Megson slams Styles decision

Bolton boss criticises referee

Last updated: 27th September 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Megson slams Styles decision

Megson: Unhappy with Styles

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Gary Megson described Rob Styles' penalty decision as 'hugely embarrassing' following the 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Bolton had contained United impressively in the first hour of the match at Old Trafford before Styles deemed that Jlloyd Samuel had fouled Cristiano Ronaldo in the area.

Television replays showed that Samuel had won the ball with a good tackle but Ronaldo dispatched the spot-kick and United went on to add a second through Wayne Rooney.

Megson was disappointed with the decision, although he accepts there is no way of knowing whether Bolton would otherwise have held on for a draw.

"He has made a complete howler. It is a nonsense decision and it didn't look close on the pitch," Megson told Sky Sports.

"It is a bit churlish to say it cost us the game because they were having a lot of possession and had chances, as you would expect.

"But it was 0-0 and we were doing well, and after the goal we had to change our shape and that opened the pitch up for what is one of the best teams in the world.

"We were under a huge amount of pressure but we knew that would happen.

"I don't think we were particularly comfortable but it wasn't just a matter of time before the goal came, so it just sticks in the throat that the game has changed on a hugely embarrassing decision."

Positives

Megson admits that conceding in such a manner made it more difficult for Bolton to try and get back into the game.

"If Ronaldo bends it into the top corner or (Dimitar) Berbatov overhead kicks it, sometimes you can't do anything about that, but when someone does it for them it takes a lot out of the players.

"Mentally it makes a massive difference and that is what happened."

Megson was nevertheless encouraged by the performance of his players as they slipped to a third consecutive defeat.

"We were organised, hard working and had arguably the best two chances before they scored.

"When we did get on the ball we did play some decent football at times, so there are a lot of positives."