Aston Villa boss Tony Xia has asked whether referee Jeremy Simpson is an ‘AV hater’ after sending off defender Neil Taylor during the club’s recent 1-0 victory over Bolton.
Steve Bruce’s side still managed to secure their fourth consecutive win in the Championship on Saturday afternoon after Jonathan Kodjia scored the only goal of the match from the penalty spot.
Taylor, 28, was shown a straight red by the referee after he fouled Bolton’s Adam Le Fondre in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Xia appeared to completely disagree with the decision and took to social media to express his thoughts on the matter.
“Is the ref a AV hater? Not our day but 3 points only matters. Need keep going after the break. Consistency is the key this season,” the Villa owner wrote on his personal Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/Dr_TonyXia/status/914160976013828097
Despite Taylor’s red card, the team’s performance moves the club up to seventh place in the Championship standings and just one point away from being in the top six.
The emphatic win means that Steve Bruce’s side now remain unbeaten in their last eight league games.
OPINION
While Tony Xia may be feeling the same frustrations as Aston Villa fans, his tweet is extremely unprofessional. It is one thing to say that you disagree with the referee’s decision, but to brand him an ‘AV hater’ was the complete wrong decision on the owners behalf. The Chinese businessman has been known for his vocal tweets, but he must learn that his comments can rile fans up and look as though he is trying to gain some kind of reaction from the supporters. If he disagree’s with the ref’s decision then he needs to speak to club officials to appeal the red card, not plaster it all over Twitter.