Martin Jol felt the penalty Manchester City were awarded against Fulham was 'soft' but he refused to criticise Adam Johnson.
The Cottagers chief was disappointed that referee Mike Dean deemed that Chris Baird had fouled Johnson in the box at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening, even though TV replays showed it was the City winger who had initiated the contact.
Sergio Aguero scored from the spot and City then went on to comfortably win the match 3-0 to move clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Johnson later denied that he took a dive to win the penalty, while Jol claimed the England international was only guilty of gamesmanship as opposed to cheating.
"I was surprised at the penalty but if you look at it again, maybe Johnson did well," said Jol.
"I had a few players in the past who did that. We all tried it when we were younger.
"The referee has to make a decision but I still think it was a soft one."