Yesterday's biggest talking point is perhaps the red card and actions in the aftermath reaction by Alassana Jatta.
There's zero defence for the lung, even if he did win the ball. Two-footed challenges, with studs showing and from behind, is incredibly dangerous. A red card is the outcome for it, but it was all in the heat of the moment. I don't think Stuart Maynard should have mentioned the shirt pulling, as the way he framed it, it was as if it caused him to lunge for the ball.
Jatta just lost his head in the heat of the occasion.
What I noticed was the sudden confrontation of Wimbledon players speaking to the referee, and interfering with his decision. Jatta never made contact with the Wimbledon player, but he still went down as if he had been shot. Rich from Chud Photography mentioned to me that he thought the Dons player landed awkwardly. I wasn't sure, and I still don't think he had anything wrong with him.
It was clear Jatta should be given a red for the challenge.
However, the AFC Wimbledon players tried to cause a melee. They attempted to provoke several of our players, including Jatta. All with the intent that they knew cards could go flying from the official.
At the very least, the player who simulated the foul should have been given a yellow card for diving. Although I believe it should have been red, as he clearly deliberately tried to fool the referee into thinking contact had been made. Now, this won't change the outcome, but it is worth seeing people's talking points.
The referee made the right call to red card Jatta, how he left the field was a clear sign that he had lost his head and these things happen. What makes it worse is how some of the AFC Wimbledon slyly lash out at Jatta. Some of the comments clearly were made to provoke him, but others made comments to the likes of Jodi Jones and Jacob Bedaeu in hope of gaining a response.
Rod McDonald deserves a lot of credit for taking Jatta away from the situation; his judgement was right.
Jatta was fouled, leading to the incident which saw him see red, but several cards should have been issued to Wimbledon players. The referee was largely inconsistent with both teams, but the second half did see a lot of antics from Wimbledon to sway things in their favour.
Unfortunately, I come back to Stuart Maynard, who could have better protected his players. I am not a Maynard out, however, changes were needed going into the second half. I believe Jatta should have been one of the earlier subs, with Will Jarvis coming on earlier. I would have pushed David McGoldrick up top. There were signs that the importance of the occasion was frustrating Jatta, and his performance wasn't that great that we had to keep him on the field. This might seem harsh, but I honestly feel Maynard bottles his changes and waits far too long for any of them to really make an impact.
EFL3 is the compromised answer to 3 Up and 3 down, with appropriate funding help from the PL
Lots of reasons why there should be an EFL 3.
The National League has a good standard & the top third Clubs of the NL can compare favourably with the bottom half of League 2.
Financial turnover is higher in the NL compared to the past. All NL clubs except just four in 24/25 were full time professional.
Unfortunately, not all NL clubs grounds are EFL ready. Many will have to upgrade their grounds to hold at least 4K & meet more stringent safety requirements to meet EFL standards.
Another issue would be how the extra league would affect the League & FA Cups. Would there need to be a preliminary round for EFL 3 clubs?
Yes there may be existing issues to be ironed out, but the prospect of a new EFL league 3 would be an exciting prospect for football fans across the Country.
Implementation ofย three up three down promotion /relegation across those four Divisions of the EFL, (including EFL 3), would be a much fairer system
While York City have been unlucky this season, they've benefitted from the playoffs twice in recent years. They finished sixth when they were promotedfrom the NLN...
But in principle I agree that we need three up, three down between L2 and the Bananarama Conference. Maybe even four. Having fewer promoted teams is a hangover from the days when the FL was a closed shop and can be incredibly cruel for the team finishing second, as we nearly found out ourselves.ย