The Swansea City manager was vocal with his criticism of the way that Southampton’s players went about their duty on the day and criticised the referee after the game for failing to take a hold of the match.
Martinez said โYou need a strong referee at this stage of the season and I felt that some of the physicality was over the line
โThere was an incident when the referee was going to send another player off and then he changed his mind. My players didnโt get the protection that they deserved.
โFootball is a contact sport and we all know it has to be physical, but thereโs a thin line where the referee needs to stamp his authority and he didnโt do that well.
โIf you step over the line you should be punished but I thought Southampton got away with it.”
However, Wotte hit back and said โI respect Roberto Martinez because he is a very good manager but he should not be on the touchline asking for yellow or red cards.
โThis attitude is not what I expect of a quality coach, but I know there were also some Swansea players looking for yellow or red cards.
โWe know that if you let Swansea pass then you are in trouble so we made more tackles than passes.
โItโs OK with me because this is Championship football. Weโre in a battle and my players were like warriors.โ