sadoldgit

Those who think it was a big will go on bringing it up because they need to carry on convincing themselves that it was. Those with the same perspective as those sitting on the independent FA panel will see it for what it was, a breech of the rules that warranted no more than a slap on the wrist and don’t do it again sanction. Should Eckert spend the rest of his career being defined by a massive over reaction and disproportionate sanction by the EFL? Some seem to think so it seems. Given what the FA panel had to say about the situation I would argue that view is just another disproportionate reaction to what were three relatively minor offences.

Different situation if he controls the ball and uses his body to shield it. It ran away from him allowing the player to get on the ball, leading to the foul. I wouldn’t have wanted the ball in that position in park football but players at that level are expected to play in tight areas. It wasn’t a one off, he did it twice, which calls into question his technical ability and decision making at this level. He is fine on the bench but I wonder whether Eckert now regrets starting him in a match of this magnitude. As it was, we got the result, but if Portsmouth hadn’t been so poor in attack the outcome would not have been so favourable. * I’ve just watched it again and if he controls the ball as soon as he receives he has enough time to deal with it. He had enough time and space but as soon as the ball bounces away from him he is in trouble.

Just got back from a week away and sat through a recording without knowing the score. Happy days! Fortunately Portsmouth were awful going forward. Fortunately too Azaz didn’t get sent off, he would have been in the EPL. Bragg miscontrolled the ball twice, gave the ball away twice, gave two stupid fouls away and put his side in a very difficult position. Hopefully he will learn his lesson. Another 3 points in the bag though so all’s well.

Archer scored again today

It’s conflicting isn’t it? As much as I’d love to see us get promoted again, preferably at Wembley, the prize is tainted by what the EPL has become. The football is decent, the league is much more competitive and, of course, no VAR. As gutted as I was to see us thrown out of the play off final, I am enjoying still being competitive rather than being the whipping boys for the big clubs.

There are different levels of cheating therefore it follows that there should be different levels of sanctions. This idea that “cheating” is the be all and end all is completely flawed. As for the skates or anybody else, if they had done what we did my view would be no different. It really wasn’t a big deal, no matter how much you like to pretend it was.

We will have to agree to disagree about the proportionality of the EFL’s sanctions.

For me, the bottom line in all of this sorry saga is that the independent panel applied common sense and proportionality to the situation we put ourselves in and it is a great shame that the EFL didn’t do the same.

Perhaps Alanis ought to rewrite her lyrics to include something about this? He would have to be incredibly stupid to do it again. I think we can safely assume that it is finally done and dusted. Good to see some common sense finally applied to what has been three molehills turned into Mount Everest by the EFL and Middlesbrough FC.

Bearsy was worth the price of admission alone. He didn’t need any football acumen or ITK credentials, he was just bloody funny.

Didn’t they bring him in as u21 manager to potentially eventually take over the first team?

I think, if someone threatens to kill you, that does kind of make you a victim doesn’t it? There are some proper nutters out there and you never know just how far they will take it. It is bad enough having to carry the weight of the current consequences and possibly still end up losing his job without having to deal with death threats too. Let’s not forget what actually happened to cause this and how it has been blown up out of all proportion!

FFS, it is just football. Who on earth deserves death threats over a game played by over paid prima donnas? People have done far worse and got a lot less grief.

Archer scored two yesterday in a 4-3 win in a friendly.

I think I read somewhere that the FA said that they would be taking a look. Nothing to look at properly until the appeal process has concluded, which could take years of course.