Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell was 'baffled' by the inconsistency shown by referee Ross Hardie in his side's 4-0 defeat to Celtic, with the Fir Park boss also taking issue with the way that the match official spoke to his players.
Kettlewell was angered as Motherwell winger Tawanda Maswanhise was cautioned for simulation in the first half of the contest at Celtic Park after going down under a challenge from Hyun-jun Yang, feeling that while there may not have been enough contact for a penalty, his player also hadn't dived.
Yang then won a spot kick at the other end after referee Hardie judged that contact on his back from Motherwell keeper Aston Oxborough merited a penalty award.
Arne Engels subsequently tucked the ball home from 12 yards to give Celtic the lead right at the end of an otherwise uneventful first half, but while Kettlewell didn't blame the officials for his side's eventual defeat, he was far from pleased with the way they handled the match.
"Again, this is where I'm left baffled," Kettlewell said.
"I don't think it's a penalty, but it's not a dive. He has not tried to buy a penalty. He's running at pace, the Celtic player is touch tight. I would say that there is some sort of contact there, but not enough for a penalty in my opinion, and the referee instantly books him and regards it simulation.
"I'm kind of blown away by that, I really am. I think we've probably all seen at the time that it was close. Are we claiming for a penalty? I think you naturally do instantly, but very quickly after it, I didn't feel there was a penalty, but I certainly don't think JT's took a dive at that stage.
"That's incredibly frustrating because it comes back to this level of consistency in the decisions that we make, that we see that completely different from, for example, the Celtic penalty. I struggle to see that there's a ridiculous amount more contact in either situation. I certainly don't think JT's was a penalty, and I think it's a complete overreaction to give him a yellow card.
"Probably one of the things that I come away feeling a wee bit aggrieved with, because I feel we've got a really honest bunch of players, what they were a wee bit irked with today was by the referee's demeanour and how he communicates with them.
"I've went on record a number of times saying that if you speak to someone in the appropriate fashion, then I think you'll get better reactions from players. I don't think you'll get as much petulance and as much firing at the referee.
"Genuinely, the players felt that that's been better over the course of the season than what it was. That's nothing to do with the decisions, but it's probably just a wee feeling for me that we can all have a conversation.
"Sometimes we'll disagree, sometimes we'll fall out, but I just think that that communication element is so important.
"I'll take my bit on that as well. I can be a bit emotional, so can football players, but sometimes you just need to put it on a level and almost not having the mannerisms as if you're a kid at school to waft you away from situations.
"Communicate, speak, give players an understanding of what your thought process was and I'm sure they'll respect you.
"I know as a player that I always did with the referees that communicated the best with us and it was one thing that they spoke about in the dressing room after it.
"Nothing to do with the result whatsoever, but again if we're trying to chip away at making this better, communication is vital. And I think that the communication has been good off the pitch with the likes of Willie Collum. I think we can still work towards improving it on the pitch."
