John Mousinho strongly criticized referee Sunny Gill’s officiating during Portsmouth’s 2-0 victory at Lincoln on Saturday. The Blues’ boss expressed his deep disappointment with the referee’s management of the match, indicating that he thought Gill lost control of the game at one point. Mousinho’s frustration stemmed from what he considered a poorly handled match, contributing to a tense atmosphere and impacting the flow of play at LNER Stadium. Despite the win, Mousinho’s dissatisfaction with the officiating was clear, and he suggested that the referee’s performance was far from satisfactory.
Portsmouth boss John Mousinho criticized referee Sunny Gill’s management of the match against Lincoln City, stating that the official had lost control at some point during the game. Mousinho expressed his frustration with Gill’s handling of various situations, suggesting that the referee’s decisions negatively impacted the flow and outcome of the match. He highlighted specific instances where he felt the referee’s calls were questionable or inconsistent, emphasizing that these contributed to the tension and ultimately affected the team’s performance. Despite the disappointment, Mousinho encouraged his team to focus on their gameplay and not let the refereeing influence their commitment to success.
Mousinho’s criticism followed an afternoon that saw Gill produce 13 yellow cards. Seven of those were issued to Pompey players, while three were dished out to members of the Blues dugout. That included Mousinho himself – who was booked in the first half following an incident involving Myles Peart-Harris and Lincoln’s Ben House – plus his assistant, Jon Harley, and goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo.
Pompey fans on X, formerly known as Twitter, were quick to express their dissatisfaction with referee Sunny Gill’s performance during Portsmouth’s match against Lincoln City. The disallowed goal in the first half, where Lincoln’s goalkeeper Lukas Jensen collided with Colby Bishop, was a particular point of contention among supporters. Many fans criticized the referee’s decision to rule out the goal, arguing that it was an incorrect call and indicative of broader issues with Gill’s officiating. The backlash on social media reflected the widespread feeling among Pompey fans that the referee’s judgment significantly impacted the game.
And that’s an approach Mousinho adopted at the final whistle when he was asked about the ref’s display.
He was clearly still reeling from what he witnessed when BBC Radio Solent’s Andy Moon joked that Zesh Rehman was the only member of the Pompey coaching team not to get booked. Yet, that prompted a one-minute, 39-second rant from Mousinho as he aired his frustrations.
We’re not particularly thrilled with our behaviour or the fact we got the yellow cards,’ admitted Mousinho.
‘It’s difficult here at Lincoln (where the distance between the technical areas is bigger than most grounds) because we’re encouraged to talk to the fourth officials, but then we’re told we can’t come out of our technical areas.
‘So there were two decisions in the first half, very early on. One on Jack Sparkes in front of the away fans and one then where their left-sided centre-back just caught the ball and then for some bizarre reason it.
‘I walked to go talk to the fourth official and he said “that’s your last warning, you’re going to have to stay in your technical area”. And then I got booked for trying to calm Myles down, which I think is absolutely bizarre because I thought the referee had lost complete control of the game at that point.
‘He’s booked me for going on the pitch – I saw the entire Lincoln staff on the pitch at various times during the game. I just don’t get it, there’s no consistency whatsoever, no consistency.
‘What summed it up for me, which summed up the whole day, was when their goalkeeper went down in the first half. The referee has stopped play and we’ve got the ball in the back of the net – he’s stopped play, the goalkeeper’s went down!
‘When Will (Norris) has gone down in the second half, he’s let play go on. What on earth am I supposed to do with that? What on earth am I supposed to say to my staff who are incensed because they want to win the game.
