O'Neill hits out after penalty sinks Villa

Sun, 27 Sep 09:11:39 2009

Martin O'Neill hit out at referee Mark Clattenburg after a late David Dunn penalty saw Blackburn beat his Aston Villa side 2-1.

Villa had taken the lead in the third minute through Gabriel Agbonlahor before Christopher Samba had scored an equaliser. Rovers were then reduced to 10-men when Vince Grella was sent-off for two bookable offences.

Dunn's penalty came with a minute left on the clock after Richard Dunne had handballed. Although O'Neill questioned whether the incident was deliberate on Dunne's part.

He said: "It's something to do with a new set of directives that if your arm is in an unnatural position you can be adjudged to have handled the ball.

"But if he had used his head we would probably have won a free-kick because the striker's leg was high.

"When we got the early start I was hoping to get the ball down and play, but it's difficult. Blackburn played very, very strongly as I expected them to do."

 

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  1. undertaker, get a grip, it is not so long ago Villa­ hammered liverpool at anfield there are not many teams­ who will do that this season.
    Villa need some time to­ gel togeather and once they do god help the­ rest.

    Remember alex ferguson in his early days and man­ utd, he took ages to get it right.

    From CHRIS, on Mon 28 Sep 9:41PM

  2. Here we go. One loss and the skeletons come out of the­ cupboard. Undertaker 39 and Stench “Sell young, drop­ Young”, your memories are soooooo short. Remember his­ free kick resulted in the winner against Small Heath.­ Win our game in hand and we are only 3 points off top­ spot with 27 or so games remaining this season. I for­ one is looking forward to the rest of the season, as­ the games go on the more the team is going to improve.­ I think they learned a very important lesson on­ Saturday. If you don’t take your chances then you don’t­ win. But I’m mystified with the penalty decision­ against Dunne. If it was handball as the referee has­ indicated in the penalty area. Why was he NOT­ Booked????
    Finally, Tony C, my grandmother was a tea­ lady under Vic Crow. So does that make me have Villa in­ my blood too?

    From DAVID, on Mon 28 Sep 1:44PM

  3. I am not a MON fan I am A Massive Aston Villa­ Fan,anyone Remember Arthur Sabin he played under Sims­ in the 50s,he was my uncle so you see Villa's in my­ blood.
    We need a top quality midfielder,delph will be­ in time but not yet,sell heskey ,sidwell,and cocker,and­ a few other of the fringe players in the jan window and­ get a top quality midfielder,and reinforce the squad­ numbers in the summer.
    Mon's main core of players­ is ok,but short on numbers the defence is good,the­ strike force is good,but we need a quality supplier in­ midfield.
    Please dont go slagging of the team after­ this defeat,everyone loses sometimes,it was a dubious­ penalty,we should have took a point at least,these­ things happen.
    As i said above i am not a MON fan if he­ dos'nt get it right this season i think he will­ go,if he does get it right then great if not then adios­ Mon,i think he will get it right.
    soulmerchant

    From TONY C, on Mon 28 Sep 11:56AM

  4. sell young and buy a new centre mid player who has the­ skill and quility to do the job in the next trans­ window villa should not be losing to blackburn. villa­ have some hard games coming up and need to get their­ act together or they will be losing the next 2 in a­ row. irt needs to be sorted now not after the event­ when villa get thrashed and humiliated get it together

    From undertaker39, on Mon 28 Sep 7:05AM

  5. too many pats on the backs too early in the season for­ lazy villa villa brings defeat

    From rahul s, on Mon 28 Sep 1:24AM

  6. we weren't good enough on the day mon,
    ashley­ young­ needs dropping as i've said before and we­ ought to­ have bought a top rate centre mid.
    having­ said that though­ with our squad we shouldn't be­ losing to the likes­ of blackburn and wigan, so sort it­ out.
    drop everyone­ if you have to.

    From Stench, on Sun 27 Sep 9:41AM

  7. we weren't good enough on the day mon,
    ashley young­ needs dropping as i've said before and we ought to­ have but a top rate centre mid.
    having said that though­ with our squad we shouldn't be losing to the likes­ of blackburn and wigan, so sort it out.
    drop everyone­ if you have to.

    From Stench, on Sun 27 Sep 9:40AM
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