Liam Manning has admitted he believes officiating is “getting worse every season” following a controversial incident in Bristol City’s defeat to Watford at Vicarage Road.
The Robins slipped to back-to-back defeats as they were beaten 1-0 by Tom Cleverly’s Hornets on Tuesday evening, with Ryan Andrews’ second-half goal the difference between the two sides.
City did have several opportunities to secure a point with both Jason Knight and Luke McNally forcing good saves from Watford stopper Daniel Bachmann, while Scott Twine saw a long-range effort bounce off of the top of the crossbar late in the second half.
Although the Reds lacked the quality to unlock to beat the Hornets’ keeper, they felt as though the home side should have been reduced to 10 men when Francisco Sierralta appeared to handle the ball midway through the second period.
The referee, James Linington, waved away the protests of the City players and the travelling fans much to the frustration of Manning who felt the Watford defender deserved to be given his marching orders, particularly after the Robins weren’t given a spot-kick in their defeat to Burnley last time out.
“I’m getting really frustrated with it all, to be honest,” Manning admitted in his post-match press conference. “I get frustrated with the game with the level of officiating.
“It’s getting worse every season. We lost tonight because of us, you see the handball that’s not given at the weekend and then I see the Southampton one that’s the same, I genuinely don’t know what handball is anymore.”
Sierralta similarly managed to avoid a second yellow card when he brought Nahki Wells down a matter of minutes before he was substituted by Tom Cleverley.
Although Manning was keen to avoid saying anything that could get him in trouble with the FA, he was quick to voice his irritation with the lack of consistency on a game-to-game basis.
“I’ve spoken with the fourth official tonight around the middle centre half. Sierralta fouls Nahki doesn’t get a booking and the fourth is then agreeing with me when two minutes later Twiney picks up a booking for something that’s nowhere near as bad.
“There’s so much inconsistency and I have to be careful what I say.”
The Robins manager did admit that the Reds would be looking to file a report to raise their complaints about the officials’ decision-making, but having done similar after the incident involving Josh Brownhill on Saturday, the City boss wasn’t holding out any hope of any real change.
“We’ll do a report, the report will come back and the report is a waste of time to be honest with you,” The 39-year-old explained. “It’s a waste of time, I don’t know why we bother with it.
“Nothing will happen, there’s no consequence. Ultimately, it’s just frustrating for the game and it happens. I’m sure every manager and head coach across the whole of the season will be saying similar things to me and feel aggrieved at times.
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“It’s just frustrating when certain things are quite clear and obvious. I said it at the weekend, I feel a little bit sorry because I genuinely don’t know and I don’t think the officials now know what handball is.
“We had a handball at the weekend which we got back a report saying this is why it wasn’t given and then it’s given on Sunday in the Southampton game so I don’t think they know to be honest.”
With the fixture schedule picking up ahead of the festive period, City only have three days to recover and regroup before they welcome Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle to Ashton Gate on Saturday.
Although the Robins have picked up back-to-back league defeats for the first time since September, they remain just five points adrift of the playoff positions with plenty of football still to be played.