Neil Warnock has warned Omar Bogle he will have it all to do as his Cardiff City striker prepares to sit out the next three matches following his sending off at Bristol City.
Bogle was shown a straight card at Ashton Gate as the Bluebirds lost a heated Severnside derby, 2-1, to lose ground with Wolves at the top of the Championship.
The former Wigan front man – who scored his first goal of the season against Ipswich earlier in the week – was dismissed for a reckless lunge on Marlon Park and now faces a three-game suspension.
Warnock had praised Bogle in midweek for moving from third choice to his current go-to striker in the absence of the injured Kenneth Zohore, but now the 24-year-old former non-league player is about to drop back down the pecking order.
“I can’t say anything good about Bogle’s performance because he got sent off,” said Warnock, who also had harsh words for Premier League referee Mike Jones.
“He will get a three-game ban now, so will he get back in? If he doesn’t then it’s his own fault. It’s a disgraceful tackle, as keen as he is to make an impression.
“His mistake was the deciding factor in the game. But the worse tackle in the game was by Pack on Bamba.
“It was over the top and he should have been sent off. After 48 minutes they should have been down to 10 men. It was a disgrace that he did not even give a second yellow.
“We had a Premier League referee and sometimes they are not interested in the Championship when they come down, but I expected him to be consistent, at least.
“Today, I didn’t think he was consistent with how he refereed the game. I’ll give you an example: I though the booking on Peltier in the first two or three minutes was very, very minimal.
“I though the worst tackle of the whole game was Pack on Bamba, over the top. He saw it, he knew but as he went towards him he knew that he’d booked him in the first half and must have thought ‘it’s 48 minutes, a bit early. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt’.
“He didn’t even give him a yellow card, which was a disgrace. It was the worst tackle. I’ve been told that if you’re going to cause injury you get a yellow card.
“I’ve no complaints what so ever over our red, all of my complaints are over the second yellow.
“I don’t know if it’s his reputation, or the crowd or whatever, I don’t know. We didn’t get many 50/50s and I’m disappointed. It’s ironic that Pack got done for the sending off because he shouldn’t have been on the pitch.
Robins head coach Lee Johnson had sympathy for his opposing manager.
He said: “Yeah, I can understand his [Warnock’s] thought process behind that. I think he queried that at the time with the fourth official.”
“I think it came back down the mic that the referee thought [Pack] did take the man but he did take a lot of the ball as well.
“I didn’t see the Omar Bogle tackle because the linesman was taking my line [of sight].”
Centre back Aden Flint headed a 66th-minute winner to give the Robins their victory in a thrilling and engrossing Severnside derby.
The hosts took a 20th-minute lead when Joe Bryan fed Callum O’Dowda on the right side of the box and the Republic of Ireland winger cut inside onto his left foot to find the far corner with a brilliant finish.
But Cardiff replied four minutes before the break when Junior Hoilett got the better of Hordur Magnusson on the by-line and crossed for Omar Bogle to fire home through the legs of goalkeeper Frank Fielding.
The Bluebirds were reduced to 10 men on 55 minutes when Bogle was shown a red card by referee Jones for a late challenge on Pack in the centre of the pitch.
Seven minutes later a long throw from the right by Magnusson was met by an unstoppable Flint header to put Bristol back in front and move one point behind the Bluebirds in third in the Sky Bet Championship.