‘I’m sick of them!’ – Steve Evans goes OFF at referees after Stevenage lose to Peterborough

‘I’m sick of them!’ – Steve Evans goes OFF at referees once again, this time after his Stevenage side lose 3-1 to Peterborough.

Steve Evans was not happy with the referee after Stevenage were denied a penalty in the first half of their 3-1 defeat to Peterborough.

While he accepted that the Posh were correctly awarded a penalty to allow them to go ahead, he vented anger at his side were denied a spot-kick of their own for what he adjudged to be a handball by Josh Knight after Jamie Reid headed an effort at goal on the 31st minute.

Stevenage stay in the League One playoff places by a point and also have a game in hand to the sides around them.

“You know and I know it’s not fair. I think everyone watching at home knows it’s not fair.”

Steve Evans was FUMING with the referee for not awarding Stevenage a penalty in the first half 😳 pic.twitter.com/dGtqXARIJQ

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 13, 2024

“It’s a clear penalty.”

A closer look at the Stevenage penalty claim 🧐 pic.twitter.com/xkizfztnES

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 13, 2024

He said, per Peterborough Telegraph: “Everyone at home knows the result is not a fair reflection of the game. We were by far the better team.

“We saw how clinical Posh were, they were only in our box four times and they’ve scored three goals.

“The game changes on 31 minutes when there’s a clear penalty. It’s a clear handball, it’s the denial of a clear goal scoring opportunity. The referees do it again, don’t they?

“We can come and compete with Peterborough but we can not compete when we see handballs in the box like that not given.

“I think he knows now (Carl Brook), he might have had a phone call from his wife or something but he knows now as he’s told two of my players walking off ‘I think I know I’ve missed one in the first half.’ Wow.

“I can’t accept that he couldn’t spot it, what does he get paid for? We get this every week. I’ll go away and speak to Mike and Howard at the PGMOL and we’ll get an apology and he’ll get a coaching lesson.

“Managers get the sack, referees get told to be better. Carl is a very experienced referee, he’s not got a big decision in the game to make, not one. Apart from that one in the 31st minute.

“They have a level of clinicality that makes them a special team with really good players. I don’t think they’ll have a game here at London Road for the rest of the season where a team outplays them all over the pitch for long periods.

“(Posh’s penalty) It is a penalty, the referee has seen us give away a penalty hasn’t he? They keep doing it to us.

“We have to somehow go above these decisions to get into these play-offs.

“I spoke to the second head of referee’s the other day and he said you’re top of the league for big match key decisions that go against you. We’re one further clear tonight.

“I’m sick of referees. They say respect them, I’ve got none, absolutely none anymore. What are they going to do, fine me? They can’t make me have respect. Performances get respect.

“I go away tonight looking at the 31st minute, if that’s for Posh they get a penalty.

“I’m not questioning Carl’s integrity. If he’s not got in a position to see that, then he’s got a lot of coaching to do hasn’t he? I don’t think he’s at the age where coaching is going to help him now.

“Darren Ferguson will know he’s a lucky boy when he gets home and has a glass of red.

“I wish this football club- it’s my adopted side- every success and I hope they go on and win promotion and they they win the Bristol Street trophy too.”

Meanwhile, Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson expects further punishment for Stevenage captain Carl Piergianni after an ‘assault’ on Ricky-Jade Jones.

He said, per Peterborough Telegraph: “Assault is the right word for it. It’s got to be noticed.

“It’s awful what he did there. That’s not what we want to see. I don’t mind competing but you don’t want to be seeing things like that, it clearly is an assault.

“Ricky is alright but we don’t want to see things like that from anyone, it’s not really the thing to see. I don’t know what’s going to be done about it or if he’s going to be punished, we’ll wait and see.”

Ferguson added: “We were nowhere near our normal quality, but I can’t expect us to be perfect all the time.

“What I do need is for us to find a way of winning games and we did that by being ruthless.

“We made it hard for ourselves but we still managed to overcome an opponent who were just as tough as we knew they would be. Stevenage are not sixth in the league for no reason at this stage of the season.

“We told the lads a while ago to stay in touch and get to March. I always felt this month would be pivotal and that we really had to go for it, and there’s no doubt we’ve got a chance.

“We’ll roll the players out again on Saturday against Portsmouth. It’s the sort of game you want to be involved in.

“They’ve been the best team so far, they’re bringing 4,000 with them and we need our fans more than we’ve needed them all season.”

Peterborough United vs Stevenage in @SkyBetLeagueOne tonight

Boro defender Carl Piergianni clearly elbows Ricky Jade-Jones

It’s a blatant red card and how an official didn’t see it it’s beyond me!@EFL officials in this league are 💩

Discuss👇#EFL pic.twitter.com/OWQKyLSZPz

— League 1 news (@League1news22) March 13, 2024

Twitter users reacted as Steve Evans goes OFF at referees after Stevenage lose to Peterborough…

@MalcolmKidd1: I’d be surprised to know what Mr Evans thought about one of his players giving a Peterborough player a forearm slam, because that was missed also and if seen would have been a straight red

@08obrien08: Salty lol . Missed the common assault by his player on the posh attacker 🤦.

@amwright40: Oi Steve, shall we talk about the missed red, for a deliberate elbow first.

@AlexRC077: I swear every time they lose it’s the refs fault. Your centre back literally elbowed someone 😭😭😭😭

@bluearmy2015: What about the GBH from Piergianni on the edge of the box

@johnmat44609047: There’s an irony that a manager whose team constantly use the dark arts in matches is then moaning about perceived injustice from the very refs who allow his team to employ those tactics 🤡👎

@AbramLatic: Can’t lose with class and dignity, always has to have a go at the ref when they lose. Every L1 fan will tell you the standard of refs in our league is possibly the worst its ever been, they’re bad for us all. Funny how he missed Piergianni elbowing the P’Boro player though…

@scottmottram: You should have been down to 10 men before that, Funny how Steve doesn’t see the blatant elbow from his CB

@JasonCoombs14: Zero humility. Odious. Imagine having that manage your club.

@Cricket1406: Cheap from sky sports not to challenge him as to why Piergianni stayed in the pitch. The man is a thug.

@beevis71: A forearm smash on Ricky Jade Jones, was that fair

@LesLk52: What a whinger he never stops moaning funny he didn’t talk about Piergannis elbow attack that went unpunished

@jordandavies09: Couldn’t have happened to a worse bloke

@MichaelRealReed: Salty Steve back again

@OliverTurner1: Steve Steve Steve. Stop playing the victim card. Your CB pretty much assaulted RJJ off the ball, defo red if the ref sees it – Guess that cancels out the handball. You threw the kitchen sink at Posh & lost 3-1 – don’t give me outplayed – more an aerial bombardment, not football!

@Hamptonposh: Deluded berk whose teams play a dirty bullying game, not football. It worked in the 1st half for them but class showed in the 2nd half for Posh. Thank goodness I don’t have to watch them every week. Sympathies to Stevenage fans!

@Jimbokav1971: Why didn’t he talk about the forearm smash after about 15 mins by Piergianni? Neither I nor commentators saw handball he’s talking about, and he himself admits that he didn’t think the EMC penalty was a penalty the 1st time he saw it. Weird take from weird bloke. ⚽️

@Mimi__89x: Woah woah woah.. take your “should have been a penalty at 31 mins” and rewind back to the 17th where Piergianni smashes RJJ in the face… what about that one then Steve? 😅 we know you’re secretly fist pumping a posh win tonight anyway 😂😂🫶🏼

@BwindLFC: He’s spot on here, players get dropped managers get sacked, refs…… get away with it all the time

@aw7794: Guys moaning about a handball when his captain planted an elbow on RJJ off the ball 😂😂 You’ve got to love the bloke. He’s got Stevenage fans singing from his hymn sheet as well.

@tmoffi94: I watched the entire game and can’t for the life of me grasp what decision he’s talking about. The fat man was going bananas over the posh penalty during the game too, which was clear as day. Obviously realised he’d have looked stupid as fuck if he moaned about that.

@DanSFCKeen: I know we defended like morons, but he’s not wrong

@jamie_ward84: Yes, it was a penalty, but Stevenage clearly should’ve had a man sent off in the 17th minute. Odd how he chooses not to mention that…

@connor_mh: Such a embarrassing man honestly 😭with the game broadcasted everyone saw that your centre back should’ve been sent off for the elbow on the Peterborough player, was that fair then Evans? Always the referees fault with him