STEVE EVANS: WE RECEIVED APOLOGY FOR HOILETT INCIDENT

Mansfield claim they've received apology over failure to send off Cardiff City's Junior Hoilett after bizarre rant from boss Steve Evans
By Chris Wathan

Thursday 18th Jan 2018

The Stags boss says he's received an apology after Cardiff's 4-1 FA Cup replay win


Mansfield boss Steve Evans claims he has received an apology for a decision the Stags say helped pave the way for Cardiff City to secure their dream FA Cup clash with Manchester City.

And outspoken Evans reckons Bluebirds boss Neil Warnock has “empathy” with the League Two team after an incident that could have seen Junior Hoilett sent off BEFORE he grabbed his replay-winning brace.

Hoilett scored either side of an Anthony Pilkington strike as Cardiff took control of Tuesday night’s meeting at Field Mill after Danny Rose had cancelled out Bruno Manga’s opener, Warnock’s men sealing a 4-1 win and setting up next weekend’s anticipated sell-out visit of Premier League leaders City.

But Evans was left fuming after the game when Hoilett was shown a yellow card for an apparent two-footed challenge on the hosts’ Alex MacDonald in the first-half.

The Scottish boss raged at full-time, saying Canada wideman Hoilett should have seen red and that Manga’s header should have been ruled out for a push, adding that County Durham official Geoff Eltringham was “very, very poor”, “shocking” and that he was holding back in fear of an FA charge.

Evans predicted he would get a letter to back up his feelings, adding “but Cardiff go and play Manchester City and we go back to League Two action.”

And now he says EFL referee’s chief David Allison has apologised for the decisions, with Evans saying: “The referee’s interpretation on the evening was that the player had slipped and had no intent. This goes back to referees doing their job.

“David Allison informed me the word intent had been removed from the laws of the game back in the summer. So come on referee, get to know the rules that you apply.

“If you don’t know the laws of the game, you can’t apply them. There is no such thing as no intent. I understand the player has tried to get the ball but the reality is he’s out of control and it’s dangerous and it should have been a red card.

“Then he goes on and scored two goals – David Allison wasn’t aware that Junior Hoilett had the impact he did in the second half. I think David said ‘deary me’ – I know what I felt like saying and it wouldn’t have been ‘deary me’.”

“It doesn’t mean we’d have gone on and won the game, but I suggest Cardiff, down to 10 men and under severe pressure at that time, we possibly might have had a different result.”

Evans, though, insists he doesn’t hold the incident against Cardiff or Warnock, saying: “We wish Neil Warnock and Cardiff City every success.

"They’ve done nothing wrong – they don’t apply the laws of the game. Neil Warnock watched it back in my office after the game and let’s say he had empathy."

4-1

Jesus is he still going on !!!

Get down McDonalds and have another three cheeeseburgers and a Big Steve Meal and cheer up

Billy Bell, this guy is like a broken record. Concentrate on the league Mr Evans

Wants to watch his stress levels , he's getting redder and redder and fatter and fatter

Wants to watch his stress levels , he's getting redder and redder and fatter and fatter

Maybe he should give an apology for his fans behavior outside of the ground! lots of out of control punches ...

i take it there was no glass of wine back in Evans office..Neil had to do with the soft drinks from fatsos happy meals.

When is this fat b*stard going to go away.