Newcastle United manager John Carver has accused Mike Williamson of getting sent off on purpose against Leicester City, reports the BBC.
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The centre-back got a red card as the Foxes consigned the Magpies to a eighth consecutive defeat. This terrible run has left the North East side in the midst of a relegation scrap despite being safely in mid table earlier in the season. Carver has been falling out with fans, and recently invited two supporters round to his house for a ‘cup of tea’.
This interaction doesn’t seem to have helped, and the team were dire in the lunchtime match. The manager thinks that his defender may have got himself sent from the field because he isn’t interested in playing in a fight for top flight survival. It seems bizarre to be saying this when he needs to motivate his squad for the last three matches.
He said: “On a scale of one to 10, it’s a minus 10. I can’t accept it. I wish the players had as much determination and fight as I had. We can talk about systems and players but if we’re not willing to compete, get your head onto the ball and risk getting an injury, you won’t get anywhere.
“The referee made the right decisions. I spoke to Mike Williamson at half-time and had a few choice words. I thought he’d done that [got sent off] on purpose – it looks like he did. The ball was off the pitch – he had no need to make the challenge. He will miss two games now, is it an easy way out? I got Tim Krul to speak to Daryl Janmaat, I told him to stay calm and he didn’t. The game had gone away from us. We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”
He continued: “We can’t just keep saying next week will do – it has to happen now. Losing two players doesn’t help. The next 24 hours is thinking time – we have to see who is available. We need to find a solution. I can talk all day and make excuses but I have no excuses today.
“It was a very animated dressing room at half time and even more so at full-time. I’ve asked everyone to have a think and we’ll have an open discussion on Monday – it’ll be interesting. ”
Next up for the Toon are West Brom, and they are serious need of a win with just two points separating them from the relegation zone.
What do you think? Was this tackle purposely reckless to get a second yellow?