Sod's law: the Canaries get a penalty (foul by Coulson on Aarons) & it would have to be bloody Pukki who converts it, wouldn't it? 😆
Well Boro slipped up as their unbeaten run ended particularly with Tav failing to convert the penalty after he as adjudged to have double hit the kick - though it was hard to see it on the replay. As luck would have it Coulson made a poor attempted tackle after shortly coming on to gift Norwich one of their own and Pukki made no mistake with his strike.
To be honest Boro didn't really look like scoring today and perhaps it's time for Neil Warnock to address the issue and find a way to play Roberts and maybe Watmore as for all the energetic play of players like Spence and Coulson, they lack poise and quality when it matters.
OK, losing to Norwich is not a completely unexpected but three games without scoring identifies the problem facing Boro if they are indeed going to make a top-six challenge. Not really any standout performances today but I'd give MOM to Fry for making two goal-saving challenges and looking comfortable against Norwich's attack.
btw Ken was right with his ten-game unbeaten run observation and perhaps we should throw that manager-of-the-month curse into the mix too!
Roberts was brought on far too late for the disappointing Tavernier. Neil needs to find a way to get him on at the beginning, preferably with a start at on Wednesday.
Pukki made all the difference, but our attacking play leaves a lot to be desired
What has happened to Sam Morsy?
Come on BORO.
I never felt confident that Tav was going to score that penalty. I think I’d rather see Paddy McNair taking them.
I must admit Tav isn't the player I would have automatically thought of as a Penalty taker. McNair, Saville, Howson etc. would all have been higher up my list. Having said that the decision to disallow it seemed very harsh and almost petty. Even on repeats from different angles it is far from obvious or even noticeable.
What has happened to Sam Morsy?
Come on BORO.
Yes, we miss him. But he still have a niggle from the previous match. So he was not risked as the games come thick and fast now until Xmas.
Up the Boro!
Just a thought, but, the rules on penalties are clear, a double strike has to be deliberate, a player slipping as he connects with the ball is not penalised. These are the rules. However, the Championship is the graveyard of Referees, if it can be messed up it will be. Same subject, a penalty is important, and can be mastered by thought and application on the training ground, and that is down to the coaching staff. Much as I admire Tav. He was into his run up whilst he was still placing the ball on the spot, and it was at best two strides long. Same subject, watched a penalty last Night on the box and saw the greatest injustice for a long time. Keeper saved the penalty, var said he was off his line, so take it again, problem, he was off his line because the penalty taker did a full on shuffle, dance, hesitate, and slow chip, which failed. So he was a lucky lad, and pitifull reffing.
I never felt confident that Tav was going to score that penalty. I think I’d rather see Paddy McNair taking them.
I must admit Tav isn't the player I would have automatically thought of as a Penalty taker. McNair, Saville, Howson etc. would all have been higher up my list. Having said that the decision to disallow it seemed very harsh and almost petty. Even on repeats from different angles it is far from obvious or even noticeable.
Shades of the Carling Cup Final when Bolo Zenden got away with it. A case of some you win, some you lose. To be honest I’m glad Zenden got away with his spot kick rather than Tavernier who seemed to acknowledge what had happened before the referee gave his decision.
@redcarred I was there with my eldest daughter and we didn’t stop grinning all the way back to Lancashire.
How about a question on Ethics? If you slip as you are about to take a penalty, then no matter what happens you cannot score, because, if we are to believe the 'rules' it is no penalty, therefore, you should have to take it again.
I never felt confident that Tav was going to score that penalty. I think I’d rather see Paddy McNair taking them.
I must admit Tav isn't the player I would have automatically thought of as a Penalty taker. McNair, Saville, Howson etc. would all have been higher up my list. Having said that the decision to disallow it seemed very harsh and almost petty. Even on repeats from different angles it is far from obvious or even noticeable.
Yet his big brother, James, can't seem to stop scoring them for Rangers. He bagged another against Aberdeen earlier today, which took his total for this season to eight. Before today, he'd scored 28 from 32, a conversion rate of 88%...
@stircrazy Plus two fabulous assists against the mighty Benfica a couple of weeks ago.
- @plato of the ball has moved its circumference and during this has been played by the other foot in effect a double kick it is a free kick. There was an instance of this this afternoon in the Fulham v Everton game and Fulham penalty disallowed
v
Procedure
- The player taking the penalty kicks the ball forward
- He may not play the ball a second time until it has touched another player
- The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves forward
When a penalty kick is taken during the normal course of play, or time has been extended at half-time or full time to allow a penalty kick to be taken or retaken, a goal is awarded if, before passing the goalposts and under the crossbar:
- The ball touches either or both of the goalposts, and/or the crossbar and/or the goalkeeper
Infringements/Sanctions
If any of the following situations occur:
A player of the defending team infringes this Law:
- The kick is retaken, only if a goal is not scored
- The kick is not retaken if a goal is scored
A team-mate of the player taking the kick infringes this Law of the Game:
- The kick is retaken if a goal is scored
- The kick is not retaken if a goal is not scored
The player taking the kick infringes this Law of the Game after the ball is in play:
- An indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team, the kick to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred, unless this was in the penalty area, in which case the indirect free kick is taken from the penalty area line at the place nearest to where the infringement occurred.
@stircrazy Plus two fabulous assists against the mighty Benfica a couple of weeks ago.
Benfica not so mighty now though having lost their last two league matches to Sporting Braga and in the previous match 3-0 to Boavista who yesterday lost 3-1 to rock bottom SC Farense.
Bob,
Just a query. In the laws you cite it doesn't mention anything about the ball's circumference. If the ball does have to move that far then the Tav penalty should have been allowed to stand. Could you clarify this for us please ? Many thanks.
I was watching MoTD2 this morning and there was a similar incident when taking a penalty by Ivan Cavaleiro of Fulham, who slipped as he was about to hit the ball but hit it against his wrong foot and sent it over the bar.
Interestingly, in the post-match analysis, Danny Murphy had called the slip before it happened when watching the game live. His reason was that he regarded Cavaleiro's angle of attack to the penalty spot was too sharp and he argued that when he plants his non-striking foot it's then likely to slip unless the pitch is hard and dry.
He added, that when he took penalties he always lined his run up with the ball and the post as that allowed you to place the ball in either corner without risking slipping. He said the reason players adopt this sharper angle is to try and fool the keeper that they will direct the ball to the keeper's left - it's essentially mind games over technique.
Anyway, I've produced the graphic below of Tav's penalty and as you can see his approach (the red line) is also too sharp in comparison to what Murphy recommended (green line).
After the cup final incident, in our Triumph, in the midst of our delight and Bolton's misery, there was a serious debate, with us having no say in the matter. One of the points raised was that the double kick had to be deliberate, someone slipping is simply the game of football, these things happen, by that I mean if he had missed, tough luck on us, if he scores, the opposite. What is happening now is if you score, no Good, if you miss, still no good. So, somewhere along the way, our penalty, and with it three points, was made to vanish into thin air. I watched the Match of The Day penalty, and he had my sympathy.
As far as I can see Tav is getting crucified, and I do not exclude myself on that score. The truth is that our backroom staff seem to have no input into how penalties are handled (amongst other issues ) as said on this blog many times, First comes skill, then comes how to apply that skill, and it is glaringly obvious that we pay little attention to the nuts and bolts. Penalties are not an act of God, they are subject to the stats. just as any other department of the game. Let's look at the Penalty! First, as a moderate team you will get, at best, 5/6 per season, a Good team will get 8, a giant will get 10/12. They are important, 5 could win you 15points so it is important that you work out who is capable of scoring from a penalty. Avoid the player who thinks it will help his total of goals. Try all your players, because often your burly defender is the most lethal from 12 yards, and often he does not want to do the job, but if he is going to miss one every two seasons, then he is the man. Then you must practice, a lot! It is a strange situation, you may be about to topple the league leaders, or wrap up the game, or get a point you do not deserve. So make it count. It is not luck, watch the big team who put up the man who loves the job and knows a thing about it. He always ignores the keeper, he places the ball as he wants it, he knows the precise angle of his run, and above all he never makes a decision during the actual penalty. He makes sure that his limbs are in the correct position, his run up is of sufficient length, he runs with real energy and connects with real force, and never in the air. Above all he knows that any penalty can be saved, no matter how good the taker, because any keeper who simply hurls himself in a preselected direction can get lucky, it happens!
@lenmasterman I think the point is about the ball moving along the circumference rather than off the floor. Any movement along the circumference is in effect the ball rolling or moving. It doesn’t have to move the entirety of the circumference.
I watched the Fulham game yesterday and noted the same observation as above from Werdermouth from Danny Murphy. The Tav/Cavaliero Penalties were almost identical. Modern pitches are totally different to the ones that we grew up with playing on in Schools or Recreation grounds and then later on when our teenage dreams had all but faded away sat and watched.
Ayresome Park was always one of the best playing surfaces but once Winter had set in it had as many bald patches and boggy areas dependent on the whim of the overnight weather with the rest of them (Baseball ground aside). Modern surfaces as I understand it are all now virtually sand with a fine turf top surface, the sand is of course very special infused with nutrients and weed resistant due to pre-treatments.
The result is with the aid of an array of lamps that would put many a "hobbyist" on Station Road to shame is grass that grows for twelve months of the year and drainage which is so good the pitch needs watering constantly to prevent it drying out in forty five minutes. Depending on the tactical preference of the home Coach, Groundsmen add more or less water to increase zip on the ball in one goalmouth or the other just before Kick Off and repeat at the other end at half time.
Usually the away end sees copious amounts of water applied to it to facilitate the surface being just a little greasier and the ball spinning consequently being slightly more difficult to catch or to hoof it clear cleanly. Put the pitch construction and the water together and you have a very wet surface in the away goal area, turf that floats rather than a stable intrinsic part of the substrate, a Player approaching from an acute angle thereby relying on his standing foot to be a brake (with like as not a poor stud choice) and you have the perfect skid pan.
As Plato points out above (the same applies equally to set pieces), Penalties are a huge advantage and an opportunity to amass points. It is as much a combination of Physics and Trigonometry as it is to be the one brave enough to just run up and hit the ball. Penalties will be missed, even the best will miss them at some point but a lot can be done to mitigate the classic reasons for failure.
Grant had a fairly simple technique that wasn't rocket science, it consisted of getting plenty of energy into the ball and ensuring the angle of his boot was correct and his body weight was adjusted correctly. He may of course not realised the science behind it but over his career he either worked it out by practicing or it was coached into him, I suspect the former.
It can be analysed in infinite frame by frame detail and compared to the best of the best by an astute Coach/Trainer. How many strides, where the standing foot is exactly in relation to the ball before the other foot strikes it, the angle of the knee/hips of both legs in relation to the point of impact, arms for balance, shoulders in relation to the ball to ensure the trajectory is never greater than the crossbar height. Even down to the type of lacing on the players boot and at what point on the boot that connects to the ball. Weather conditions will play a part, a wet ball will behave differently to a dry one, a hot ball in May will behave differently pressure wise to a cold one in January.
For heavens sake I can hear many say, but it is that level of detail that adds something else into the mix, confidence, belief and the all important erasure of "I'm the bravest", "I won it", or "I want my Hat Trick" mentality that exists in footballing culture amongst all players. Leave nothing to risk. Practice makes permanent not perfect, practice the wrongs things the wrong way and you just get better at repeating your mistakes. Practice the correct things in the right way and you not only get better, you get much better and it shows or at least by some incredible reason you become luckier.
I've applied the exact same technique in other Industries by analysing movement and comparing with best in practice and it works. Its often amazed operators after the inevitable initial grumbling period whilst they are "re-learning" and of course struggle before they start to see improvements and then go on to become thirty or even forty or more percent efficient.
@grovehillwallah that is good news but the chances of Middlesbrough been in the lowest tier this side of christmas are zero I suspect
Good news....
Good news hopefully. To me accommodating 2,500 in the West Stand, 1,500 in the North and same again in the South Stand and say 2,000 in the East Stand should be perfectly safe with distancing, masks and hand gels etc. The only conundrum is people exiting in sections and under strict enforced control.
In time the numbers could be upped to 12,000 in total. I have seen what 12,000 looks like on many a wet Tuesday evening at the Riverside and it is very sparse looking indeed. The deciding issue would be crowd control upon the final whistle which would mean more Stewards, video surveillance and a no-nonsense approach.
The conditions of attending and acceptance of departing the Stadium should be very clear and played on the big screen and around the advertising LED display. Organised correctly it could be even quicker than on normal match days.