Whitey Grandad

My mistake. Some of us remember the good old days with games on Easter Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday. That usually sorted out the promotion and relegation issues with only 2 points for a win.

Easter adds one in April. European schedule cocks everything up and there's also damned international weekends.

Just one thought... The white shirts may have been a factor in that awful offside decision. If they had been playing in white and we had been in reddy black then things might have been different. As a strip I do like the look of it though.

Doesn't flap or drop his hands at all. At the moment the ball flashes past his head to his right both his hands are in the air. The ball is past him before it is humanly possible to react. The nerve signals just can't get to the muscles in time, and that's after the delay through the visual cortex. In order to make a save it is necessary to try to anticipate where the ball is going to go but this is not easy with a header, which can go in any direction. With a kick you can get some idea from the movement of the leg but even then a miskick, bobble or deflection will take it past you. There was no time to come for the ball either, it would have gone into an empty net. If you think that you're ever going to see a keeper come for that cross or save a firm close-range header then you're going to be disappointed. They don't ever save them, the ball hits them. I have seen the shot from behind the goal. All the game's incidents were analysed on MNF and no professional commentator has criticised Forster for that goal on either TV or in the press. You have unrealistic expectations. I suppose you think that DeGea should have saved our three goals too?

But what was the alternative? (Before January)

Good point.

There's certainly something wrong with him. Injury would seem a likely hypothesis but a lack of cover means that he has had to be thrown in.

Of course! Thanks.

Yes, it was a rash decision.

They are miked up so there doesn't need to be any obvious communication but I agree, there should have been something between them.

When I first did my refereeing course it was explained that our decisions would not be actionable. Something about being part of the terms of taking part in the competition.

But two of those three games over Christmas were at home. This makes a big difference.

In practice that is the case. I'm sure that this official didn't have any doubts and thought it was offside, he certainly raised his flag immediately. I always used to take the view that if you have to think about it then it's not offside. Defenders usually get the decision regarding goal kicks and throw ins if there's any uncertainty.

The referee was not at fault, he was not in a position to have a certain view on the matter, but the one on the line was clearly wrong. There was only a foot in it but even from up in the stands I couldn't see anything wrong wioth the goal. He was in the correct position but must have been watching another move. He also got some wrong later in the game and in those cases he was behind the play.

I don't normally use this language but.... you're talking total bullocks. Drops his hands? Ducks away from it? It's past him before he can even blink. Watch it again, not in slow motion and this time make sure you're watching the right replay. Don't let your prejudices affect your judgments. I'll agree that there was something wrong with the first goal, the second would have beaten most goalkeepers but the third would have beaten anybody that it didn't hit. .

I'm not sure what you mean? Please show where you disagree with any of my statement rather than trying to infer something which is not there.

It's ruined rugby with all the stoppages and it robbed us of that victory against South Africa when the video was inconclusive. The game is now all stop/start and I can't watch it any more. Technology in cricket is not infallible either. That snickometer often gives a false impression. Offsides in football are not easy to decide with any accuracy. That howler on Sunday didn't need technology, it just needed an official who was up to his job.

He was a big improvement on Stekelenburg when he came back, and he had been subject to criticism very similar to what Foster is getting now.

Who was the ex-player who used to give the halftime pep-talks to the crowd? We had a referees meeting just after at which he was the speaker. I asked him if that result the week before had affected their planning. His reply was something along the lines of 'Not really. We wanted to at least get a goal and we were dispappointed not to'. Too bloody right we were.

Er... no it didn't It went between his head and his right arm. When a shot/header is that close a keeper never saves it, he just gets in the right place and hopes that it hits him. The ball is passed before it is humanly possible to react. None of the professional writers or commentators in any of the media have even hinted that he should have saved this one. Save your anger for Stephens who wandered forward going AWOL and leaving a big gap in the centre when our defensive line needed him. You can see Ibra glance round and then step back into the hole. Rushing forward out of your line is always going to disrupt a defence. It did for Harold at Hastings. Forster is obviously limited in his movement at the moment. To me, it seems that he has trouble pushing off on his right leg.

Totally agree.

12th August to 13th May https://www.premierleague.com/news/327869

Now you're just being silly.

Yeah, I can. If we'd swapped Ibrahimovic we'd have won, what's your point?

March? I'm lucky if I can move