Fulham manager Chris Coleman came away from the 3-2 loss at Middlesbrough saying: ‘I’m gutted. I’m a bit disappointed in our naivety at times when we defend, I was a bit disappointed with the second goal in particular, but again I’m sick of coming away from home and playing well and coming away with nothing because it’s a bitter pill to swallow.’
The boss added: ‘Generally our performance was good again, it’s just on certain occasions in the game we have got to learn to shut up shop, it’s as simple as that. That starts with your defence and if we are prepared to do that, then we are okay. Coming away from home and scoring two goals, I don’t expect to be going away empty-handed in any game we play. I certainly don’t expect to concede three goals in any game we play away from home or not, and that disappointed me.’
He also questioned the referee’s decisions in the game. He felt that Yakubu should have been ruled offside for his goal after Hasselbaink’s shot rebounded off him: ‘Look at my players’ reaction. They can tell. I know he’s a human being, but you have got a linesman and a referee. Uriah Rennie is in a good position, as far as I can see, there are not loads of players in front of him. His comment to Brian McBride was he cannot overrule the linesman – he’s the boss, he bosses the game, he makes the decisions. In fairness to the linesman, and the angle he had – from what I have seen – Yakubu was on the other side of Hasselbaink, so maybe it was a little bit shady for him.’
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