He’s only phoned head of refereeing Crawford Allan three times in 40 years during a career that’s spanned from Nottingham Forest to Hamilton – but Brian Rice can’t hold his anger with referees for any longer.
The Accies boss watched his side concede a penalty in a 3-0 Scottish Cup third round loss to St Mirren on Saturday, a scoreline which flattered the Buddies according to manager Jim Goodwin. But the Accies manager couldn’t hold his frustrations at full-time as his side also missed out on a spot-kick.
Phoned three times from Nottingham Forest to Hamilton. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Rice said: “I’m going to say a couple of things I’ll probably regret. No, I won’t regret it, because we’re Hamilton, and we got battered. What do we need to do to get a penalty? It’s never a 3-0 game, not in a million years. First 20 minutes, 25 minutes, St Mirren were by far the better team.
“The rest of the game we dominated. But you’ll never write that because we’re Hamilton. My opinion. You’ll not write that because we’re Hamilton. I want my boys to get credit, got beat 3-0 but it’s never 3-0. Not in a million years. We’re getting no credit for anything. That’s why I’m frustrated, because they’ve given it everything.
“We’re down to the bare bones – I’ve got two injuries again – we’re giving it everything we’ve got and it’s never a 3-0 game. I’ve got to go and pick these lads up. Don’t ask me, I don’t know what penalty is these days. I know every time somebody falls in our box it’s a penalty. So I don’t know what a penalty is.
Brian Rice was fuming. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
“I saw the same referee, at Dumbarton, not give Dumbarton a penalty but gave a penalty here for less. That’s what I saw. And I’m not shouting at you lads, it’s just because I’m angry. Because we’re getting nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I’m fed up phoning Crawford Allan and being shoved to the side because we’re only Hamilton.
“That’s what’s happening. I’ve phoned Crawford Allan three times in 40 years. I just get shoved to the side, ‘ah it’s only Hamilton’. Same refereee didn’t give a penalty at Dumbarton but the ball went over the bar. They’ve given a penalty there (to St Mirren) when the ball went over the bar.
“Tell me, am I paranoid? What would I like him to do? I would like him to take us seriously. To give us a fair crack of the whip just like everybody else – because we are not getting a fair crack of the whip. I don’t care what anybody says.
“I know. I have been in football 40-odd years. I know when I am getting shafted. Well, it’s not me getting shafted, it’s my players.”
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