Leicester, United Kingdom--Newcastle head coach John Carver accused defender Mike Williamson of deliberately getting sent off after his side went down 3-0 at Leicester City in the Premier League.
The centre-back was shown a second yellow card for clattering into Jamie Vardy on the touchline with 26 minutes left, before fellow defender Daryl Janmaat was also dismissed for a second bookable offence.
A Leonardo Ulloa brace, either side of a goal by captain Wes Morgan, handed Leicester a comfortable victory on Saturday that took them to within a point of their opponents in the battle to avoid relegation.
Newcastle's fans branded their players "gutless", "spineless" and "cowards" as they boarded the team bus afterwards and while Carver was similarly disappointed, he reserved his sharpest criticism for Williamson.
"I thought he meant it," Carver said. "I was standing in the technical area and he had already had a caution.
"My first reaction five seconds before is, 'Don't do it.' Vardy is off the pitch, Willo is off the pitch and the ball is off the pitch. I'm not accepting that.
"Half-time was the most animated I've been in my career. That's probably why that's happened to the two guys (who were sent off). I must have wound him (Williamson) up.
"I don't know why he'd deliberately want to get sent off. But I thought he meant it and I've told him face to face.
"I can't disagree with the fans calling us gutless and spineless. If I was in the stands, I'd be doing the same thing. If I had 11 Jack Colbacks working as hard as he worked, we'd be heroes."
AFP
