Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear blames 'Mickey Mouse' ref for Fulham defeat

Furious Joe Kinnear branded Martin Atkinson as "Mickey Mouse" after accusing the referee of costing Newcastle victory at Craven Cottage.

With the score at 1-1, Toon's interim boss claimed Atkinson missed a clear push by Andy Johnson on Claudio Cacapa before the Fulham forward won a 65th-minute penalty.

Danny Murphy stepped forward to convert the kick which saw Newcastle slide back into the relegation zone, despite winning their previous two games.

"I'm just really sick we didn't get anything from this game," Kinnear said. "If anyone was going to win that game it was going to be us.

"If we'd had a proper referee we'd have come away with something. It was just a Mickey Mouse ref doing nothing. It was a push, prior to their penalty, and he just goes and ignores it.

"Cacapa went over too easily for a centre-half, for sure. And it was a penalty - it was a silly challenge by Fabricio Coloccini.

"But Johnson completely pushes Cacapa out of the way. It's a push with straight hands.

"The ref's made an error that has cost us."

Get your hands on this week's estimated jackpot of £100,000 by playing the New Football Pools .

Find out what our resident Premier League fan bloggers think - and let them know your views.

Follow every Premier League game live with our brilliant Match Tracker .