Dowie rues Traore red card
21 Aug 2006 - 14:56:50
Charlton Athletic boss Iain Dowie felt his side had performed well on his debut on the bench for the Addicks, despite them going down to a 3-1 defeat at West Ham.
Dowie's men had to battle for over an hour with ten men after Djimi Traore's dismissal for two bookable offences, the first a foul on Lee Bowyer and the second for delaying a free-kick.
Dowie had no complaints about the second caution, but felt that the first was harsh on the former Liverpool defender.
He said: "He had already been booked so it was a stupid challenge from Djimi, but his first one wasn't a booking.
"Once you're booked you can't do that sort of thing, I'm not complaining about the sending-off. When you are booked you don't stick you foot out at a free-kick.
"He was disappointed and it gave us a mountain to climb.
"We defended manfully for the rest of the game and made them play direct for most of the time.
"Am I disappointed with the result? Absolutely. Am I disappointed with the performance? No.
"I'm proud of our showing, but the sending-off was a hammer blow and then Bobby Zamora's second-half goals gave West Ham impetus."
