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| Joe Kinnear was not impressed that important decisions went against him, but what about his opposite number Roy Hodgson? “It was a quality Newcastle side and we had to work very hard to get what we could,” said Hodgson. He singled striker Andy Johnson out for praise. “He's looking sharp,” said the Fulham manager. “You need a pre-season of six or seven games to get the sharpness to play the first match. Well Andy didn't have a pre-season, so he is still new in that situation. He was basically responsible for the two goals today, scoring one and provoking the other.”
Johnson's international career seemed over, but he had the opportunity to impress the watching England manager, so would Hodgson advise Fabio Capello to pick him? “I never tip the national team manager,” said Hodgson, who has extensive experience in managing clubs in England: Scandinavia, Switzerland and Italy, as well as the national teams of Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Finland. “I think if Andy wanted to force his way into the reckoning, he'll have to do what he's done in the last two games in the games coming up as well. If he does that he [Capello] maybe makes a little note saying, 'this looks interesting; let's keep an eye on the situation.'”
Regarding the turning point of the match, Hodgson offered no opinion on whether Johnson had fouled Claudio Cacapa before winning the penalty, apart from, “I didn't see it.” However, he was prepared to suggest a change in the rules that he would like to see following another incident in the second half. Fulham captain Danny Murphy was booked for a deliberate, but unnecessary handball. “Disappointed to see him get a booking for an innocuous handball on the halfway line,” said Hodgson, who believes that bookings like that can mount up and get players suspended and clubs relegated. “I understand that the rules are the rules, but it goes against the grain to see players get cards for something as innocuous as that in a situation where there was no danger.”
That said Hodgson offered an interesting analysis of Fulham's plight at the time and insight into the pressures managers face in the game now. “I think individually we can get more out of our players,” he said. “When we start to do that then the pressure comes off. Our task has got to be to keep the players focussed on one thing and one thing only and that is the game they have got to play. We have to try and put out of their minds as much as possible where we are in the League table, because truthfully it really doesn't matter if you are top of the table in December if you end up getting relegated. My first job in English football was at Bristol City. In the new year they were lying seventh in the English First Division. They got relegated and by October the following year they were lying bottom of the Second Division, getting relegated into the Third Division and going out of business, so really and truly what good is it being top at Christmas? By the same token no-one gave us a prayer of staying in the league [last season], but we did and one or two who were being tipped for top places went down. We say to the players, 'every game, three points.' Did we get it? If we did, why did we get it? If we didn't where are we going wrong? [It's] the only way we can really work I think.”
In this context where the stakes are so high, it is understandable that managers sometimes feel the need to criticise officials, whose mistakes can cost them their jobs and clubs a fortune. Perhaps there needs to be understanding as well as respect on both sides.
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