Coppell sympathy for Pearce

Coppell sympathy for Pearce

Reading boss Steve Coppell sympathised with Fulham after the decision to dismiss Ian Pearce during the Premiership newcomers’ 1-0 win at Craven Cottage.

Pearce brought down Kevin Doyle on the edge of the six-yard area and the Republic of Ireland striker slotted in the 17th-minute penalty for Reading’s third win in a row.

Coppell felt referee Dermot Gallagher had no option but to dismiss the defender but said: "The game obviously lost its thread when the decision was made. The poor old referee - the law is the law but the law is an ass in this situation."

He added: "It’s the denial of a goalscoring opportunity so you should replace it with a goalscoring opportunity. The sending off, I don’t think, is relevant but Gallagher had no option.

"From then onwards, the game took on an edge which is not conducive to anything, least of all good football."

Fulham boss Chris Coleman believes there could be a change in some of the laws to help referees in situations such as the one Gallagher found himself in.

Coleman said: "It’s a penalty all day long but, no complaints there, Dermot Gallagher would have done himself the world of good if he saw a bit of commonsense.

"Does he have to punish us twice? I don’t think so. I know what the letter of the law says but I’m sick of hearing ex-referees on the radio saying we’ve got to respect referees more.....continued below

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"There’s always a grey area and we’ve got to let the referees to have a bit of commonsense and get a feel for the game and not be robots."

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