I
I said this referee was suspect what a disgrace
Either a penalty or a goal !
@selwynoz. It hit Spence's leg and ricochet into the net! We only seem to have two types of luck, bad luck and no luck! The way it's going we will probably end up with a red card and a defeat! 😎
Ref made Swansea take free kick again amd they wasted another 2 mins
Get in 1-1 no more than we deserve Sam Morsy aided by a deflection.😎
Well I warned what this ref was like and I was proved right he was atrocious
OFB
Much more to be proud of from Boro today as we largely dominated a serious promotion contender on their patch. Sadly and indeed infuriatingly, almost everything went against us.
One mistake at the back cost us and was compounded by a further mistake from the ref but we kept going and, aided by positive substitutions, very nearly dug out a point were it not for the late, late and somewhat harsh penalty given against us. A draw would have been the least we deserved for effort alone and Swansea must feel it’s their year after a similar incident saw them steal the points in their midweek game.
One of those games where you just shake your head (or fist) at the ridiculousness this game can serve up. However, well done to Boro for showing some real effort, organisation and a bit of quality at times. How we’ve come away with zero points is an absolute head-scratcher.
A miles better performance than against Coventry and referee saw something no one else did leading up to the tremendous ‘ goal, by Bola.
Deservedly got back into the game only for the referee to gift Swansea a penalty.
Very hard done by and NW will have much to say.
However, we can now write off finishing in the top six.
Looking at the League table it would require probably going unbeaten to the end of the season because there are too many teams which would all have to slip up to open the door.
Philip of Huddersfield
Looking at the Boro players and performances i’m disappointed that Spence seems to be going backwards in his general attitude and lassitude in the way he approaches games.
He has a languid style of play with no urgency and doesn’t seem overly concerned when he loses the ball. I sometimes feel that he needs taking by the scruff of the neck and shaking as he has obvious ability. Unfortunately to be at the top of the game it requires more than skill it requires attitude and dedication. In my opinion he has neither at present.
OFB
We have thrown some points away this season against some poor sides with our own poor attitudes and performances but we have also been penalised by some atrocious Refereeing and this one has to go down as shocking to the point where the Ref actually looked like it really mattered to him and not in a good way.
How Warnock didn't implode at the end there is beyond me. Had I been the Boro Manager I think I would be in the custody of South Wales Police tonight. He is often castigated for his behaviour but when he is faced with that which played out in front of him today it's little wonder he feels aggrieved or more appropriately cheated after that.
We were the better side I felt let down in the first half by Bola rashly jumping for something that wasn't his ball to challenge for. Facing the wrong direction he should have left it for Howson. That said the build up to the cause of the free kick and the manner it was given away I hope is the topic of some blunt truths in the dressing room. It was unnecessary and reckless to concede it.
Bolasie was fouled in the penalty area and when I heard the Refs whistle I was angry because he should have waited for Bola's strike before blowing. If a Penalty for Boro had me angry I was incandescent when he actually gave a free kick for Swansea. It was a blatant and deliberate decision by the Official and I'm still astonished by the bare faced nature of it.
Bola had made amends with that cracker of a goal but you can't legislate for a Referee that looked corrupt rather than merely incompetent. Our Play Off hopes were always a long shot since our home form collapsed after Christmas but throw in that Blackburn challenge on Fry, the two rescinded red cards and then today's farce and it really does start to test your appetite as to whether you are watching a sporting event or a pantomime complete with villains.
We don't deserve to go up this season as there are better sides who deserve it more but we don't deserve the level of officiating which seems to have sunk to an all time low this season. How Manning remained on the pitch was bad enough but overall I was disappointed with Swansea and their gamesmanship which added to their midweek Stoke game has left me with a very sour taste about the Club
I'd always held Swansea up as a club who were all about style over substance. I really hope they don't go up and if they end up in the Play Offs I will be fervently supporting whoever they are playing against.
Britt Injured apparently
So No Longa ASSOMBO
Must be a badly bruised ego because it can't have been down to something he picked up on a pitch.
@redcarred Perfectly put RR. I was furious at the ref. He had that kind of face that would turn milk sour.
I’m not one for having at go a refs and even less so for conspiracy theories but I have to say that some of today’s decisions were so incompetent that they were suspicious.
Surely it will be looked at.
The better team lost. Unfortunately. Sad. Up the Boro!
Apparently Neil Warnock was booked by the Referee after the game and shown a yellow card
When he was interviewed after the game he was very discreet !
I had an idea this ref was going to be poor after tracking his history and he proved me right unfortunately!
OFB
Why doesn’t Betinelli watch opposing strikers on video what penalties they take and what side of the goal?
Penalty Wednesday taken by Swansea’s striker same side of goal to keepers right so Betinelli dices to his left !
OFB
It would be good to think that the incompetent (or maybe vindictive) performance by the referee today will be examined but I suspect that the scandalous reality is that it most probably won’t be. The overall standard of refereeing in The Championship is very poor and in my opinion getting worse year by year yet the football league authorities appear to nothing about it. The Club should tell those responsible for the assignment of referees to fixtures that they do not want this referee to officiate at any of their remaining matches this season.
First of all I was quite impressed by Boro’s performance today especially in the second half and thought we deserved to win. The only mistake we made was the defensive error leading to Swansea’s goal. As for Bola’s ‘goal’ when the referee blew his whistle I thought it was for a foul on Bolasie and a penalty. Now whether the Swansea players thought the same and momentarily stopped I very much doubt, so the ref should have played advantage to Boro, but then to say that Bolasie had committed a foul was laughable.
As for Saville’s tackle on Jake Bidwell he played the ball and to my mind was no different to Lewis Dunk’s tackle on Jamie Vardy which was referred to VAR tonight and given as a corner to Leicester.
Nevertheless in the scheme of things Boro were never going to reach the playoffs, but if they had on the evidence of the two matches against Swansea I think they’d have been there for the taking if we’d played them in the playoffs.
@ken Exactly my thoughts in thre, Ken. Nothing to add to your comments. Much better a game to watch than the previuos one even though there a misunderstading in their first goal.
We could not no anything about the ref, though.
Up the Boro!
Says it all really the look on their faces
https://twitter.com/QuestTV/status/1368314956379271172?s=09
@original-fat-bob. I agree entirely and have been saying this about him for some time.
Whilst NW has done wonders with the likes of Bola and Dijksteel he has unfortunately not had the same effect on Spence, Coulson and Wing all of whom, in my opinion, seemed to have regressed since he arrived.
It may well be that one or more of them may have to be let go in the summer (assuming we receive any acceptable offers) to free up funds for the likes of incoming strikers/goalkeepers. 😎
We are all agreed that the standard of refereeing has declined over the years and I just wonder if VER had been available yesterday the two travesties of justice would have been corrected?
Given that things do not appear to be changing any time soon, should clubs be pushing for and, if necessary, considering contributing toward the costs of the introduction of VER?
If clubs want to avoid the continuance of such poor refereeing decisions going uncorrected and having a major impact on results and the fortune of clubs, then something positive needs to be done as criticism/berating of referees during and after matches does nothing for the game or individuals as a whole. 😎
As a former referee I rarely criticise other referees because I know how hard the job is.
Good referees have a presence, (eg M.Oliver,) but yesterday’s referee didn’t and I wasn’t surprised by some of his decisions. He seemed , at times, more bothered about using his spray to mark 10 yards from a free kick.
But to drop two clangers in one match against one team is unbelievable.
For the penalty, to just say,” l changed my mind “ shouldn’t have happened.
If 100% sure of a decision then give it as quickly as possible. If doubtful, then take your time but never point for a corner with one arm and then point to the penalty spot with your other arm. Never guess a penalty which I think he did.
Philip of Huddersfield
@original-fat-bob. I agree entirely and have been saying this about him for some time.
Whilst NW has done wonders with the likes of Bola and Dijksteel he has unfortunately not had the same effect on Spence, Coulson and Wing all of whom, in my opinion, seemed to have regressed since he arrived.
It may well be that one or more of them may have to be let go in the summer (assuming we receive any acceptable offers) to free up funds for the likes of incoming strikers/goalkeepers. 😎
The common thread for those three is that none of them are great defensively. Spence is better than the other two in that department and has played quite a bit, though much of it has been as a right winger which clearly isn’t his position.
I still think all three can have big futures at the club but Spence will need to get more aggressive and switched on, Coulson has to improve his positioning (everything else is good enough already for me) and Wing will also need to read the game better when we don’t have the ball (which is most of the time).
It might not happen for them under Warnock but chances are that’s only one more year. Coulson and Wing should probably be loaned out next year but I’d be disappointed if we sold them.
With Britt leaving and Fletcher hopefully staying on reduced terms, there should be funds available for sensible additions.
My thinking is that if there are forty people doing a job and only four or five of them are any good at it, it probably means the job is too difficult.
As KP hints at above, I think football needs to have a serious rethink about how games should be refereed in future as it seems clear that consistently doing it well is unachievable via current methods.
Boro seem to have the makings of a good squad for next season if they can hold on to their loanees excepting Bettinelli who just seems to kick the ball upfield without a thought of where it will land. I remember when Peter Taylor was Boro’s goalkeeper; he used to throw it beyond the halfway line to a winger or any other unmarked player rather than kick it. Of all Boro’s keepers he was the stand out one in being able to do that. He certainly was not a spectacular goalkeeper like Rolando Ugolini or renowned particularly as a shot saver like Jim Platt or Mark Schwartzer, but competent enough. But Bettinelli has my heart in my mouth when he just volleys the ball. One of these days I can see him missing the ball completely or it rebounding into goal off a team mate or opponent. In my opinion he should be sent back to Fulham at the end of the season.
Of course Neil Warnock knows, as we all do, is that Boro need at least a couple of proven strikers to replace Britt and Fletcher if the latter refuses new terms. But what I like most about Neil Warnock are his press conferences which he adds humour to and seems to enjoy himself as well, whereas I always felt that Tony Pulis wanted to be away from as soon as possible. I get the impression that Neil treats his players as a family, and still considers his former players as friends too. He might be useless around the house at home or so he says,but there is great love for his wife and family there. I envy his social life, cycling around Cleveland and North Yorkshire around some of England’s finest scenery although I don’t know whether he has a car available to explore further afield.
Before lockdown and more so when my wife was alive, I regularly visited places like Whitby, which I’m sure Neil is familiar with from his Scarborough days, Pickering for a snack at the Eastfield Tea Rooms, over Buttertubs to Askrigg to explore Herriot country, Askrigg Falls, High Force, Leyburn, Richmond to visit the Green Howard’s Museum, etc, or closer at home to Grinkle Park in June to see the rhododendrons and azaleas, Bilsdale Moor, Captain Cook’s Monument for a picnic, up Clayton Bank and the climb up Cringle Moor, or Farndale to walk through the daffodils. We also used to meet our Lancashire friends at Grassington, Pateley Bridge, Ripon or Harrogate. After my wife died almost 12 years ago I’ve continued to visit these places, though it’s not the same without the one you love beside you especially eating snacks alone.
Ah the nostalgia of it all! Look after Sharon, Neil. There’s something about growing old together, make the most of it. As for me I’ve probably visited over 60 Countries of the World nearly half of them since my wife died, but I’d truly swap all the cruises I’ve had just to have Enid with me enjoying a cafetière with biscuits browsing through Yorkshire Life at the Grinkle Park Hotel. I’m not as sad for myself as I am for Enid as she never ailed before and lost probably 15 years of her life through cancer. Sometimes life is cruel and unfair, and that’s why getting over a Boro defeat or blatantly poor referee’s don’t annoy as it did when I was younger. Those of you much younger than I WILL see Boro in the Premier League within the next few years, somewhere over the rainbow.
What I am going to say may well fill readers with dismay, but I am afraid the refereeing situation is now well out of hand. I know that yesterdays awful performance by our Referee was disturbing, to say the least. But any follower of football must have watched matches on the box which were quite important to the fans and clubs and been left wondering? Am I really watching a straight up level playing field, the match which sticks in my mind fortunately does not concern me personally as I support neither of the teams, but still, it left me wondering? It was Fulham at home, and there was great excitement about their (very Good) chance of dodging the drop, but First this match at home against a bottom club. All was going well, Fulham being (just) in front in the final minute, then the opposition got the ball on the goal line about to put it in the net, and the keeper absolutely smashed him, and the Ref. Gave a free kick to the goalkeeper. There was no melee just the two of them, no one else the ref could have been watching, no possibility of making that error. Because of that decision Fulham are still able to save their selves, at the cost of some nameless club.
I agree with Powmill. This was a lovely post, Ken, beautifully written and full of moving sentiments without ever being sentimental or mawkish. I too have wonderful memories of many of the places you mention. Thanks for reviving them for me.