28-01-2019, 00:09
Personally, Dev, I couldn`t give a toss what happened at Maidenhead, Salford or anywhere else for that matter; I was talking about the game that I saw yesterday and my reaction to it. Apart from which, it wasn`t so much the quantity of fouling that was going on – although there was more than enough of it, to be sure – that enraged me, but the brutality involved, the potential for serious injury to the player on the receiving end of it and the complete lack of protection offered by the officials.
The tackle that saw to Kiwomya happened some time before he actually went off – he struggled on for a while, to his credit, but he was clearly damaged – and merited a sending-off in itself. The defender went straight through the back of him with no attempt whatsoever to play the ball. Under today`s rules, that`s a straight red; on this occasion, the man in black (I`m reluctant to call him a referee, as this implies a level of competence far greater than he deserves) didn`t even give a yellow. I`m not sure he actually saw it as a foul at all.
It`s all well and good saying that a player with pace should ‘turn and twist his defender and run at him’ but when the defender in question doesn`t bother to twist or turn but instead just cleans you out, with perhaps the added bonus of a stiff-arm to the face in the process, that tactic tends not to work too well. And from where I was sitting, which was fairly close to the incident, that`s exactly what happened to Lee Shaw in the second half; it could easily have fractured his cheek-bone.
Now correct me if I`m wrong – I may be missing something here – but as I understand it the rules state that any player who raises his hands to another player`s face gets a red card. No ifs. No buts. No maybes. Off. This clown deemed it to merit nothing more than a yellow (and a fairly reluctant one at that, it seemed); the same level of punishment given for a shirt-pull or for kicking the ball away. Ridiculous.
The linesman was even nearer to the incident than I was, but as there was no off-side involved he clearly thought it was none of his business.
If Mr Evatt chooses to ignore the thuggery of his team and to concentrate instead on the ‘lovely passing moves’ in the second hall, that`s fine. We all have our own standards and those are clearly his. However, I could be cynical and point out that it`s not too difficult to play ‘lovely passing moves’ in the second half when you`ve successfully crocked half the opposition in the first half. I don`t retract a word of what I said about him, either as a player or as a manager. If that`s the ethos that he inculcates in his team – and also condones, it seems, from his comments after the match - then so be it. I still maintain, however, that on the basis of what I saw yesterday if he ever gets anywhere the manager`s office at the Proact I`ll be off – for good. I would honestly rather get relegated again than have to resort to tactics like that to pick up points.
I quite agree with you, Dev, about showing respect for referees but the fact is that respect is not freely given – it has to be earned; and that applies in any walk of life. I accept that we`re all biased when it comes to following our own team and that there are borderline decisions that sometimes go for us and sometimes go against us; we have to live with that. I`ve said before that I hate to criticise referees and that they do a sometimes impossible job that I wouldn`t dream of doing myself. However, the need to show respect does not justify turning a blind eye to or excusing incompetence – and I`m afraid the officials yesterday were just not up to the job. What Barrow were doing was blatantly tactical, planned and cynical. It should have been stopped very quickly but wasn`t.
The tackle that saw to Kiwomya happened some time before he actually went off – he struggled on for a while, to his credit, but he was clearly damaged – and merited a sending-off in itself. The defender went straight through the back of him with no attempt whatsoever to play the ball. Under today`s rules, that`s a straight red; on this occasion, the man in black (I`m reluctant to call him a referee, as this implies a level of competence far greater than he deserves) didn`t even give a yellow. I`m not sure he actually saw it as a foul at all.
It`s all well and good saying that a player with pace should ‘turn and twist his defender and run at him’ but when the defender in question doesn`t bother to twist or turn but instead just cleans you out, with perhaps the added bonus of a stiff-arm to the face in the process, that tactic tends not to work too well. And from where I was sitting, which was fairly close to the incident, that`s exactly what happened to Lee Shaw in the second half; it could easily have fractured his cheek-bone.
Now correct me if I`m wrong – I may be missing something here – but as I understand it the rules state that any player who raises his hands to another player`s face gets a red card. No ifs. No buts. No maybes. Off. This clown deemed it to merit nothing more than a yellow (and a fairly reluctant one at that, it seemed); the same level of punishment given for a shirt-pull or for kicking the ball away. Ridiculous.
The linesman was even nearer to the incident than I was, but as there was no off-side involved he clearly thought it was none of his business.
If Mr Evatt chooses to ignore the thuggery of his team and to concentrate instead on the ‘lovely passing moves’ in the second hall, that`s fine. We all have our own standards and those are clearly his. However, I could be cynical and point out that it`s not too difficult to play ‘lovely passing moves’ in the second half when you`ve successfully crocked half the opposition in the first half. I don`t retract a word of what I said about him, either as a player or as a manager. If that`s the ethos that he inculcates in his team – and also condones, it seems, from his comments after the match - then so be it. I still maintain, however, that on the basis of what I saw yesterday if he ever gets anywhere the manager`s office at the Proact I`ll be off – for good. I would honestly rather get relegated again than have to resort to tactics like that to pick up points.
I quite agree with you, Dev, about showing respect for referees but the fact is that respect is not freely given – it has to be earned; and that applies in any walk of life. I accept that we`re all biased when it comes to following our own team and that there are borderline decisions that sometimes go for us and sometimes go against us; we have to live with that. I`ve said before that I hate to criticise referees and that they do a sometimes impossible job that I wouldn`t dream of doing myself. However, the need to show respect does not justify turning a blind eye to or excusing incompetence – and I`m afraid the officials yesterday were just not up to the job. What Barrow were doing was blatantly tactical, planned and cynical. It should have been stopped very quickly but wasn`t.