Eddie Howe clearly upset by major refereeing decision which leaves Newcastle United without key man next week

To say that the officials at St James' Park had a poor game on Saturday would be an understatement; both Newcastle United and Ipswich Town had every right to be aggrieved by the standard of refereeing on display.

It felt like referee Michael Salisbury got every key decision wrong, and if it wasn't for VAR, the entire game would have been a shambles.

Ipswich Town now have Ben Johnson missing for the next game after picking up two yellow cards, one of which even we think was harsh, while Newcastle will now be without Jason Tindall in the dugout for the trip to Brighton.

The Newcastle assistant coach was given a yellow card yesterday, his third of the season, which results in a one-match touchline ban.

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Eddie Howe was baffled by Jason Tindall's yellow card

Eddie Howe returned to the dugout yesterday for the first time in three games after a bout of pneumonia, and in the post-match interviews (via The Shields Gazette), Howe admitted he still finds it difficult to shout, so he's glad he has Tindall there to do it for him, but now he won't have that luxury next week.

“Yeah, he was [booked]. It baffles me why, to be honest, because I was right there and I saw and heard everything.

“But to a degree, I think it's aimed purely at trying to stop Jason managing. But I was the one back in the dugout so I don't see the issue.”

“Yeah, again, let’s not over-egg it. The bigger blow would be losing a player. We're just there to support and help the players. And we'll still be doing that.”

Common sense was missing at St James' Park

We're not even sure what Tindall was booked for, but Eddie Howe's theory that it is aimed at stopping Mad Dog from managing is a strong one.

Surely, though, if that's the case, they can make an allowance given the fact that Howe has just come out of hospital.

But we were probably asking too much to expect common sense to prevail yesterday, given the mood Michael Salisbury was in.