COTTERILL SLAMS REF FOR SOFT RED
Hitman Sam sent off after early goal
BLUES boss Steve Cotterill labelled Sam Gallagher’s two yellow cards as “the softest you will see in your life’’.
The Birmingham scorer was harshly dismissed in the 67th minute, referee Oliver Langford punishing Gallagher for a foul on Sunderland striker James Vaughan after booking him 11 minutes earlier for diving when he went down in the box in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter.
Lewis Grabban’s 12th goal this season denied bottom club Birmingham the chance to climb above the Black Cats and claim their first away win this season.
And Cotterill said: “For a start, it was a foul on Cheikh Ndoye for Sunderland’s goal – and Sam Gallagher’s two bookings are the softest bookings you will see in your life.
“Sam is 100 per cent an honest boy. He hasn’t dived. When he gets that touch, if he steams into the goalkeeper, what would happen then? He has to go round him so, for me, that’s really, really harsh.
“If that was at St Andrews, he wouldn’t get booked. And definitely, for the second one, there’s no way it’s a foul. That tipped the balance of the game for me.’’
It was only the Blues’ third point and fifth goal on their travels this term, but Cotterill insisted: “We deserved three points here.’’
Sunderland suffered the agonies of an English record 21game winless home run in all competitions – spanning one day short of a year – before their 1-0 victory over Fulham last weekend.
That took them out of the bottom three, but they are now back in the drop zone, and boss Chris Coleman admitted: “I’m disappointed – it’s an opportunity missed. Overall, we were a bit nervous and lacked confidence for some reason.
“We showed conviction to get back in the game and I expected us to go on and win. There were key moments in the game where we lacked a bit of conviction and confidence, offensively – and I’m not just talking about the strikers.’’
Cotterill, who had a brief spell as assistant manager to Howard Wilkinson at Sunderland in 2002-03, was said to be under growing pressure going into this game. But the board issued a statement before kick-off insisting they were “fully committed’’ to their manager, who has been in sole charge since October 2.
The players responded and the visitors almost took an eighth-minute lead. Former Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner sent in a left-wing corner and full-back Jonathan Grounds’ header was saved on the line by Ruiter.
But Birmingham were in front on 16 minutes, Gallagher knocking the ball into an unguarded goal after his initial was effort blocked, with Ruiter and defender Marc Wilson desperately trying to recover.
Sunderland, however, produced the ideal riposte five minutes later – and with a slice of fortune. Right-back Donald Love miscued his cross-shot into the ground and it bounced kindly for Grabban to finish.
Gallagher threatened to restore City’s lead when Jota was allowed to jink his way to the byline and pull the ball back for the striker, but his flick was kept out by Ruiter.
After the break, Blues keeper David Stockdale tipped over George Honeyman’s chip, but City shut up shop after being reduced to ten men.