Jordan upset at referee

Portsmouth assistant-manager Joe Jordan has accused referee Mark Clattenburg of making a “big meal” of the situation leading to the late dismissal from the dugout of under-fire boss Alain Perrin.

Pompey slumped to their fourth defeat in seven Barclays Premiership matches this season to pile the pressure on Perrin, who was in the firing line following his side’s midweek Carling Cup exit at the hands of League One Gillingham.

The visitors were sunk 1-0 after a spectacular first-half strike from midfielder Kevin Nolan, scoring his second goal of the season with an exquisitely executed overhead kick.

Despite the fine finish, replays showed provider Kevin Davies was offside in nodding back Henrik Pedersen’s high, hanging ball to the far post.

That proved to be the only goal of the game and enough to lift Bolton up to third as they have now taken 13 points from the last 15 on offer.

But the match ended in controversial fashion when Perrin was given his marching orders by Clattenburg after apparently gesticulating to the official following a touchline incident involving Brian Priske.

The Dane had appeared to take a throw in from the wrong position, with frustration boiling over as he then made his feelings known to a linesman, resulting in Clattenburg issuing a caution.

That in turn led to the show of disgust from Perrin, with his dismissal not helping his cause as the Frenchman is bound to come under closer scrutiny.

Perrin refused to speak after the match and instead left Jordan to comment, and the Scot said: “The manager’s frustration built up towards the end.

“Things really developed from nothing. The referee has made a big meal of a throw-in.

“All he had to do was indicate to the player (Priske) where to take the throw-in from.

“The fact was we maybe had a last opportunity to get a goal from that, but the referee has called it back and killed it.

“It has affected the player and he has got booked for nothing.

“If the referee had clarified the situation the player wouldn’t have got booked, we could have got the throw-in and the manager wouldn’t have got upset either.”

When asked to clarify why Perrin was dismissed, Jordan added: “I don’t think it was for anything he said. I think it was a gesture.

“There was nothing said. Nothing whatsoever.”

This latest defeat intensifies the focus on Perrin, with Jordan feeling the side could have potentially taken a point.

“We’re all a bit frustrated and a bit disappointed, and I think I speak on behalf of everybody when I say that,” he added.

“The goal was a bit hard on us because we thought it was offside.”

Understandably, Bolton boss Sam Allardyce was more than happy with Nolan’s finish as he said: “It was a fantastic goal, with Kevin showing great skill and technique.

“That settled our nerves a little bit, although there were a couple of edgy moments after that, and in particular towards the end.

“By rights he should have seen the game off for us with the easiest chance of the match later on, but I will let him off because the goal was of the highest quality and it has got us three points.”

Allardyce’s pleasure was tempered however, by the fact that Gary Speed and Nicky Hunt have joined a growing injury list with back and ankle injuries respectively.

Allardyce went into this game without Radhi Jaidi, Abdoulaye Faye, Ivan Campo and Ricardo Vaz Te, and now this latest double blow adds to his worries ahead of the return leg of his side’s UEFA Cup first-round tie against Lokomotiv Plovdiv on Thursday.