Newcastle United have lodged an appeal with the Football Association in the hope that Fabricio Coloccini’s sending-off at Sunderland on Sunday will be overturned.
Coloccini was shown a straight red card by the referee, Robert Madley, in first-half injury time following an incident which saw Steve McClaren’s captain barge Steven Fletcher with a shoulder. It resulted in the awarding of a controversial penalty, converted by Adam Johnson, and an even more contentious dismissal for Coloccini on the basis that, as the last man, he had denied Fletcher a clear goalscoring opportunity.
As things stand that ban will see the Argentinian centre-half sit out Saturday’s meeting with Stoke City at St James’ Park, a match Newcastle’s right-back Daryl Janmaat has described as a “must win”.
It is understood that, quite apart from arguing that Rob Elliot, their goalkeeper, had the situation covered anyway, Newcastle will remind the FA of a passage in its own rule book. The text they are expected to quote reads: “A player who places himself between an opponent and the ball for tactical reasons has not committed an offence as long as the ball is kept within playing distance and the opponent. If the ball is within playing distance, the player may be fairly charged by an opponent.”
Madley, though, saw things differently, regarding Coloccini’s intervention as an unfair charge which denied Fletcher an obvious scoring opportunity. His decision left McClaren furious, with Newcastle’s manager suggesting the official was not sufficiently experienced to have taken charge of such an important match.
As an intense debate about the incident raged, a game initially dominated by Newcastle changed beyond recognition, leaving Sunderland to emerge eventual 3-0 winners and Coloccini facing a one-game suspension. The appeal will be heard by a regulatory commission on Tuesday afternoon and the club will be notified of the result shortly afterwards.
Janmaat has described Madley’s decision-making as “unbelievable”. “We had 70% of possession in the first half,” he said. “We were far better than them. I don’t think it was a penalty or a red card. It was nothing. It’s a contact sport. He only put his body between him and the guy.”
Visiting anger has been heightened by Newcastle’s precarious league position. Janmaat, despite the general excellence of his side’s first-half display, is well aware the team have won only one of their past 21 Premier League games and that McClaren, since his installation as manager in the summer, has presided over the collection of a mere six points from 10 games.
“On Saturday we have Stoke at home and we have to win that,” Janmaat said. “It’s too early to say whether we are in a relegation battle but it’s a worry that we’re in the relegation zone. We have to do better and start winning games soon.
“We all want to be higher than the relegation zone but we haven’t had a good start. We have to improve but I think in the last two or three games we have shown some promising things. We can build on them. They can give us confidence. We have to continue like this. In the last few games we have been better and better. We have to continue playing like this and then, I believe, the points will come.”
His team-mates’ disappointment was exacerbated by the fact that Sunday represented Sunderland’s sixth straight win over Newcastle. Janmaat is determined revenge will finally arrive in the return at St James’ Park in March.
“Of course it’s disappointing and it’s not nice for our supporters,” he said. “But I believe we are much better than Sunderland. We were the team who wanted to play football and we were better in every department. We play them again in a few months and then we have to show them.”
