Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones launched another furious attack on match officials this week, this time accusing an assistant referee of reacting to him as though he had committed some unspeakable offence during his side's goalless draw with QPR.
The London derby at The Valley was decided, in Jones's eyes, by a contentious first-half decision to chalk off what would have been the opening goal. Striker Tyreece Campbell had the ball in the net following a swift counter-attack, only for assistant referee Bhupinder Gill to raise his flag for offside. Replays, according to Jones, showed the Jamaica international was onside, and the disallowed effort proved to be the difference in a match that finished 0-0.
Speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, Jones did not hold back in his assessment of the officiating throughout the contest, claiming his side had been on the wrong end of inconsistent decisions all evening.
"They were giving offsides willy-nilly, we had one offside which wasn't," Jones said. "The goal is a great goal from a great counter-attack, it's onside and it (the decision) has cost us three points once again."
The Welsh manager reserved his sharpest words for the linesman's demeanour during the incident, offering a vivid description of the assistant's reaction to his protests.
"I think the arrogance of the linesman is mental because he's looking at me as if I've just volleyed his cat," Jones said. "He's looking at me as if I have done something and going 'nah'. He's made the biggest error of the night and he's cost us the game and that is the Championship because the Championship is brutal."
This was not the first time in a matter of days that Jones had turned his frustration towards match officials. Following a heavy 4-0 defeat away at Stoke City on Saturday, a game in which the Potters were awarded a penalty to open the scoring, Jones revealed he had gone directly to referee Robert Madley to air his grievances.
"I've gone in and seen him (the referee)," Jones explained. "I'm bitterly disappointed with my own team's performance, but I'm as bitterly disappointed with another performance as well. There were so many things that went against us."
While his latest comments about the assistant referee may raise eyebrows among animal lovers, such outspoken remarks are nothing new for the 53-year-old, who has built a reputation throughout his managerial career—spanning spells at Luton Town, Stoke City and Southampton—for colourful and often memorable soundbites.
Reflecting previously on the ambition that eventually took him all the way to the Premier League dugout at Southampton, Jones once quipped: "I could have stayed in a mining community, been a PE teacher and had a nice life, married a nice Welsh girl. Beautiful. I didn't. And that's nothing against Welsh women."
Despite the frustration over Wednesday's result, Charlton's overall form this season remains solid. The draw leaves them fifth in the Sky Bet Championship table, just two points adrift of early leaders West Bromwich Albion, having accumulated 11 points from their opening six league fixtures.
Jones and his players will look to bounce back when they return to action at The Valley on Saturday afternoon, hosting Portsmouth in what promises to be another keenly contested London-area clash.
Based on reporting from The Independent.