Because Hull City lose to Championship leaders Sunderland due to a controversial goal, coach Tim Walter is furious. His accusation: the referee was poorly prepared.
After ten match days in the Championship, Tim Walter has only three wins to his name with Hull City – but already three yellow cards. The fact that he has to serve a suspension because of this rounded off a Sunday afternoon that could hardly have been more bitter for the 48-year-old and his Tigers.
Hull lost 1-0 at home to league leaders Sunderland, with the goal of the day preceded by a controversial attack. During a quickly taken corner by Walter’s team, Marvin Mehlem, who used to play for Karlsruhe and Darmstadt, lost the ball in the opposing box, setting up a counterattack that Wilson Isidor completed after sprinting with the ball almost across the entire field (63′ ). However, referee Robert Madley was standing so close to Mehlem when the corner was taken that he may have been significantly irritated.
In any case, the Tigers felt collectively disadvantaged. Defender Alfie Jones and Walter’s assistant coach Julian Hübner were shown yellow for their protests, but Walter was not until he confronted Madley after the final whistle. “It’s very frustrating,” the former coach of Holstein Kiel, VfB Stuttgart and Hamburger SV was annoyed with Madley. ‘He wasn’t well prepared. If you know how we take corners and set pieces, he should have known that we take them short and found a different position.’
Walter: “He apologized, but that doesn’t help me”
When he came into the referee’s cabin after the game, Madley “apologized, but that doesn’t help me,” said Walter, who was already dissatisfied with the referee before the break because of a possible red-handed handball. The video assistant has not yet been introduced to the Championship.
Hull, who also had post-luck with a shot from attacker Chris Bedia in the 54th minute, conceded the second clean sheet defeat in a row after Walter had previously celebrated his first three wins. Last season’s seventh-placed side dropped to 14th place, while Sunderland kept rivals Burnley (2-0 win at Danny Röhls Sheffield Wednesday) at bay. The second-placed side will be next to face Hull on Wednesday (20.45 CET) – Walter will have to watch.