Jose Mourinho
Fenerbahce coach, Jose Mourinho, offered genuine congratulations to the referee despite his team’s second derby defeat of the season.
The Portuguese, who has been punished in the past for criticising referees, had nothing but praise for the officiating of Mehmet Türkmen.
“If we have referees like this one in every match of the title contenders, the championship will be a beautiful championship and the winner will deserve to win,” Mourinho said after the game. “But referees need a little bit of support, too. I don’t want to say that I’m the first one but I don’t think many people in this country congratulate a referee after a defeat.”
He added: “Before I came here [to the press conference], I was in the referee’s dressing room and I was congratulating the referee. My feeling was that he was good, he was consistent. He kept control of the game.
“We lost just because it’s football. I didn’t see anything wrong.”
Mourinho, who took the Fenerbahce job in the summer, is attempting to lead the club to their first Super Lig title in a decade. Sunday’s loss left Fenerbahce second in the standings, five points adrift of Galatasaray.
“We think we can win,” he said regarding the title race.
Asked what encouraging words he would give to Fenerbahce fans after his team suffered another derby defeat, with Fenerbahce having lost 3-1 at home to Galatasaray in September, Mourinho said: “To increase their faith I would say there is a long way to go. I would tell them to watch the game again. If they watch the game again, they will understand that we did enough to win the game.”