To be fair to those criticising the ref, despite all the harassment from the opposition, his eyes were on the linesman waiting for confirmation of the penalty. That's what they are there for and the right decision was made - it was a clear penalty!! Do we think Brannagan and others would have acted any differently if their keeper had twatted one of our players in the box?
Whilst I agree it is a penalty, I wouldn't want Brannagan or any of our players actually manhandling the Ref like their player did.