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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Callum Vurley

Furious Neil Warnock accuses referees of 'wanting celebrity status' in explosive rant

Neil Warnock did not mince his words after blasting the referees after Middlesbrough's 2-1 loss to Swansea in the Championship.

Referee Gavin Ward gave a penalty in the last minute while also disallowing a goal earlier for the visitors.

It saw the Swans go third in the table in a cruel blow to Boro, who are still looking to break into the play-off spots.

Andre Ayew had put the Welsh side up in the first-half through a deflected effort.

Marc Bola had equalised but Yannick Bolasie was adjudged to have fouled Jay Fulton in the build-up, the first contentious decision.

Sam Morsy did level the scores in the 91st minute for Warnock's side but there was further drama to come.

George Saville appeared to win the ball when sliding in on Jake Bidwell but referee Ward pointed to the spot with seconds left on the clock.

Ayew scored the resulting penalty in the 97th minute to take home all three points.

And Warnock was absolutely fuming in his post-match press conference, insisting the match officials were desperate to be the centre of attention.

He said after the match: "They are all heroes, they all want the celebrity status, don't they?

"It's wrong. My lads have been let down by a team of officials who weren't good enough today.

"[PGMOL chief] Alan Wiley has got a job on his hands, because they are not good enough, it's not right. It shouldn't be decided on an official.

"Because they've never played the game and don't understand getting kicked, or being conned, they don't know the big decisions. That's what lets them down, all of them."

It comes after a number of controversial calls in the Premier League, including a handball in the match between Fulham and Tottenham that denied the Cottagers a vital point.

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