THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWCASTLE, England — Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear could be in trouble with the Football Association after criticizing the "Mickey Mouse referee" in Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Fulham.
The outspoken Kinnear, who has the Newcastle job on a temporary basis while the owners try to sell the club, was angry that referee Martin Atkinson did not award his team a free kick immediately before Fulham’s Andy Johnson scored the first goal from the penalty spot.
"There was a blatant foul prior to the penalty, which the referee ignored," Kinnear said. "We were camped in their half. (Claudio) Cacapa was on the ball and Johnson completely pushes him out the way, nicks the ball and gets the penalty.
"We’ve got the Mickey Mouse referee doing nothing. He’s made an error that cost us."
The loss left Newcastle in the relegation zone, and Kinnear says his team has been hit by several wrong decisions by the match officials.
"The same thing happened last week with a penalty against Man City," he said in reference to a 2-2 draw. "Later on it was proved it wasn’t a penalty and we had a player sent off. That cost us points. It just doesn’t stop but that’s the standard of refereeing in this country.
"It happens week in, week out. There’s always a smart answer like ‘Someone was obstructing my view.’ You used to be able to have a bit of banter with referees and they’d put their hands up if they make mistakes. Now they hide."