John Lundstram apologised to the Hull City fans after feeling like he had cost them in their 2-1 loss to Sheffield United, after being sent off when leading 1-0
Acun Ilicali sent John Lundstram a public message after Hull City lost to Sheffield United(Image: PA)
Acun Ilicali believes Hull City had “three points stolen” by “terrible referee decisions” during their 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United.
City led until the 85th minute at Bramall Lane after an early Oli McBurnie opener against his former club. However, the hosts scored twice in three minutes late on, first through a Gustavo Hamer penalty after referee John Brooks penalised Hull when they were defending a corner kick.
Sergej Jakirovic‘s side were down to 10 men at the time after the sending off of John Lundstram for a second bookable offence. The former Blades midfielder apologised on social media afterwards.
Posting on Instagram, he said: “I never ever do this, but I’m sorry to the Hull fans today, fine margins decide games and I feel I cost us today I apologise!…..”
“The reception from the blades [sic] fans hurt a lot today also, I don’t understand the hostility, I absolutely love the club, gave everything I had for the club and was part of maybe the best Sheffield United team in history. I left because I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to change mine and my families [sic] lives.
“I just wanted to apologise to the hull [sic] fans and say I love Sheffield United and it will always hold a special place in my heart! Lunny”
Ilicali responded to his player on X. The owner’s post reads: “Dear Lunny, We are still feeling the pain of the three points stolen from us today.
“We believe that the most important thing today that we need to talk about is losing three points by terrible referee decisions. On an afternoon filled with disappointment for us, as I read your statement, I would expect it to be more about the injustice on the pitch and less about the disappointment you felt from the fans of your former club.
“We are a big family, we have one dream. We have a great team, strong coach and the best fans fully focused on reaching the playoffs. I hope you’ll feel better in the future with the genuine love and support from our Hull City (with capital H) fans.”
Jakirovic also spoke about the decisions afterwards. Addressing the red card for Lundstram, he said: “the reason why he gets the yellow is because the referee is in the way and he knows that. It’s a foul, completely a foul, but you don’t have to give a yellow because you are the reason why he was late on the ball.
“The penalty, I don’t know what happened there. From my position, I saw six players on the ground. You can see this every game, 10 penalties like this.”
Lundstram’s first booking followed a melee with Mark McGuinness. Jakirovic said: “I don’t know why he got the yellow card. This guy attacked him. If somebody attacks you, you will stay down, ‘kick me one more time’, like the song by Britney Spears, you have your reaction, and you have your limits.”
Hull’s head coach did not seek an explanation from referee Brooks afterwards. Jakirovic said: They don’t want to speak with you, and this is a very big problem, for all the head coaches, not just for me. We have a pre-match meeting, and every time they say we can ask the referee if we have any questions, but then you ask like I ask the wall, nothing.
“Imagine if you are in my place, and you ask something, they ignore you. I don’t know what the purpose of the pre-match meeting was, and if the captain is approaching you and asks what is your decision, they say ‘go away, penalty’.
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