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.

I'm not normally one that fully buys into stats as they can be very subjective but there was a stat that's been popping up more recently on social media that Maynard now has a worse percentage than that of Fullarton after the same amount of games. It's a tricky one because under Luke Williams there was already a decline happening. Maybe Williams could have turned things round but the run could have also continued so there is a slight benefit of the doubt in the way of Maynard but the more the games go on the less I have optimism over him leading this team. I don't believe we should be looking to get rid of him before the end of the season unless something drastically goes wrong and it's clear to see that he is well out of his depth to take this club back on the rise. There's no longer the high scoring games which we've seen much of this season so that's a positive I guess but the attacking side has also slightly suffered as a result. Some of the things that are killing us in games are still the same old stuff that was happening under Williams with shoddy defending. Maybe when Maynard gets his own brand of football and players in the team come the summer it might be a whole different story.

It was never a handball by McGoldrick. If VAR was in place, things might have been different with the goal standing. However, even with VAR, it might have still resulted in the same decision being made. The handball rule seems to be one of the most talked about subjects this season. They've made a mess of how the rule is deemed to be an offence with no one really knowing what is and isn't handball anymore. The letter of the law deems certain things to be handball without taking in to account body actions, natural shape and how close an opponent is when they have struck the ball. It seems to have been made more complicated than it needs to be and should be simplified. Only thing is how do they go about reverting it? Do they go back to the days where handball was a deliberate block with the hand or do they allow players to smash it at the hand from point blank range and we see 10+ handballs a game? The only thing I can say about Didzy's 'Handball' is that it was made by the referee in real time and as frustrating as that may be, humans make mistakes.

Big sums of money to install it, which I never realised was as much as that, but all 92 clubs should have goal line technology. The EFL and FA should get into their pockets and make it happen. However, even with goal line technology, the MK Dons 'Goal' still might not have been given even with the tech installed. Throwback to June 2020 "The Blades were denied a clear goal when Villa keeper Nyland carried Norwood's free-kick behind the line. United's players were incredulous when the goal was not given, Oliver pointing to his watch to insist he had received no signal that the ball had crossed the line." - BBC Sport

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 haven't seen this goal before. Fantastic Hit!!

@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.

@Robbie already referred to this one in the double header along with Eli Sam v Oxford City on a double goal of the day. Great goal though, deserving of a double showing. 2000. Di Canio scores this incredible scissor kick volley for West Ham against Wimbledon. The strike is impressive, what an effort it was but what fails to get mentioned in this goal is the ping from Trevor Sinclair from right to left perfectly angled and weighted for Di Canio to get his volley away.

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.

I much prefer the American style pancakes but we usually have home made traditional pancakes. I'm not much of a cook, in fact I barely do any of the cooking unless it's something to shove in the oven or a full English. That's about it. But today, I decided to give something basic like pancakes a go and all 3 pancakes I did were done to perfection. Even flipped all 3 perfectly, so it wasn't a fluke ????. They're filling though especially when chocolate spread, biscoff spread and whipped cream goes on top. Kids went all out for theirs. Jam, Chocolate spread, sprinkles, biscoff spread and whipped cream. Made sure they were limited though don't want to be dealing with the aftermath of too many pancakes ????

1996. Phillipe Albert scored this delightful chip for Newcastle United against Manchester United. Peter Schmeichel could only watch it sail over his head into the net. Commentary makes this goal all the better. It's 1996 again and it's yet another lob against Peter Schmeichel. This time it's from the effortlessly talented Matt Le Tissier for Southampton. 1997. Clarence Seedorf scored this wonderful long range effort for Real Madrid against rivals Atletico Madrid. What a hit! 2005. Steven Gerrard scored this long range volley for Liverpool against Middlesbrough. Stevie G was always prone to scoring a cracker or 2.

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.

He's a very talented player. The fact that he's broke the assist record in Feb and has missed a few games due to International duty says a lot. Just imagine how much earlier he could have broke it if he wasn't away on International duty. It's amazing to think how many more assists he can grab this season to put the record out of sight.

@Robbie I hope it's on TV as well, it'll be quite a good watch. Obviously it won't be the same as watching them in their prime but I'm sure they've still got something in their locker and it'll make for a good tournament that could become a regular feature. It's like a larger scale Masters Football. Loved watching that.