Everything David McCallum said to the media after a 3-1 defeat by Celtic where his team had three men sent off.
The turning point in the game was the first red card, have you reviewed it?
I was able to see it at the time as we have the video at the side of the pitch.
And what would your conclusion be?
A ridiculous decision. If you want to make big decisions you have to get them right. It's clear the ball is at very worst over the line, as in on the line as he catches it. And the next step takes it into the box. So we see a big decision like that at that stage of the game. We were excellent up until that point and clearly ahead in terms of how we're controlling the chances created and that moment changes the game.
In terms of those three men sent off, it wasn't like a confrontational game?
No. Far from it. Like I said, I keep going back to this that this is probably the flagship game of the league in terms of us. Playing against each other, both here and away from home. And you get big crowds, bigger crowds than in a lot of divisions across the country. If we're going to get big games like this then the officials need to get it right. They need to get it right. And that decision at that point [was crucial]. He keeps telling me in a good position. If he's in a good position, he needs to make the right call and that's the wrong call. So, wrong call and a game that was good. It was a good spectacle to watch. That [decision] killed it. It kills it.
What were your thoughts on debutant Thompson Ishaka?
I enjoyed watching him, I think probably most folk would enjoy watching him. You can see he loves looking after the ball. He loves taking people on. He's got a trick, he's strong. We're trying to get him a little more energetic and get his fitness level up a little bit. That’ll take time and unfortunately at this stage of the season, time is just running out a little bit, but there’s a lot, to be excited about with Thompson and again I'll get back to that decision. We take a player off the pitch because of a decision that we can't control. And that's tough for the boy that you're taking off. It's tough for Bud to get sent off. It's tough for players on that pitch to find a way to control the game and make sure we try and control the possession. So like I said, there's a lot of things in that game that we can control and things that we can't, unfortunately. Things that we can’t are what has cost us.
Can you elaborate about what the referee said when you spoke to him?
It was the linesman I spoke to. He said he was in a good position to see it. I said if you're in a good position, you get it right. You need to get it right. And he's got it wrong. I've said within seconds. I can see it and get you can talk about VAR etcetera but he’s 10 yards away from where it happened. He's 10 yards away from what happened. If you're that close to where it is, you can't get it wrong.
What's the message in the changing room to the players after the game like that?
It's difficult because they they know at half time how good they were. And they know at half time what happened leading up to that point. There's a lot of credit to players in controlling their emotions. There's a lot of feeling from us at the side of the pitch when you're you've not got the ball, but it's difficult when you’re playing against an extra man and then two as the game went on. It's difficult to get to that point where you want to go. But you do. You've got that feeling inside you where the players want to go after the ball. They have to be patient and try and find the right times. They’ve expended a lot of energy out there. A lot of mental energy as well. Because it's a tough, tough afternoon. Sometimes you've not played well and you have to hold your hands up. For us today, today that wasn't the case. I'd love to see the second-half to go the way it was in the first half and if we get a deserved sending-off, we deal with it. You deal with it. Today, that wasn't the case.
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Do you have a word for Jamie Lyall today after a wonderful goal?
Yeah, he's done well today. Again, he scored an excellent goal. I know why you ask about him but I'm probably in the mind I don't want to really talk an individual because I just feel that the group today tried to be like a Rangers team at the right times. If I go back, they were excellent the first half, all of them. Arron was part of that with his goal. I'm right behind it where it kind of whistles in, it's a fantastic strike. The keeper was never saving it. The one in the second-half, he could do better. But I will look through the group and I just thought to a man, in the first 40 minutes we're finding a level where they are finding it hard to control us. My only criticism would be we didn’t do enough to convert the chances because I thought we did enough to put ourselves in a better position before we get to the sending-off. I have to say as well, I thought the fans were excellent because they recognised our backs were against the wall and that the decisions we're going against us. I thought the fans were really supportive of the players and that's appreciated from the guys in there as well because they need that when it's tough. I'm just so disappointed, so angry that a game has gone the way it’s gone because of something we can't control.
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