Wolves star Ruben Neves: Referees must be held accountable for mistakes
Ruben Neves has called for referees to be held accountable for their decisions after Wolves were denied a penalty in their Carabao Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest.
With the game locked at 1-1, Matheus Nunes was caught on the heel by Emmanuel Dennis and lost his boot in the process, but referee Graham Scott waved away the vehement penalty appeals.
Wolves went on to lose in the penalty shoot-out, with Neves and Joe Hodge missing their spot kicks, and the furious captain has now called for the officials to take responsibility.
Neves told the Express & Star: “We controlled the game better and then we should have won the game in the 90 minutes, but again it’s a big decision against Wolves.
“I’m not sure what is going on, because it feels like they don’t want us to win.
“What happened last week was a shame for English football. What happened here is really bad for English football as well.
“When I heard the referee say to me that the contact was not enough for him to give a penalty. Maybe it was not enough for him, but how can a referee decide if the contact is enough or not?
“Maybe if I step on his foot like their played stepped on Matheus, and he’ll ask for a foul.
“He told us as well that if the foul was in the middle of the pitch he would give it to us, but that the criteria in the box is different and the contact was not deemed to be enough.
“Do we need to start breaking legs to have penalties in football? Now the referees would have the sensibility to know if the contact is enough or not.
“I showed him Matheus’ boot, it was completely ripped!
“There’s no excuses. He didn’t give the penalty because he didn’t want to give it, that’s it.
“I missed my penalty, it was a s**t penalty and I’m really sad because I wanted to help the team win the game, and now I’m here talking with you.”
Neves was angry during the game at the inconsistencies with decisions, in a match that ironically did not have VAR after the scandal at Anfield on Saturday.
The captain continued: “I really wanted him to say to the public and everyone what he said to me on the pitch.
“He said to me that the contact is not enough. How can a referee see the boot coming off the foot of a player and saying the contact is not enough?
“If a boot comes off, you cannot play. He would stop the game. I cannot shoot the ball without the boot on my foot.
“Imagine, Matheus wanted to shoot with the ball and he had no boot on his foot. How can that happen? That’s not normal. There’s no excuses for it.
“Even the small details. I did a foul on Aurier, I stopped in front of him and he kicked my leg and he screamed. I got a yellow card.
“I was asking why he gave me a yellow card and he said to me ‘no worries, if they do the same it will be a yellow card as well’.
“Morgan kicked Max in exactly the same way and he said it wasn’t the same.
“We saw everything on the pitch and it’s really sad. I’m going home thinking about that really poor penalty, and he’s going home and doesn’t need to talk to anybody.”
At full-time, former Wolves player Morgan Gibbs-White was involved in a brawl with Matheus Cunha, before Toti Gomes and Adama Traore got involved on the pitch.
When asked what happened in that melee, Neves added: “Ask the referee! That’s why he’s here, to see what happened. Ask him if he saw something.
“At the end of the game everyone was fighting on the pitch and the referee was in the dressing room. That’s not normal.
“He was inside and that’s a mistake. I’m sure someone would have taken a red card, and that can change the next game.
“He should be outside seeing what is happening and seeing which players need to have a red card. He was inside while everyone was fighting.
“Now I’m here talking about my s**t penalty, and he’s going home and he will not talk to anyone. It’s too easy for them.
“For me, it’s really sad because I missed my penalty and I’m here talking to you. He made that decision and he’s going home.”
Gibbs-White celebrated with his fingers in his ears towards the Wolves fans when he scored his penalty, before racing to the away end after Hodge missed his decisive spot kick.
Cunha copied the same celebration after Gibbs-White, and while Neves had no problem with those antics, he believes the pair may regret it in hindsight.
Neves said: “Everyone can celebrate the way they want. The celebration was normal in the heat of the game. You can hear the fans singing about you and in the heat of the game you can do it.
“I’m sure Morgs will think about it now and maybe he will regret it.
“I’m sure Matheus (Cunha) will regret it because he celebrated in the same way. That was maybe the fuse for the fight at the end, but that’s normal, that’s football.
“I didn’t see what happened, maybe you need to ask the referee.”
