Dundee Utd 3-0 Inverness CT: Officials a disgrace - John Robertson
- Published
Inverness CT manager John Robertson was sent to the stand during his team's defeat
Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Robertson branded the "arrogance" of Scottish officials as a "disgrace" after his side were condemned to another season in the Championship.
Robertson was sent off after Dundee United were awarded a penalty in his side's 3-0 Scottish Premiership play-off semi-final defeat at Tannadice.
The 4-0 aggregate loss loss ends the Highlanders' chances of promotion.
"I've had enough; I'm happy to go all the way with it," Robertson said.
"This can't be allowed to go on. The inconsistency of the refereeing is incredible. It might sound like sour grapes, and it is a wee bit tonight, but the standard is poor."
'They can ban me for as long as they want'
With United 1-0 up from the first leg, Nicky Clark scored the spot-kick after Brad McKay was controversially deemed to have handled Peter Pawlett's shot.
Osman Sow added a second just after the break to effectively kill the tie, and Pavol Safranko rolled in a late third.
"The attitude of the fourth official and his language towards us was a disgrace," Robertson said of David Lowe.
"He told us to speak to him so we spoke to him, and then after the decisions, we weren't to speak to him, we were to speak to the referee.
"I was told at half-time [by the officials] that I've lost the plot, I'm kicking bottles, smashing bottles.
"I wasn't irate. I flicked a bottle and it flicked the back of his calf from about three yards away, and you get sent for the stand for that?"
Inverness CT were reduced to 10 men in the first leg of the tie when midfielder Liam Polworth was dismissed for catching Mark Connolly with a high boot.
Robertson voiced his frustration after that and says he is no longer concerned about whether he will be punished by the Scottish FA.
"I don't care," he said. "They can ban me for as long as they want. I'm going to start speaking out now because I've had enough of it."
"Tonight, we were arguably the better team, then it's taken out of our hands."