KB1862

Came across this video earlier today explaining why Luke O'Nien was only given a yellow as opposed to a red for a deliberate handball. What does everyone make of the explanation or the situation? Should it have been a red card or was the yellow the correct decision? I find it a tricky one because of the explanation they give as to why it's a yellow by the law of the game and not exactly a clear chance. However, you have to imagine without the volleyball parry that the opposition player was gonna latch on to it and be in on goal. But also, a handball like that surely warrants a red card.

I suspect there may be a few clubs in for him during the summer. Heard a few rumours floating round during the season and they're doing the rounds again. My site manager at work, who's a Birmingham fan, said that Langstaff's name was shouted and mentioned a lot to the board of Birmingham City. Hopefully we can retain him and he carried on banging the goals in. His scoring tally is something to be admired and I still believe there's more to come.

100% agree with this. If it was used to the effectiveness as it has the potential to, it would be so beneficial to the game. Another thing I have an issue with as well, there is no consistency regarding handball. In some games we see handball given due to unnatural movement/shape yet in another game that's an almost identical situation there's nothing given.

Lost count of the amount of times I've watched this. Unbelievable.

@Robbie Of course, there's no denying there's corruption going on. Hate to say it and hate to be the conspiracy theorist like you say but it's so blatant they want exactly what you've said. I asked one of my mates, who's a forest fan, whether they'd like to play derby next season or stay in the Prem and his response was despite the corruption of the PL he'd much rather stay at the top. But without VAR, there's more chance of referees and the PL getting away with it.

After watching Match of the Day this morning, it's still clear to see that VAR are still making mistakes. Bournemouth had a perfectly good goal disallowed due to a little touch on Raya. Not enough to penalise. Man City got given a penalty for a collision instigated by Gvardiol rather than the other way round. As for the second penalty, it was a stonewall but why was he not sent off as Haaland was clean through on goal? Everton didn't get a penalty for a trip to McNeil. The only benefit to VAR is that Luton gave away a penalty when their player was grappling Branthwaite and the referee didn't give it. Now, was this because of VAR or did the ref see it and as to the point I've made previously didn't want to give it incase it made them look bad?

@DangerousSausage You're absolutely bang on. They feel it acceptable to travel thousands of miles to play friendlies because of financial gains yet they aren't willing to play a replay against say a league 2 side or below because it congests the schedule. Well I guess that's the price they pay for being successful, naturally it comes with the territory I guess. It was only a matter of time before clubs started playing their football abroad. Few years back I'm sure the Spanish Super Cup was played in Morocco. I know Morocco isn't exactly too far from Spain but it's still out the country in which it should be held. EVERY single club should have a say in the matter and it needs to be majority ruling. If they're so bothered by the calendar build up maybe they should take a look at the money side of things and realise that's where it all stems from. I'm sure losing a bit of money and saving journeys will provide a better opportunity of cutting the fixture pile up rather than scrapping FA Cup Replays. @Robbie Exactly that. Replays have provided so many great memories for so many smaller clubs over the years and it's part of the thing that makes the cup as magic as it is well known for. If they are to go ahead, despite the protests against it, cutting out replays then they should make it a matter of securing lower clubs in the financial term so they don't lose out and allow them the opportunity to either have the big stars come to their ground or have a chance of visiting stadiums they wouldn't usually get to see.

Baldwin being released is a tricky one. Had it not been for his 2 goals against Boreham Wood, we might not even be back in the EFL and he's a good asset for us but he's made quite a few calamitous errors this season that have cost us. Hopefully it is not the last we're going to see of JOB either. He's been a solid player for us over the years maybe a place on the coaching staff in the near future. Not surprised to see Stone on the transfer list, he has had one or 2 good games but there have been many occasions in which he's proved to be a very unreliable goalkeeper.

I recently wrote a blog post on VAR, it's easy to get carried away when writing about VAR because it's failing on every aspect. VAR can be a good thing in the game but the way it's handled in England just shows how lacking the referees are in this country. Just look at how it's handled elsewhere like major International tournaments. Very little fault with it but in the Premier League it seems to have become a main stay feature with pundits criticising it every single week. The Forest v Everton situation was the worst VAR performance there has been. Forest were utterly robbed on the day. The problem with it is referees just don't referee games anymore. They heavily rely on VAR and if they spot something they won't immediately give it incase they're wrong so instead they wait for a call and let someone else decide rather than take the stick for it themselves.

It's disgraceful. FA Cup Replays are part of the cup. It's part of what makes the cup so special. There are minnows that have an opportunity to visit stadiums like Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford or Anfield. It also has the capabilities of financially benefiting smaller clubs, a financial boost that could determine whether a club survives or has to fold completely. There are clubs that have benefited from replays in years gone by but cause they're up there in the big time, they seem to have forgotten all about that. The thing with the whole situation that doesn't sit right is the fact that it was only agreed upon by the FA and Premier League. No communication with the EFL and below about whether or not it should go ahead. There needs to be a vote and majority ruling. If the government fail to act and this does indeed go ahead, clubs should boycott the competition. It's just further proof that the Premier League controls football within England. Scrapping replays only benefits those in Europe. All because UEFA and FIFA decided to create a new competition and increase capacity involving clubs in England, the FA Cup has to make way for it? Heritage is being taken away.

Hopefully we see him potentially get more game time for Notts next season. It's about time he got given the opportunity. Promising praise from this tweet.

That's the problem with the game. Rules are being rewritten all the time and it's making it confusing for everyone involved. We always hear terms like "the letter of the law" being thrown around. The decisions may be ridiculous that we disagree with but the laws suggest otherwise. It's made a right mess of the game as we know it.

@Robbie Course it's out of sight for a majority of clubs but also take into account that Wrexham last season, in the National League, could outspend some League 1 clubs and were probably capable of keeping up with some Championship clubs in terms of spending. But factor in Stadiums, TV Rights, Competitions, Cup runs. There's a reason why Premier League clubs have millions compared to lower down the pyramid who have thousands. Working their way up, having good cup runs and being able to improve facilities has massive financial gain. Bournemouth beat Italian clubs to some transfers. AC Milan were one of those. A club like AC Milan who were/are European giants aren't able to compete with a team like Bournemouth financially. Considering how much is able to be paid by Premier League clubs, £100 million is a relatively low number still.

They've made a problem for themselves with VAR. They had it up and running with room for improvement but said they don't want VAR re-refereeing the game but if something like this happens that's missed by the ref then VAR must intervene to stop the shenanigans happening that it is there to prevent. It's smart from a players point of view like what Toney did and opposition players must be aware of what's happening to bring it to the attention of the ref but it's still, in all but name, breaking the rules of the game. So surely VAR has a right to get involved.

Caught the highlights on YouTube during my lunch break today. Shambolic defending for all 3 goals. Especially the 3rd, no one seemed to be bothered in claiming the loose ball. 2 Gills players were basically battling each other to get on the end of the header sent back in. Post-match, I find it bizarre how criticism is being aimed at Stuart Maynard. Conceding goals in this nature, losing the way we did and having a frustrating night was happening before he even came into the club. 3 games in to his managerial reign, it's still gonna take a bit of time for him to slowly implement his way and move away from the old.

@Robbie 20 teams. £100million. £5million per team. I'm sure teams outside of the Premier League spend that sort of money. Considering how much players cost these days and what some clubs pay, it really is a small amount. Enzo, Rice & Grealish cost more alone than 20 teams in the Premier League spent during the January transfer window.

It's been a horrible day in terms of the weather today. It wasn't a very pleasant cycle to work this morning. I left at 5.30 am and thought I was only going to be hit by rain but it wasn't rain, hail or snow. I wouldn't even say it was sleet. It was like sharp frozen rain drops, it comes keen when it comes into contact with cheeks. The weather didn't know what it was doing today. Sleet, Rain and a bit of heavy Snow. It was a whole mixture of things. I'm not a massive fan of cold weather but I'd take the minus temperatures we had a few weeks back over this cold & wet weather. Roll on Summertime. ???? Apparently they're predicting a part 2 of the beast from the east we witnessed in 2018.

Makes me laugh that they're announcing this like it's breaking news. It's been clear and obvious (bit of VAR talk there) for a long time now that VAR has been ruining some of the enjoyment in the game. Especially those who go to the fans in attendance at games. Not to mention the fact that on ref watch they have on Sky Sports they highlight so many failings from previous weekends action. But, 20 wrong decision calls seems very low. They've got to have missed many decisions off the list to make the number seem better. There's always talk about improving VAR but the only thing they've done is "VAR will not re-ref the game". How about they follow the Women's World Cup and have footage of incidents and allow the ref to be mic'd up so that the whole stadium can see and hear what is going on and for the referee to explain their decisions. That would be an improvement. VAR can be good for the game but it has to be correctly used and it needs to be speedier.

Because that would be re-reffing the game, which is what VAR doesn't want to do because fans, players, managers and pundits thought it was disrupting the game which it would do if that was the case. The game played on, Nigeria scored, if there was no incident than Nigeria would have been 2-0 up. But, if he had stopped it there and then with no incident, what happens then? Drop ball, resume play placing everyone back in to their exact positions of when the ref stopped it? It's essentially what you're taught as a youngster, play to the whistle. Referees should make their own decisions and if they make the wrong call VAR will highlight the mistake and see it as an error by the official. Unfortunately VAR is too heavily relied on and it's a get out of jail free card for all referees now.

@Robbie I started watching this game when there was 15 minutes left of normal time and I was gonna come to this point. It showed how useful VAR can be when used correctly. I do agree with your point about the referee not blowing for a penalty in the first place. When watching the replays, it was clear to see that the referee could not have been in a better position to see the incident than he already was. He was a few yards behind, looking directly at the incident. I mean from a neutral fans perspective, it made for a dramatic entertaining end to the game. Nigeria going 2-0 up and looking set to secure their place in the final only for them to have that lead snatched away and then have to go for another half an hour. I do feel the play went on for too long for it to be pulled back though. However, as I mentioned it was VAR being useful. The referee missed an incident and VAR intervened which is what it is there for "a clear and obvious error". It was the right call but without VAR it would have been totally different. Unless the referee would have given it without VAR being involved and having to make the call in real time himself knowing that VAR won't come to the conclusion. On to the other incident, it's understandable why VAR was used for that because of where the foul took place. It was always going to be a red card, rightly so, but they needed to determine whether or not it was inside or outside the box that the actual contact was made. Both decisions still took too long to come to any conclusion and it needs to be quicker but the main thing is both decisions were 100% correct and that's what is needed from VAR.

I listened to the game on the radio and from what I can gather, it didn't sound like the greatest game of football but Notts can feel very hard done to not to have got at least a point from the game. The referee didn't seem to have a good game either. Stal was gesturing for a card on one of the Mansfield players for a cynical foul, which is a bookable offence anyway, but also because it was apparently the 3rd time he had committed a foul. There was also claims for a penalty for a potential foul on Langstaff. 13 shots and just the 1 on target. That's a poor stat to have in a game. It sounded like we were getting there but no urgency to properly attack or make any sort of great chance to find an equaliser. The best of the bunch that I heard of on the radio was Jodi Jones hitting it over after capitalising on a mistake by a Mansfield player. Baldwin sounded like he had a very good game at the back. Stone also sounded like he did well between the sticks and made some good saves. It's not great losing to a rival like Mansfield but it's not as bad as the 4-1 defeat we suffered at Meadow Lane earlier on in the season I suppose.

FFP was enough to worry teams it seems. I'm guessing that given the Everton points deduction, Forest and Everton facing punishment as well as Man City being taken to a hearing was enough to make clubs think twice before splashing the cash.

Yeah I read about this when they first announced reformatting the UCL. They basically want teams that have history and reputation to be in the competition more. There was a lot of fans angry and annoyed at this proposition. Quite rightly too. Take Chelsea for example, since Abramovich came in in 2003, they've been a regular feature in the Champions League and have won it twice. Even if they position how they are currently, they could still earn a place due to history. I think that idea may have been squashed but essentially this is exactly what UEFA opposed about the Super League so essentially if they were to go that route and stick with the idea, they're going to be hypocrites. Personally, I think the Champions League should be what it states CHAMPIONS. They have a UEFA Coefficient Standings so why not utilise it? The champions of the top 10 nations, based on the coefficient league, play out a league or even a straight knockout format rather than having 4 or 5 different clubs being able to enter it. Also, if you get eliminated from the UCL, teams should be out of Europe all together. None of this nonsense about relegated to the Europa League than relegated to Europa Conference League. Once you're out of your European competition you have "earned" the right to play in, that's it over done. All these things put in place by UEFA, the FA etc. they make it sound beneficial to the game for everyone but read between the lines, it only increases the dominance of the already elite and keeps them there for a long while, as you've pointed out.

Yeah I think he's capable of adapting, who knows the adaption may prove even more beneficial. It could bring him more in to play and open up options elsewhere or be able to link up play and get into even better positions than he already does.

FFP was brought in to help the "elite" to a certain extent. They still have to follow the rules and some are scared to even go near it, hence the quiet transfer window, but it also benefits the bigger clubs as @Robbie has highlighted regarding bigger clubs having the better opportunities to buy the best players. There are clubs out there, irrelevant of league standings, who can sell out stadiums week after week after week but still won't benefit from this because despite revenue being boosted due to sell out stadiums, a lack of cup runs and European football won't increase revenue like it would to teams like Man City who have a history of failing to sell out every week. Hence the name "emptyhad" as the joke went. Obviously that's all changed now because of the success they've been having over the past few seasons making many people switch allegiances becoming glory supporters. I can see with this new rule change that, as unfortunate as it will be, more clubs will fall in to the situation that the likes of Everton have found themselves in with points deductions. It'll eventually lead to teams being hit with fines and points deductions more regularly and then ultimately a lack of competition during the season with the gap becoming wider and wider.