Whitey Grandad

Then it's not a penalty....

I was paraphrasing Dermot Gallagher but that was some time ago. There are 'decisions of the international board' that keep re-defining interpretations. It used to be a case of the ball having to be 'propelled by the arm' which is normally quoted as 'ball to hand' or 'intent'. In any case, it didn't hit his arm, it hit his shoulder the other side of the ball-joint and certainly not where Riley was indicating.

He was offside at the moment that the corner was headed towards the goal and standing in the goalmouth so definitely gaining an advantage.

I was wondering about the loan window. I remember going on holiday on the evening of the 31st January last year and then finding out later that Rasiak and Skacel had been shipped out at the last minute.

I've just found this today: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4019102.Post_mortem_due_on_fan_who_died_outside_St_Mary_s_stadium/ and amongst the messages at the bottom: cmh, says... 10:41pm Mon 5 Jan 09 he was my dad and a very loyal Saints fan all his life. Thank you to whoever helped him. My condolences to cmh and all his family. I would like to think that we could all take a few moments at the next home game to recognise their loss.

What do you mean, 'why haven't we sacked him yet', it's not our decision I'm afraid. He doesn't have the best resources to work with but we should be doing a lot better than we are. At the very least we should be organised, disciplined and fit.

and fitness! They aren't fit enough to last 90 minutes so then they get tired mentally and make mistakes.

er, I'm afraid it doesn't. The generally accepted part of the arm is from the fingertips to where a short-sleeved shirt would start. Anyway, it hit him on his back at the top corner of his shoulder. And it wasn't a free-kick in the first place, you can't just run across the front of somebody in the hope that you can trip over them and get a free-kick, unless you're Manchester United, that is.

Does anybody really believe that Poortvliet can turn things around, given another season or two? I've seen nothing so far to convince me.

We certainly didn't start with our best, most experienced team, as usual. In fact, the whole pattern of the game was just like a normal home league game, only more so if you get my drift.

... and soon to be third tier

The Norwich game is the evening of the 27th so if we are going to give him 3 games to turn things around the earliest that Poortvliet could be dumped is the 28th. That would only give his replacement a couple of days to get in any new faces so I'm afraid that we are what is technically known as buggered.

It was a very poor decision from one of our 'better' referees, but I'd much rather have had the handball decision go in our favour against Reading.

yeah, he'd done what he had to do by then, no need for any more. I think what disappointed me most of all was Nani and his antics. The other players just put in a solid professional performance, no unnecessary showboating.

Watch the replay again. Perry (I think it is) knocks the ball away with his thigh.

To have any chance of staying up we have to certainly beat Doncaster and either of the other two, preferably Norwich. I can't see that happening and soon we shall be running out of games.

I'm saying that the point of contact was diametrically on the other side to Kelvin's position. Riley probably had the best view and yet the ball couldn't possibly have hit anywhere near where he was indicating. He saw what he wanted to see.

He couldn't possibly see from his position, he probably had the worst view in the ground. Top corner of the shoulder blade and back of the head for me.

I agree completely. That's exactly how I saw it at the time and that's how I see it now after several looks at the replays. I still think that we would have lost comfortably, but that's not the point. It's always the same when a 'Premiership' referee handles a game between a 'top' team and one from the lower divisions. They are on first-name terms with the famous players whereas with our lot it's 'oi you, come 'ere'.

It looks far worse on television in slo-mo than it did when I saw it yesterday live and in real-time. I've watched it again and I stand by my original opinion that it was a yellow card at worst. Patterson turned his foot and lower leg away at the last moment and his lunge ended at the moment he made contact with Vidic after clearly playing the ball first. It was 'reckless' but not 'reckless with excessive force'. I agree with you about Riley and he clearly needs to get his eyes tested if he thought that he saw McGoldrick hit the ball with this arm and not the back of his shoulder and head. Ask yourself these questions: Would Vidic have been sent off if the roles were reversed? - probably not. Would Patterson have been sent of if it hadn't been Riley? - possibly.

Watch the replay again and see Lancashire's movement. Rooney runs right past him, he's slow turning and then ambles towards the goal. He had plenty of time to look around and see who was umarked. it was amateurish defending, and I've done enough of that myself to know it when I see it!

You mean Lancashire, surely?

Agreed, it's a ridiculous idea. How can he influence the play - or the referee - when he's stuck between the sticks?

I would agree with that. They were the only ones that didn't look completely out of place.

We came round that corner at about 10 mins to kick-off. The gentleman was lying on the ground on his right side and there were 5 yellow jackets attending to him. One of them, a lady, was rubbing his ears and talking to him telling him to 'hang in there' and that the ambulance was on its way. He looked barely conscious, if at all. I think that she was calling him 'Arthur'. It's very sad to lose a fellow supporter, especially in such circumstances. May you rest in peace, sir, and we'll all be thinking of you at the next game.