27-01-2019, 09:46
You`ve voiced my thoughts pretty much word for word, Dancing.
I always had great respect for Ian Evatt as a player, but if this is the sort of team he`s putting out I`m afraid i can`t say the same about him as a manager. Some of those tackles yesterday virtually constituted common assault. They had obviously identified Kiwomya and Shaw as the two players whose pace could hurt them and decided to put them out of the game if they could; they succeeded with Kiwomya (the referee didn`t even penalise that one) and tried their damnedest with Shaw. I`m all for referees letting the game flow as much as possible and not blowing their whistle continuously but when a team is clearly adopting physical violence as a tactic and setting out to injure the opposition, then players have to be protected. The officiating yesterday was an absolute farce – and this is from somebody who doesn`t like criticising referees!
The linesmen, as usual, seemed to regard giving off-sides as their sole reason for existing and apparently saw anything else that happened more than 2 inches from them as ‘nuffing to do wiv me, mate’. I saw the same push by their `keeper and as I was sitting right behind the linesman I really can`t believe that he didn`t. Something has to be done about the refereeing standards at this level.
If only we could have put away one of this early chances, it would have been a completely different game and result. But we didn`t; so the misery continues for a while longer.
If there`s one consolation to be gleaned from yesterday`s game it`s that although we may be crap at the moment at least we`re not a bunch of thugs. After that game, I`m rather glad that Evo didn`t get the manager`s job at our place; I`d rather be totally embarrassed by our team – as I surely am at present – than downright ashamed, which I would be if we played the way Barrow did yesterday..
I always had great respect for Ian Evatt as a player, but if this is the sort of team he`s putting out I`m afraid i can`t say the same about him as a manager. Some of those tackles yesterday virtually constituted common assault. They had obviously identified Kiwomya and Shaw as the two players whose pace could hurt them and decided to put them out of the game if they could; they succeeded with Kiwomya (the referee didn`t even penalise that one) and tried their damnedest with Shaw. I`m all for referees letting the game flow as much as possible and not blowing their whistle continuously but when a team is clearly adopting physical violence as a tactic and setting out to injure the opposition, then players have to be protected. The officiating yesterday was an absolute farce – and this is from somebody who doesn`t like criticising referees!
The linesmen, as usual, seemed to regard giving off-sides as their sole reason for existing and apparently saw anything else that happened more than 2 inches from them as ‘nuffing to do wiv me, mate’. I saw the same push by their `keeper and as I was sitting right behind the linesman I really can`t believe that he didn`t. Something has to be done about the refereeing standards at this level.
If only we could have put away one of this early chances, it would have been a completely different game and result. But we didn`t; so the misery continues for a while longer.
If there`s one consolation to be gleaned from yesterday`s game it`s that although we may be crap at the moment at least we`re not a bunch of thugs. After that game, I`m rather glad that Evo didn`t get the manager`s job at our place; I`d rather be totally embarrassed by our team – as I surely am at present – than downright ashamed, which I would be if we played the way Barrow did yesterday..