Coleman fumes at officials after costly defeat to Bolton - 7M sport

Coleman fumes at officials after costly defeat to Bolton



Posted Wednesday, February 21, 2018 by PA

Coleman fumes at officials after costly defeat to Bolton

Chris Coleman blasted referee David Coote’s performance as Bolton dumped Sunderland to the foot of the Sky Bet Championship with a 1-0 win at the Macron Stadium.

On-loan striker Zach Clough netted the only goal after 17 minutes – his first since returning to the club from Nottingham Forest last month.

But Coleman and his team were convinced Clough’s final touch came off his hand.

“We get given a throw-in by the referee but the linesman flags and says it was handball,” explained an angry Coleman.

“He says Billy Jones picked up the ball on the pitch but he was off the pitch. And I say that after looking at it and looking at it.

“From the resulting free-kick it is handball by one of their players but the goal is given.

“You can’t blame us for being slightly frustrated with decisions like that. But I thought he (the referee) was indecisive all night.

“He got it drastically wrong on both counts. It was a bizarre decision.

“I never ever make excuses for my team. If we play badly I will say that. But I can’t say we deserved to lose that game.

“I thought it was a bit more like it from us in terms of performance. We did everything but put the ball in the net.”

Sunderland are three points adrift of the safety line and Coleman added: “There are probably four teams in it now so we have got to keep it nice and tight.”

Bolton are four points clear of the drop after their win but manager Phil Parkinson – who claimed he had not seen a replay of Clough’s contentious winner – is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “If we have had a bit of fortune (with the goal) then the people who follow Bolton will say it’s long overdue.

“We said nothing will be decided on this game but with Sunderland below us in the table it is a huge win.

“We had to work so hard for it. Sunderland gave everything and so did we. It was two really honest teams.

“We made six changes and played a lot of players who hadn’t played a lot of football of late. And at times we showed signs of fatigue as a team.

“But we dug really deep and I have got to credit the character of the lads.

“The onus was on us. People expected us to win and that’s a different kind of pressure but we handled it well.”

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