Whitey Grandad

We eventually ran out of luck.

The Stoke players will be out to impress future employers. 1-1 tomorrow and then we both draw next Sunday.

Nah, I can’t defend that, the ball is well over the line. It is possible sometimes to see some grass between the line and the ball because the far side of the ball can overhang the edge of the line but not in this case. Well out of play but to be fair this is not something that you see very often, if ever.

Nah, I’d never get on the pitch. The FA has spare officials these days

Thanks, I am going by train too and shall probably get there about the same time.

Most of them are just a bunch of blokes doing a job. Some of them even hate each other. They will pay lip-service to the passion of the fans and the club but basically they are just a group of mercenaries who sell themselves to the highest bidder.

For what it’s worth... I shall be there and I expect to see us thrash them. Whatever the result I shall be defying doctor’s order and either wildly celebrating or drowning my sorrows afterwards. I am staying the night at the Grand Hotel near the station and if anybody knows which boozers we shall be frequenting it might save me an extended walk. If you do happen to see a kindly old man with white hair then please don’t be afraid to come up and say hello. Just please don’t hit me with a white stick

I wasn’t going to bother but here I am and this is in way of an explanation. MOTD put their white cross in the wrong place, which is not unusual for them. They put it where the ball was when the whistle was blown, which is a common misconception, but that’s not where Moss considered the foul to have taken place, which was where Redmond grabbed at Funes Mori’s arm. Granted, this was out nearer the touch line but the position that the kick was taken from was no nearer our goal. One important aspect is that Redmond is busy complaining to the referee instead of facing up to them and preventing them taking it quickly and this will have distracted Moss at that precise moment. Up at that end of the pitch no official is going to get overly concerned about a few yards either way. The referee thought it was a free kick which is all that mattered. You might think otherwise, I might not have given it, but many others would. The fact that the Assistant didn’t flag is not relevant. They will only flag for obvious fouls where they think the ref might have missed it, and having flagged a ref will not overrule them. In most cases these decisions are left to the referee which is why the Assistant has a flag but the ref has a whistle. Timekeeping. The match had been stopped at 90 minutes and restarted at 91:25. There are several footballing maxims but the most important are ‘play to the whistle’ and ‘the ref is not always right, but he’s never wrong’ We paid the price for having Yoshida sent off, and there’s nobody else to blame for that, and for Bertrand not only keeping the ball in play but passing it back to them and then being out of position when they played it forward.

If we have any money to spare I hope they don’t spend it on my seat. To be honest I can’t actually see it when I’m watching the game.

Yeah I’ve just had a look. Second Sunday in April is the cut off. The Premier League players’ guide says after 32 games. Was that the same date? http://www.ablueheart.com/premier-league-rules-for-yellow-cards-accumulation

If we go down it will be because we have been crap for most of the season. Bleating about decisions that you don’t like is feeble and pathetic. Complaining about referees has been a constant part of the game ever since the laws were first laid down. How the hell can you blame Moss because we let a deflected goal in against Everton? Take a good look at yourself.

Poll didn’t think it was a foul, that was all, but incidents like this are ‘in the opinion of the referee’. Not your opinion, not mine, not Poll’s Oh dear, that nasty referee gave a decision against us. Grow a pair FFS.

It wasn’t 10 yards away. You’ll be arguing over which blade of grass it should have been on next. Do you have any idea how feeble complaints like this sound to any supporter of any other team? Please Sir, please Sir, that nasty player in the blue shirt took the free kick when I wasn’t ready! It’s really pathetic. It’s not a matter of defending him. How many times do I have to say this? We need to manage the situation and learn to defend. In the first minute and in the last. The other team is going to try and desperately attack us in the last few minutes.

And a sure sign that Pellegrino is not a judge of a good player.

Because in the vast majority of cases their decisions aren’t actually wrong.

I’ve just recovered the recording and looked at it again. The free kick was taken from very close to where the free kick occurred and no nearer to our goal. That’s if you accept that it was a free kick anyway but Redmond does grab at the defender’s arm. Besides, why the hell aren’t we trying to keep possession at that late stage in the game? Nobody has mentioned McCarthy flapping at the cross that Bertrand keeps in play right at the end.

And where has he been all season? We have had to suffer Stephens and Hoedt when we could have played him.

It’s not that I’m defending refs, I’m saying that we have to live with it. Decisions go for us and they go against us. Deal with it. Move on. Having said that, the time added on today was spot on. Cedric should have been dragged to his feet and told to hobble on and Bertrand should have put the ball in row Z instead of keeping it in play and passing it straight to them.

Not talking to you? I might give that a try

Works for me

Have you forgotten every other decision in the game? One questionable decision in the last minute has as much effect as one in the first. A free kick down the other end of the pitch shouldn’t be a problem to any team that wants to play at this level. It was always going to be launched long at us. We had plenty of chances to run the clock down but Bertrand decided to keep the ball alive for them.

And Stoke and... Actually there are shedloads of examples.

Yoshida only misses one game for two yellows so he should be available for this one.

Two draws might just do it. Lose to Swansea and we need to beat City and hope.

I think we would all have taken that after the Chelsea game.