Martinez hits out at referees again

Roberto Martinez could be in hot water again with the Football Association after questioning another refereeing performance.

The Wigan manager attacked referee Howard Webb after Jordi Gomez was sent off in the 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Saturday.

Gomez was shown the red card early in the second half following an over-zealous tackle on Sunderland left-back Danny Rose that led Webb to brandish a red card.

Martinez told reporters: “I think it’s harsh. It’s harsh because Danny Rose loses the ball slightly. Jordi tackles as a striker tackles, showing the studs, but he never leaves the ground. It’s not a two-footed challenge.

“I can understand why the referee gave it, but I think it’s very, very harsh. My disappointment is that (Sebastian) Larsson has made a worse tackle against (Arouna) Kone and is not even shown a yellow card.

“That’s just as you want as a manager, you want consistency for both teams. It’s down to the referee’s decision if he considers that that challenge is a red card, but then every challenge in the same manner should be a red card.

“That’s the disappointment. At the moment, we are on the back of a few bad decisions and you just need to take it in football. It happens.

“You just hope that over the course of the season, you are going to get good calls coming in our favour even though now, we find it difficult to understand that’s going to happen.”

Martinez is preparing to fight an FA charge for comments he made after the 4-0 away loss to Manchester United on September 15.

The charge relates to an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 concerning media comments which imply that the match officials are motivated by bias or have brought the game into disrepute.

Martinez was unhappy with the performance of referee Michael Oliver and he did not hold back with his criticism after the game.

“We want to come to places like this and get results like we did at other big venues last season, but you know it’s going to be a tough ask when decisions start to go against you as early as the fourth minute,” Martinez said.

However, he has denied any of his comments questioned the integrity of Oliver – who he once again admitted is a top-class official.

“I stand with what I said, it’s not like I was emotional or upset,” Martinez said.

“I was very calm about what I was saying and it’s the truth.

“I have never questioned the integrity of the referee or that it was a bias.

“We got a couple of really poor decisions that have come our way – and that has happened in the four years that I have been going to Old Trafford. But I never questioned the referee. I do like him a lot. He is a very composed referee.”

Wigan have four points from a possible 18 and sit 16th in the Premier League. Their next fixture sees them host in-form Everton next weekend.