Says it all really the look on their faces
Thanks for that Quest reference, Paul. Sky debated the penalty, of course, but no-one commented about Bidwell kicking through Saville’s foot. It’s very clear from that clip that George gets there first. During the live game I personally thought George had got the ball, and so did the ref, initially - how else could he award a corner? For him then to overturn his own decision made this an even worse clanger than the terrible Bola/Bolasie one, in my view. I do think that Ward was inexcusably influenced by Swansea dives in both instances: in other words, he was conned, pure and simple.
I’m fed up of getting blind, useless referees. There have been at least 5 dreadful howlers go against us this season - Fry’s kick in the eye, red cards for McNair and Morsy, both rescinded, and yesterday’s two. I’m absolutely no fan of VAR, which is generally just appalling, but we’d probably have been several points better off now had we had it.
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.
There was another shocking decision by a Ref who deemed a handball in the build up to Fulham's disallowed equaliser against Spurs during the week. The player's arm was down by his side tight against his body with the ball walloped off him. He made no attempt to play the ball or benefit from it as he was completely powerless to do anything due to the speed. Incredibly VAR adjudged it to have been handball and the goal disallowed and with it a vital survival point for Fulham.
Unfortunately the individuals who were making the errors were given control of VAR and managed to make matters even worse in the process.
Staying with Fulham they are getting tantalisingly close to Newcastle. There is only one point difference (that Spurs goal?) between them although Newcastle do have a game in hand. Fulham do have a better goal difference and are showing some fight. The final game of the season is Fulham at home to Newcastle!
Looks like there won't be a midweek match this week. If spent properly and training well, the optimistic in me is thinking that perhaps we can see a more consistent Boro versus Stoke.
The matches are running out now, but as Kebano tweeted resently, I hope we will give it a final go now. I see Cardiff is ending they excellent run now and we can generate a similar run we had before Christmas. Or better still a run like Barnsley have had recently.
I am not saying we are to do it, but I bet Warnock will still give it one last go. I will just enjoy the season now and hope to see better and more consistent performances.
I think the week's break came at a good time. Hope to see both Bolasie and Tavanier in a same team soon.
Up the Boro!
PS. After the match Swansea manager Cooper pointed to the depth and quality of Neil Warnock's squad! I think it is partly true now after the January window.
Of course we still miss Fletcher and Browne. And now Assombalonga 🤣. UTB!
Some of the first players I think Warnock should let go. Assombalonga/Fletcher/Akpom/Wing/Coulson/Bolassie/Mendez Laing/Bettineli
@malcolm You’d let Bollassie go but keep Spence?
@martin-bellamy forgot about him Martin!
@malcolm. He won't let Akpom go as that would be an admission of failure on his part as he was in favour of his recruitment.
I think if possible we should try to keep Fletcher but wouldn't be overly concerned about some of the rest leaving.
It would be nice if we could keep Kebano and Bolasie but I don't believe we could afford them.
One thing to consider is that if we let too many go then we are back to a thin squad and will have problems again in the event of injury or suspensions. 😎
@clive-hurren. Also add to that list Clive the goal that Cardiff scored which was from a foul throw which was picked up by OFB! Potentially robbed of another two points!
Whilst we have to a degree been the architects of our own downfall at times, I agree that the correct decisions in a number of matches may well have seen us in a top six position and still in the mix.
I also agree that VAR is far from ideal and teams would still be at the mercy of VAR officials making incorrect decisions/interpretations but without it teams are on a hiding to nothing, as the majority of referees are not competent and there are not any signs that things will change for the better anytime soon. 😎
You do realise that you have missed out the player who has personally cost us at least ten points (and counting), our Keeper, he was awful on Saturday, a picture of nervous misery, the Penalty was an awful attempt, shoulder height, about a foot off the Keeper, an easy stop. The usual fans cry of ' no idea' is, I am afraid correct in his case, our reserve keeper should be getting experience now ready for next season.
Yes, but, and it is a very big but, it happened against Spurs, and all the wannerbee's insist that they get no bad calls, and no nonsense about VAR, notice that moves are afoot to make it OK if you are just a bit offside, hhhhm! That's a good one, rubbing the noses of the lesser clubs in the mire somewhat.
Staying with Fulham they are getting tantalisingly close to Newcastle. There is only one point difference (that Spurs goal?) between them although Newcastle do have a game in hand. Fulham do have a better goal difference and are showing some fight. The final game of the season is Fulham at home to Newcastle!
Come on you Cottagers! Can’t wait to take 6 points off the Geordies next season!
You do realise that you have missed out the player who has personally cost us at least ten points (and counting), our Keeper, he was awful on Saturday, a picture of nervous misery, the Penalty was an awful attempt, shoulder height, about a foot off the Keeper, an easy stop. The usual fans cry of ' no idea' is, I am afraid correct in his case, our reserve keeper should be getting experience now ready for next season.
Should've gone to Specsavers Plato, Malcolm definitely had that keeper on the list... my only criticism of Malcolm in that respect is that he didn't have him top of the list and written in block capitals, triple underlined!
Sorry about that, my mistake. He truly was awful on Saturday, started with an aimless wander to a high ball coming into the box, and steadily got worse, I now watch him when anything is coming into the box, particularly dead balls, he walks his line, slowly coming further upfield, rubbing his hands, head going from side to side, the opposition must watch him and smile. How on earth we are depending on him week in week out is a mystery, but it is costing us, and let's not forget their opener on Saturday was easily saved at the near post, but he was not jammed against his post with his legs closed, he was anywhere but covering his post, with the result as we saw. These are not goals which can be scored against other clubs, they never leave the near post unguarded.
I'm not convinced about Fletcher. In some games he has looked as though there is something there that could come could but he never really has. When next season starts he will be 26 years old in October, that's a bit long in the tooth to be an almost but not quite there yet footballer.
He definitely does possess some skills but nowhere near consistently enough and if he had he wouldn't have ended up here. To me the decision on whether we should or shouldn't resign him is based on what are we getting. Deep down I don't think we are getting anything special or anything that we couldn't replace or match elsewhere. He isn't a big strong target man, he isn't a skilful wide player ghosting past defenders with ease, he isn't prolific in the air (or on the ground) and in fact he has never been prolific throughout his career, just showed the potential that he might be one day.
The only logic to resigning him is that we would get him on a "free" (after having forked out three to four times his real worth) and would be able to sell him at some future point and maybe get a few quid back on him.
It’s always hard to tell whether players are doing what comes naturally or they’ve been told by their coach to act that way.
Our GK’s distribution is woeful but has he been told to kick for touch?
Why are our throw ins taken so slowly, why do we just launch the ball forward in the hope of winning another throw in and why, once we get halfway into the opposition, do we have no idea who to throw the ball to?
@redcarred. I agree with some of what you say re Fletcher.
If we don't resign him then who/what is out there that you think we could attract to replace him and BA? 😎
I’m a fan of Fletcher and hope he stays on favourable terms. For me, he has a bit of everything in his game - pace, height, movement, composure - and is by far our best finisher. With us threatening to have some creativity around him for the first time in his Boro stint I think he can blossom for us. My only concern with him is injuries.
I think we also have to remember just how young and inexperienced some of the players coming in for criticism are. Spence, for example is just 20 years old and only made his debut in Nov/Dec 2019. He’s got great natural gifts, is gaining experience all the time and has the potential to be some player when he hits his peak 6-8 years from now. It’s down to him how much he wants to learn and improve but it’s all there for him and we’d be sick if he reaches his potential elsewhere. None of us were at our best at 20 I’m sure and we need to be patient and allow him to learn.
The same argument can’t be made for Bettinelli and that’s an area that has to be addressed in the summer. Djiksteel, Fry and Bola are all young players themselves and McNair is inexperienced as a centre-back so some experience between the posts with a strong vocal presence is needed. If we can find another Shay Given type for a season of two we’d be much improved.
On referees, the general consensus is that the standard of officiating has decreased over the years. I wonder if that is actually the case. The game is now televised and scrutinised more than ever before whilst society in general is less respectful of authority. Also, the amounts of money at the higher ends of the game are so vast now that poor decisions are literally more costly and more outrageous.
If it is the case that the refs are poorer then you have to ask and understand why before we can move forward.
Perhaps it’s because the game is so much quicker now and the ball stays in play for longer - is there too much ground for an official to cover? That wouldn’t excuse the sort of thing we saw at the weekend when the ref was right there.
Is it because of that scrutiny and criticism and therefore fewer talented people want to be refs?
As I said earlier in the thread, given so many seem so poor, I suspect the job in its current guise is just too difficult to carry out consistently well for most people, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the standard hadn’t dropped as much as we might perceive.
Thanks for the compliment Len. One error I realised later was I meant to write Aysgarth Falls as there are no falls in Askrigg where Skeldale House, the building used in ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ is located.
it is definitely the time for the FA to look at recruiting a specialist team of referees drawn from players who have been involved the game at a professional or semi professional level.
I never believed that it would happen but it is apparent that quite a lot of refs operating in the championship are below par and not capable of Identifying sly fouls or dives and have not played the game at a high enough level to be experienced.
An academy of referees should be established funded by the Football And Premier leagues and a three year plan of full time training and schooling for graduates to be integrated into the leagues. These referees need to be full time and not just a handful who are operating in the Premiership.
VAR should be mandatory in the Championship as well and can be operated by referees whose age has restricted their physical capabilities but not limited their knowledge or experience of the game.
Something must be done as the standard is the lowest that I have ever seen and players clubs and fans are suffering from the malaise of poor refereeing.
OFB
@original-fat-bob. Good post OFB. What you are proposing makes sense. It is a package of actions to address what has become a deteriorating situation over time.
Whilst having played the game should help referees to discharge their responsibilities more accurately, it does not detract from the fact that some decisions are blatantly wrong even to those of us who have only been observers of the game for many years and despite not being qualified.
Mistakes will continue to be made and observers will still debate and disagree over them. They should, however, be reduced if positive action is taken along the lines you propose; let's hope it taken sooner rather than later. 😎
Just read an interesting article in the EG recounting an interview with former PL referee Mark Halsey, on BBC Radio Tees, in which he states the following:
"One thing Neil is correct on and it hurts me to say it, the standard of officiating is declining and is declining at an alarming rate.
"It hurts me to say that. We have some very good referees but it's the way they're led, the leadership and direction and coaching, we've not got the top quality coaching."
MH also said that Bola's goal should not have been disallowed and that the referee got the penalty decision wrong and should not have changed his mind! 😎
Club website reporting that Dijksteel is out for rest of the season with an ankle injury following off the ball challenge at Swansea! 😎
Short video from Hayley McQueen on her dad Gordon suffering from Dementia.
@malcolm I think Dormo knows the family quite well. Where is he now?
I used to read Gordon's column in the Shoot back in 1970/80's when he was a player. So I learnt a lot of my English by reading his regular column.
I was lucky to meet Gordon a few years back when I thanked him for his teaching and of course his time at Boro. So finally he stayed in the Teesside area for ever. And also Hayley grew up in Teesside.
All my best wishes for the family and Gordon in particular. Up the Boro!
Club website reporting that Dijksteel is out for rest of the season with an ankle injury following off the ball challenge at Swansea! 😎
That was the first thing Warnock complained about after the match. That was the tacle by Manning.
I remember hearing the commentator on TV saying that Manning was lucky not to get a red. The tacle wasn't shown but now I understand the commentators comment.
I will try to forget the match next. Up the Boro!
@original-fat-bob: I think this post is the blogging version of putting the commentator's curse on something. You know the stuff: "Root's playing well here and another ton beckons. Showing complete control and he's reading the spin well, as he accelerates the scoring rate. OOOH! He's been bowled by the next ball, which went straight on!"
Being prescient....
Pity it turned out as it did. I mean, there are bad decisions, and there are BAD DECISIONS.