Butcher: "Wrong decision by ref"

Last updated : 16 December 2007 By Paul Smith

Mr Hall didn't make his mind up until shortly after 1pm, with Notts players, officials and some supporters already at Spotland.

That left midfielder Butcher and the rest of the Notts contingent hugely disappointed, and the former Lincoln City man questioned the decision.

Butcher... Disappointed figure

"It was the wrong decision by the referee really," he said.

"There are a couple of bad patches but it is definitely playable.

"We are very disappointed and all the lads and the management were looking forward to the game after last weeks win.

"There's not a lot we can do though, the refs made a bad decision, its been called off and we look forward to Dagenham now."

Butcher admits he and the players were ready to give eighth placed Rochdale a big test and said he was confident Notts could have taken all three points.

"It's really disappointing because mentally you get yourself ready for it and we had pre-match meeting saying we want the three points and then all of a sudden it is off," he revealed.

"We were really pleased with last weeks victory and was looking forward to carry it on yesterday but we will use this week as a rest and kick on next week.

"We wanted to keep the momentum going and I thought we did really well second half (against Shrewsbury) to come back after what was another bad decision by the referee."

Butcher's manager Charlie McParland shared his six goal top scorers disappointment, mainly for the travelling contingent from Nottingham.

"I feel sorry for the fans today. It's rubbish they have to work all week and pay to travel up to Rochdale, then hear the game is off. It's a wasted day for them," he said.

"At about 1pm I got a call that the game was off. We arrived at about 1.30pm to pick the lads up and collect the kit but the referee was already on the motorway."

Rochdale and Notts are now in discussions with the Football League over when to play the fixture.











Quotes from Magpie World