David Moyes gave his post-match interview to the press after the 0-0 draw at Craven Cottage and this is what hee said;
What did you make of the red card incident?
An accidental coming together which to give somebody a red card is an embarrassing decision. I am more embarrassed that VAR would tell him to go and look at it because it was certainly just a simple accident and we should have just got on with the game and nothing more.
Did Mitrovic tell the referee it was accidental?
Yes
In which case are you even more surprised it produced a red card?
I am because I think Lee Mason was in Stockley Park and Mike Dean, I think they are both very experienced referees and I will be amazed if that is the way they want to referee the games because if it is and it is accidental, do we now look at every accidental incident and say that could be considered for a red card?
Scott Parker just said ‘the game is going a bit sterile’ do you think it is moving in a dangerous direction?
Well, i don’t think any of us are really enjoying parts of the game I think there are lots of good things in football at the moment. we have some really exciting young footballers in the country just now.
I am disappointed because the referees could easily put an end to this, they are the only ones who can do it by saying ‘no we are not going to continue to give soft free-kicks, we are not going to react to screaming, we are not going to react to some of the decisions which are going on.
But they look as if they are a bit frightened not to do things correctly at the moment.
Soucek is such a big loss how big is that for you over the next couple of weeks?
You always have a chance of losing players through suspension or injury etc so we will have to get on with it and deal with it.
But it is very harsh on a player who is very fair and very honest with his work and he didn’t in any way go to injure a player, it was an accidental push away and maybe the players have a responsibility to act correctly.
But I still felt it was easy for the referee or Stockley Park to say ‘just get on with it’.
Will you appeal the red?
I don’t know yet.
Lee Mason and Mike Dean were officiating at Old Trafford in the week when Jan Bednarek was sent of and that was rescinded and Southampton raised concerns about having those two refereeing their games. Were you concerned they were left together today?
No, because I think both are good referees and have been throughout their careers. That worries me even more that they’ve made that decision tonight.
I’m amazed they’ve even sent them to look at it. Even more amazed that Mike [Dean] chose to do something with it.
What can we do? I don’t think anyone in football or football management is convinced by the rulings we’re involved in.
Did Mike [Dean] offer you any explanation after the game as to why he thought that was the correct decision?
No, I didn’t ask him. I didn’t say a word to him because I’m actually quite embarrassed for Mike that he would have made that decision.
On the performance was there a bit of tiredness there?
We didn’t play well tonight but what we got from that was a point so we go away with that. We are not pleased with how we played and how the game panned out but overall we found it a real struggle tonight.
It could have had a little bit to do with that [tiredness], most of our players didn’t really perform tonight and somehow we had to find a way of just digging in and getting through it. We looked for solutions but we couldn’t find them tonight.
The decision was by Dean and everyone in football knows it was wrong and as DM said, embarrassingly so. The Southampton decision was awful and overturned, but they had already paid the price. Southern teams particularly fear Dean’s eccentricities – that is wrong too. Can clubs request he doesn’t officiate like Southampton did? Put our name down quick!!
Scott Parker ought to be as embarrassed about Mitrovic’s part in the whole sorry episode as Moyes is about t Mike Dean’s and Lee Mason’s. Pathetic.