didn’t go into detail as to who exactly was putting the man in the middle under pressure, his comments haven’t sat well with the Leeds fans.
This is what Rowett had to say about the referee after the match:
“It was a difficult game for him (England) for different reasons,” Rowett told Leeds Live. “Should I say, there was a little bit of pressure on him at half-time? I won’t go into too many details on that and then the fans put him under pressure because that’s what they do here.
“We’d do the same at home, it’s what it is and that’s what I said. It was a difficult game to referee. First half we might have had our rub of the green in terms of one or two decisions. The second half you could say they certainly got a lot of the decisions.
“A big decision. I’ve watched it two or three times. There was a pull on Smudge (Matt Smith) in the box earlier which the lad’s let go of the shirt at the last minute so it probably wasn’t a penalty. At the end, it should have been a penalty, but as I said, you’re going to be a brave referee to give that in the 90th minute.”
Leeds went into the break 2-0 down, but minutes after the restart they began their comeback as they scored three goals inside 15 minute with Patrick Bamford netting a brace and Pablo Hernandez also getting on the scoresheet.
There were sections of the Leeds fan base that pointed towards the referee’s poor first-half display, as they felt that Rowett was bang out of order for what he had to say.
Whether the opposition is 1-0 up, 1-0 down or level on scores, going to Elland Road is always tough, and referee England, who is a very experienced official would have been used to yesterday’s atmosphere.
There’s no doubt that Rowett’s side, who have been climbing the table since his arrival, provided a real test for the Yorkshire outfit yesterday.
But it was one that they needed given Leeds’ recent run of form as they moved back to the top of the table with those three points and West Brom’s defeat to Cardiff.
Here is a selection of Leeds fans reacting to Rowett’s comments:
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