Penalty decision Holloway furious
QPR manager Ian Holloway called for the introduction of video replays for key refereeing decisions after his team’s 1-1 draw with Bristol City – and compared the current set-up to Brexit.
Holloway was still speaking to referee Andy Madley more than an hour after the game at Loftus Road, where Bobby Reid’s late penalty rescued a point for the visitors.
Madley pointed to the spot after City’s Aden Flint and Nathan Baker went down as three defenders tried to clear a throw-in.
Reid levelled after Flint’s first-half own goal gave QPR the lead.
Holloway said: “I will see 20 corners or long throws that will not be interpreted the same way.
“The thing that’s annoying is that I believe there are easy ways to solve this. We as a game should be pushing for that.
“Rather than someone sat in the stands assessing the referee, if someone was sat watching it on a five-second delay they might call it a very different way.
“Retire the referees who can’t run as fast anymore, sit them with a monitor and let them talk to the referee.
“We need it implemented yesterday, not next year or the year after. Everything is ready for us to do it now.
“Emperor’s new clothes. No-one ever fights for the right thing. We’re all in Brexit now and none of us knew we had to pay however many billions to get out of it, did we? They didn’t give us that information and we’re out of it now.
“These referees should have that information – that top man who can’t run anymore, talking to the referee, saying ‘That’s not a penalty’.”
Bristol City boss Lee Johnson described his team’s efforts as “amazing” after they battled back to earn a deserved point.
Following their dramatic Carabao Cup quarter-final triumph over Manchester United, they showed no sign of fatigue as they peppered Rangers’ goal before eventually equalising.
Johnson said: “I’m in love with my boys at the moment. To go from Wednesday and that energy expenditure, to produce that – particularly in the last 25 to 30 minutes – was outstanding.
“We played with such energy that he could have scored three or four in that last half-hour. We had them at home with their backs against the wall. It’s amazing what my players are doing at the moment.”
With Famara Diedhiou and Milan Djuric both unavailable, Johnson deployed centre-back Flint as a makeshift striker for much of the second half.
Johnson explained: “It’s a viable option for us. It’s not a joke. We’ve got two top strikers out – they’re our target men but I think Flinty enjoys himself.
“It was obvious we needed a platform. We worked with Flinty up front in training because our two big guys are both out, so it was an option we needed and I thought it was really effective.
“It’s a viable option for us. We’ve worked on it because we’ve had to. He scores on a regular basis, whether it be set-pieces or in training.
“It’s not only the scoring – he’s such a handful that people around him will then become free.”
