'Disgrace' - Chesterfield receive apology over controversial decision against Salford City
Chesterfield have received another apology over a controversial decision in the win against Salford City.
Referee Oliver Mackey booked midfielder Tom Naylor early on for a challenge on Daniel Udoh in a decision which baffled everyone. Those in the Spireites camp actually thought it could have been a red card for the visiting player, never mind a yellow for Naylor.
Although the midfielder managed to get through the game without being sent off, the yellow card was his fifth of the season in the league which means he will be suspended for this weekend’s match at home to Fleetwood Town.
Not only that, but the decision understandably frustrated manager Paul Cook and he too was booked for dissent, which was his sixth of the campaign, meaning he will be in the stands for the next two fixtures.
Not for the first time this season, after speaking to referee bosses, Chesterfield have once again had an apology about a decision.
"I think the Tom Naylor yellow card was an absolute disgrace of a yellow card,” first-team coach Gary Roberts said. “If anything we thought it might have been a red card for Salford. That was our honest opinion. We have had the apologies again and stuff like that but it has cost our manager a yellow card and our central midfielder, who is in really good form, a yellow card and we lose both of them tomorrow.
"It was not a tough game to referee but it is a tough job to ref and I understand that but they are basic decisions to make. It just seems quite regular now that we are getting apologies and personally I don’t like it because it makes it even more sore that he has made a mistake.”
Some fans questioned whether Chesterfield should appeal the decision but of course clubs can’t do that for bookings, only red cards. When asked if teams should be able to appeal yellow cards, Roberts told the DT: “You would have a lot of appeals, that is the only thing. You would be opening a can of worms. But if there ever was going to be an appeal, that had to be an appeal. It has gone now but it has never been a yellow card in a million years.”