Dave Challinor makes hilarious Paul Gascoigne comparison that Hartlepool United fans will love following Gavan Holohan's yellow card suspension against Sutton United

With Pools leading thanks to Rhys Oates’ header, the Irish midfielder was penalised for a foul on the halfway line with referee Martin Woods showing him a yellow card.

Holohan was quick to voice his dissatisfaction with the referee’s decision as he is now set to miss Hartlepool’s Tuesday night trip to Halifax Town, should the game go ahead.

But Pools boss Dave Challinor couldn’t resist making a cheeky comparison with another player who was famously suspended after being booked.

“I thought he was like Paul Gascoigne at one point where he couldn’t stop crying, I was like ‘get on with it,’” he told The Mail.

“You might miss a trip to The Shay, not a World Cup final!"

Following the match, Holohan responded to Challinor’s ‘exaggerated’ comments on Twitter and hit out at the poor standard of refereeing in the National League.

And the Hartlepool manager was quick to defend his player, who he feels has been hard done by to pick up five bookings in 18 games this season.

Pools’ next match will be the first league game Holohan has missed this season. He has currently started every match so far as the side sit second in the table.

“Gav has got five bookings but I honestly can’t remember him making a bad tackle,” Challinor added.

“I remember speaking to the assessor after the Solihull game and he told me ‘the referee booked your number 14 it wasn’t even a foul’. But you can’t do anything with bookings unfortunately, it’s one of those things and that’s what you have a squad for.

"Gav and Mols [Luke Molyneux] are suspended which gives opportunities for others. Hopefully they’ll be able to take it.

"Over the course of the season you have to be able to deal with suspensions and injuries. Most of Gav’s bookings are cheap ones which are preventable because I don’t think he’s got a tackle in him so he’ll be frustrated to miss out but we’ve just got to get on with it.”

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