Chris Coleman: I've fallen flat on my face and this is my responsibility

Chris Coleman admitted the 3-1 defeat to Reading gave him a full sense of Sunderland's problems at home, but says it is his responsibility to change it going forwards.
Chris Coleman at today's gameChris Coleman at today's game
Chris Coleman at today's game

The Black Cats extended their winless home run to 21 games as Dave Edwards, Coleman's old Wales player, put Reading ahead before Modou Barrow struck twice in three minutes.

Top scorer Lewis Grabban got a late consolation from the penalty spot but Sunderland had been left with a mountain to climb after Callum McManaman's first-half red card.

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Coleman said: "They must have had a 1000 inquests here, I’m quite sure. I’m not a big one for that. I’ve said to the players, I know they’ve been here more than once. We had a chat about what happened, yeah.

"Something has got to break and quickly, then we’ll see a bit more confidence in possession, we’ll be less nervous because [at the moment] we’re one thinking one missed pass is the end of the world.

"It’s not, we’re going to misplace passes, we’re going to miss a tackle, we’ve got to stay calm. It’s all right running around and looking like you’re full of passion, that should be a given, you’ve got to know when to do it.

"That’s what we’ve got to work on, when we play here we’ve got to have a gameplan and stick to it.

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"To be fair to the players it’s hard because we’ve gone down to 10, then we had to change it a bit. The future is my responsibility and I’ve got to change it."

This was Coleman's first game in charge at the Stadium of Light after away days at Aston Villa and Burton.

"That pitch looks double the size when you’re in our position," he added.

"When the opposition have got the ball our goal looks about three times bigger, our goalkeeper looks smaller and he’s 6”4. That’s what happens when you’ve gone so long without winning in your back garden, you can feel it.

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"I’m not even going to say, ‘before I was here’ or anything like that. I’ve been here, I’ve had one game and I’ve fallen flat on my face. I can’t talk about what’s happened before me.

"This is me today, no points, that’s my responsibility. I can’t change the past, I can only change the future. It is a big blow for us today after last week’s performance."