It was nice to see Neil Warnock upbeat for the Sky TV cameras following our 1-0 win over Millwall, however he later launched into a withering attack on referee Mark Halsey following Luke Varney's dismissal.

The Leeds boss said: "I thought we were very short-changed. I thought we did all right in the circumstances - we tried to win the game. At half-time we changed it a bit and it lasted two minutes.

"The amount of effort that's gone into the game and we're talking about a refereeing decision - it's scandalous.

"When you watch the sending off again, we don't have thousands of Millwall fans screaming at us. It's not caught him where he's holding when he's gone down.

"I wish we did it more - you might call it cheating, but I've seen Adam Drury get topped - and keep going. He should go down and roll, shouldn't he? We don't get free-kicks, and we wonder why.

"Referees aren't as consistent - they've gone backwards, I think. I didn't think someone of Mark Halsey's quality and experience would have gone straight for his red card, and I think he'll be disappointed when he sees it, but that will do us no good.

"I'm looking forward to the next few games - I think we can start with 11 men, can't we?"

In my opinion, when Managers start blaming the referee they are on the slippery slope to the sack. However on this occasion like last weekend when referee Trevor Kettle red-carded Jason Pearce, I feel Warnock has been betrayed by the profession which he bizarrely can count himself part of. Warnock is himself a qualified referee.

The elephant in the room and the biggest betrayal is the takeover fiasco. In yesterday's Yorkshire Evening Post, Warnock struck a chord with many fans when he said: “It’s difficult times at the moment.

“I’ve got to try and be as diplomatic as possible, considering how I feel, but it’s extremely difficult to get anything done or to get any answers. I’m basically like a supporter who knows a little bit more.

“You’re almost in a straightjacket. The club’s got to move on, the sooner the better.

“Until it happens, no matter what anyone tells me, I won’t really believe anything. I don’t think I can.”

On Thursday it appeared that Leeds were finally going to slip into the ownership of GFH capital and a statement was issued to that effect, however it was countered by a Leeds United statement saying all that had happened was the period of "exclusivity" has been extended.

It seems unlikely that any of the fresh blood Warnock needs will arrive before the future ownership of the club is sorted out and with the emergency loan market closing on Thursday Warnock's comments that he hopes to get "one or two over the line" are optimistic to say the least!

I would not even lay odds on the deal being sorted out in time for the January transfer window and by then I feel Leeds will be too far adrift to consider promotion a remote possibility.

Given Ken Bates bluster about requiring proof of funds in a London bank account, it seems extraordinary that GFH who, according to the experts are not cash rich but asset rich on paper have managed to spend six months round the negotiating table with Bates!

Add into the mix rumoured rival bidders from Saudi Arabia and America, then the only certainty is this saga may still be rumbling on long after the Christmas decorations are put back in the attic again!

Photo: Action Images

TimWhelan added 18:25 - Nov 19 I hope that Leeds are going to make an appeal against this Varney red card, but surprisingly that hasn't been mentioned on the official site. Last night I went onto a Millwall messageboard to see what they thought of it, and amongst all the predictable rubbish a 'Wall fan who was sat close to the incident said he was "surprised to see the red card.
0

Southampton Polls