Steven Naismith: It's not just Scottish referees that are bad
Scotland 2-2 Czech Republic: Match reaction from Hampden
By GARY MCDANIEL at Hampden Park
IT is fair to say that referee Kevin Blom was the main topic of discussion in the post match interviews.
There was though a mood of despondency as player after player expressed their disappointment about the result. The much heard phrase that captures the mood of most of Scotland’s qualifying campaigns over the last decade made their appearance. “We will fight on.,” and the ever popular, “we need to pick ourselves up and get a result in our next match.”
Captain Darren Fletcher got the ball rolling with his views on the referee’s performance.
“It’s frustrating as you work hard all week building up to such a massive game only to see the referee decide the match,” Fletcher added.
Liverpool defender Danny Wilson didn’t know whether to apologise or not for the late penalty award after he was adjudged to have fouled Jan Rezek in the last minute of the match.
“I didn’t touch him (Rezek) and after the match I asked him about the penalty and he agreed that I didn’t touch him.
“I got a touch of the ball. I was maybe a little naive to leave my leg there but it was a fair challenge which I wouldn’t hesitate to do again,” Wilson said.
“It’s difficult as you want to apologise to the lads but then again I don’t think I have done anything wrong.
“In history it won’t be the referee’s mistake that will be remembered, it will go down as me giving away a penalty,” the young defender added.
Steven Naismith showed his support for his former Ibrox team mate.
“It’s not Danny’s fault he got a touch on the ball, it’s clear on the TV replays. It’s also clear on the TV that Christophe Berra should have got a penalty.
“We criticise referees in our country but today showed that they are just as bad elsewhere.” Naismith assessed.
The Scotland performance did come under scrutiny in Kenny Miller’s assessment of the match.
“In truth I was just waiting for them to score in the second half as they put us under pressure as we weren't playing well at that stage.
“We fought hard and then got our noses back in front only to see the referee give that type of decision. It was like Italy of a few years ago.” Miller concluded.
The Cardiff City striker was unaware that his yellow card during the game meant he would miss Tuesday’s Lithuania match.
“I’ll stick around and give the lads all the support they need. We’ve got to dig deep and keep on going.” Miller added.
Naismith is also positive that there are better days ahead for the national team.
“We’ve come a long way under the manager and we are all obviously gutted by today’s result.
“I’m positive though for the future you look at the players who didn’t even make it on to the bench today. Snodgrass, he scored in the last match. Graham Dorrans and Stephen Crainey.
“We just need to pick ourselves up from today and review the match tomorrow and look for a better result on Tuesday.
“It might turn out that we need to go to Spain in the final match and get a result to qualify but so be it. We need to keep going and hope the Czech Republic slip-up.” Naismith concluded.
