Paul Heckingbottom vented in a furious rant on ‘bang out of order’ decisions as Preston lose to Birmingham on Tuesday night.
Phil Neumann scored the decisive goal, his 33rd-minute header from Alex Cochrane’s free-kick secured Birmingham’s first win in five games.
Despite a strong second-half push from the Lilywhites, with Daniel Jebbison nearly levelling the scoreline, Birmingham’s defence held firm, with Neumann producing a crucial clearance.
There was controversy however, with Paul Heckingbottom venting over decisions by referee Lewis Smith after the game, taking issue with Phil Neumann’s winner and slammed the non-award of a stoppage-time penalty for Eiran Cashin’s challenge on Lewis Dobbin.
Have we just gotten away with one there? pic.twitter.com/kFRtBEGdlQ
— CMF (@Ohffs1984) October 21, 2025
Heckingbottom said, per Birmingham Mail: “They shouldn’t be able to allow that much influence on a game of football, it’s scandalous really. Anyone who watches us knows we are referred to a different standard than everyone else and you can see that there today. You know you’re in trouble when you can see from the half-way line what’s happening.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about it all, but when I’m looking back I feel I have to defend the club and the players and the fans. It’s scandalous really. You’re looking at the first free kick, Odel (Offiah) wins the ball, comes away with the ball and (they’re) saying he’s caught Keshi Anderson in the face with his hand.
“They put the ball in, he scores with his arm. So we’re up against it, but we performed really well and we’re on top. A few minutes later Ben (Whiteman) gets – not a hand in the face – a swinging elbow in the face, busts his lip. Tommy Doyle’s nowhere near any of the ball; we had Sam Greenwood sent off for that last year, not in the box.
“Lewis Dobbin’s dragged down once he’s gone around Cashin… Cashin knows he can’t get there, hooks his arm round Lewis , drags him to the floor. And then back to what they were giving the free kick for, apparently it’s not a penalty on Milly because the ‘keeper got some of the ball, when he punched him with two fists in the face.
“So, Odel got all of the ball, maybe caught him with his little finger and they get a free kick. This is my point, it’s just not good enough. We are reffed to a different standard, we’ve seen it over and over again, last season and this season. But these incidents are just rife amongst football.
“This is supposedly the fifth best league in the world and that, what we as Preston North End are given there, it’s bang out of order. None of those should happen. To be fair, that’s (Dobbin) the one I couldn’t see properly from the other side. I could see our reaction, the players, but because he’s hooked his arm and I’m that side, I couldn’t see the hook.
“I said to the staff, I said to Bobby the fourth, it’s pointless (trying to speak to them). You don’t speak to them because the problem is once they know, and I’ve suffered from this so many times, once you’ve proved them wrong and you’ve got them in a corner, they just send you off. That’s it, it’s pointless, so I’m done speaking to them but we have to have them on the pitch.”
Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire:
“First and foremost, let’s talk about the players – they were magnificent. I was really proud of them.
“Our keeper hasn’t had a save to make, we’ve had 13 or 14 shots, 40-odd crosses. Everything we did was fantastic.
“But they (referees) shouldn’t be allowed to have that much influence on a game of football. It’s scandalous. Anyone knows that we are refereed to a different standard than anyone else and you could see that.
“You know you are in trouble when you can see what’s happening from the halfway line.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but I feel I’ve got to defend the club and the players.”
Birmingham City boss Chris Davies told BBC WM:
“I said to the players, ‘If you are going to win a game, then win a game like that.’
“There’s nothing really better than that. To dig in, be together as a team and see it out against a bombardment of long balls.
“It was a good away performance. I thought we started brightly. We looked a threat and scored a good goal from a set-piece.
“As the game wore on we faced some pressure but I was really pleased with the way the players defended that lead.
“And I’m really pleased for Phil Neumann. He’s settling into a new club and a new environment and that will give him a lot of confidence.
“This was an important win for us, the team – and the whole squad.”
Here’s how fans reacted with Paul Heckingbottom in a furious rant on ‘bang out of order’ decisions as Preston lose to Birmingham…
@CarlCharnley: Not a bad performance but a shocking result especially after Saturday. Hekki got the starting 11 completely wrong. We desperately need another striker we ain’t getting in playoffs starting with jebbison and smith upfront. Just hope we aren’t out of it by time Jan transfer comes.
@ChrisCarter90: He’s right regarding the refs cos it is literally every game with us we’re on the wrong end of it, so it’s hard to not feel there’s an agenda against us, but the manager himself got it all wrong last night with his selection & played into their hands for 65 minutes, that’s on him
@pj895: As much as I want to blame the ref it’s on Hecky tonight. Bizarre line up and took far too long to make any changes!
@adam_alcock: Don’t disagree with PH. The referring this season has been awful, nothing seems to change. Seen similar poor officiating in other Championship games this season too. Time to welcome VAR unless things improve @pnefc
@KeatonFisher19: Well said Hecky. Probably gonna get a ban or a fine whilst that smelly little twat of a ref will be back on the field next week “referring” a game
@mickyh01: Long balls into the box hoping they land on one your players heads every 2 mins is not dominating a game mate 🤣🤣
@AdamProcter67: 100% correct- referred was playing for Birmingham. Totally inept or biased but either way a disgrace
@LouisFinne52395: You had some decisions go against you but to say Preston are refereed to a different standard is hilarious, we’ve had this shit all season it’s the first time it’s gone our way ffs 😂
@CReynolds85: Stop moaning, take some responsibility and pick a starting lineup with an ounce of creativity in it at home.
@SherpaVegan: Didn’t score though did we? If we know we get reffed to a different standard we need to take matters into our own hands. We don’t score enough goals. We don’t get points when we go behind. Blame the ref all you want but we need to do better.
@PaulMck77835369: Yes the referee was poor but let’s not let it detract from our inability to cross the ball or create good chances, and as for us being “ reffed to a different standard “, we’ll Im sure most other teams would have the same gripe!
