Sheff Weds - Back from the game

[St. Brynjar]

Bollocks was that a red card.

[creative_username_1]

deffo not a red...unclear from that footage if it was a pen or not. Did Pearce clip his legs or pull him back? All looks a bit clumsy

[Basingstoke Royal]

Afobe had lost control of the ball and could see gorkss was gonna get there to clear. Looks like he took a dive.

Regardless, gorkss was there to clear.

[Huckleberry Hound]

Right, so there has been absolutely no mention of the appalling weather, localised flooding (yes, even in the Reading area) over the past few days?! And no mention of the traffic problems in the Mad Stad area from at least midday onwards? What's more from the moment Adie and co were on air they were telling people to leave early for the game due to the problems.

I checked the AA website at midday & the only problems on the M4 at the time were eastbound at J5. Was on the approach to J11 just after two o'clock, but missed the first five minutes of the game.

Not sure if it was a pen, but if so, definitely a red card under the laws of the game despite Gorkss' proximity. Not the first time Pearce has been unable to deal with a high ball in the wind. Thought we played well first half, but basically Wednesday were parking the bus & waiting for us to make a mistake. McCleary ran his heart out up & down the right wing.

Disappointed with Obita scraping his studs over the penalty spot & spending much of the first half waving imaginary cards at the ref. Just get on with the game.

And to the two lads in the middle of the east stand who left after ten minutes, if that's your idea of supporting the team then please don't bother coming back. Ever.

[sandman]

Right, so there has been absolutely no mention of the appalling weather, localised flooding (yes, even in the Reading area) over the past few days?! And no mention of the traffic problems in the Mad Stad area from at least midday onwards? What's more from the moment Adie and co were on air they were telling people to leave early for the game due to the problems.

I checked the AA website at midday & the only problems on the M4 at the time were eastbound at J5. Was on the approach to J11 just after two o'clock, but missed the first five minutes of the game.

Not sure if it was a pen, but if so, definitely a red card under the laws of the game despite Gorkss' proximity. Not the first time Pearce has been unable to deal with a high ball in the wind. Thought we played well first half, but basically Wednesday were parking the bus & waiting for us to make a mistake. McCleary ran his heart out up & down the right wing.

Disappointed with Obita scraping his studs over the penalty spot & spending much of the first half waving imaginary cards at the ref. Just get on with the game.

And to the two lads in the middle of the east stand who left after ten minutes, if that's your idea of supporting the team then please don't bother coming back. Ever.

Been done to us this season and players always say stuff like "come on ref that's a foul" no difference between that and waving an imaginary card.

[paultheroyal]

Right, so there has been absolutely no mention of the appalling weather, localised flooding (yes, even in the Reading area) over the past few days?! And no mention of the traffic problems in the Mad Stad area from at least midday onwards? What's more from the moment Adie and co were on air they were telling people to leave early for the game due to the problems.

I checked the AA website at midday & the only problems on the M4 at the time were eastbound at J5. Was on the approach to J11 just after two o'clock, but missed the first five minutes of the game.

Not sure if it was a pen, but if so, definitely a red card under the laws of the game despite Gorkss' proximity. Not the first time Pearce has been unable to deal with a high ball in the wind. Thought we played well first half, but basically Wednesday were parking the bus & waiting for us to make a mistake. McCleary ran his heart out up & down the right wing.

Disappointed with Obita scraping his studs over the penalty spot & spending much of the first half waving imaginary cards at the ref. Just get on with the game.

And to the two lads in the middle of the east stand who left after ten minutes, if that's your idea of supporting the team then please don't bother coming back. Ever.

Er, they had to attend to a rather upsetting phone call!

[Wimb]

Paul after seeing it again on the tele, fair red?

[SCIAG]

Why?

Hector still very young and relatively inexperienced.

Hector is not "very young". He is 21 (turning 22 in July). Alex Pearce was playing regularly for Reading when he was 18/19. Sean Morrison was playing in the Premier League when he was 21. Now different players develop at different rates but Hector is certainly "old enough". It's not like we're talking about selecting Hyam.

Pearce and Morrison had made 37 and 69 league appearance respectively before they made their league debuts for Reading (in both cases, during their breakthrough season). Hector has made 81 in the Football League and SPL. That does not include non-league, League of Ireland, cup, or substitute appearances for Reading this season.

Hector is MORE experienced (and almost as old) as Morrison was when he made his first league start for Reading, also against QPR, in a higher division!

Hector's contract expires in the summer, and he will leave if we do not give him first team opportunities. He is too old to wait for his chance. If we play Gunter at centre back ahead of him, it would be a massive slap in his face (particularly as that would mean taking Gunter away from the right back position he has finally started to look like a £2m player in). We've probably never had a more experienced Academy graduate than Hector, there are no excuses for not playing him if Pearce is suspended.

[Handsome Man]

I don't know advice refs are given about red cards for professional fouls, but I have never seen one given in a situation like yesterday before. The thing about being last man is only commentator talk, but Gorkss' picking up the loose ball meant there was no direct goal-scoring opportunity under consideration. That was why it was doubly surprising: a non-foul followed by a randomly produced red card.

I'd be interested to know when the ref saw the foul: was it in the tussle or was it when the striker crumpled to the floor? Either way, he got it wrong, which was something he did several more times as the game progressed. Having said that, I do prefer championship referees to those we encountered in either of our spells in the premiership. I would rather they were just a bit shit, making mistakes that affect both sides, than biased towards the players and managers they know.

[paultheroyal]

Paul after seeing it again on the tele, fair red?

Not seen yet Wimb. Will check it out and give my opinion.

[Extended-Phenotype]

Not read the whole thread but got the gist from the opening pages - Ref/Pearce vs Adkins to blame.

Obviously enough to work out without particularly testing the brain cells, it's a combo.

At 10 men, team losing the battle in midfield and failing to get control on the game, you take off a striker for defender and keep that midfield well staffed. Combination of poor managerial decisions and poor player decisions rather forced us into bypassing the midfield altogether.

The poor referee decision supplied the nails but it was our decisions that hammered them into the coffin.

Chalk it down to a bad day.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Whether it was a penalty or not is hard to tell. It was given and we ended up with a double whammy with Pearce given Red which was extremely harsh considering Gorkss was covering.

[Victor Meldrew]

I hope Jobi was watching Fulham at Man Utd just now and will have seen what a captain does when his team is up against it.

[sandman]

Ah a loss, must be time to have a go at Jobi.

[Ian Royal]

Match highlights, make your own mind up on the penalty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OIpqVRTBc8

You can see why the ref gave it. If that were a foul by their CB on Le Fondre, we'd all be screaming for a penalty.

No arguments with the decision from me. Pearce is outfought by Afobe, which for a big brute of a centreback like him is criminal. Don't see anything from Afobe except out muscling the defender.

The angle isn't good, but it looks to me like he's tugging at Afobe from the second he's in trouble and seriously slowing him down. Gorkss is across quick, but I think you could argue Afobe could have got a snap shot off if not tugged back. For me Afobe tries to stay up and then goes down when he realises Pearce has done enough to stop him from scoring. That's why it looks like Gorkss would be across in time.

[bcubed]

Ah a loss, must be time to have a go at Jobi.

Not really he's been the weak link in last few games IMO, the one player I would have thought about changing
He usually flatters to deceive but yesterday he didn't even bother with the flattering, hence the negative comments from quite a number on here

[AthleticoSpizz]

"last few games"

[bcubed]

Not read the whole thread but got the gist from the opening pages - Ref/Pearce vs Adkins to blame.

Obviously enough to work out without particularly testing the brain cells, it's a combo.

At 10 men, team losing the battle in midfield and failing to get control on the game, you take off a striker for defender and keep that midfield well staffed. Combination of poor managerial decisions and poor player decisions rather forced us into bypassing the midfield altogether.

The poor referee decision supplied the nails but it was our decisions that hammered them into the coffin.

Chalk it down to a bad day.

I thought the same at the time and that is the usual tactic when down to ten
But to be fair to Adkins, keeping two upfront worked in the first half and we didn't play too badly. Second half when they changed tactics was a different story though

[Far Canal]

Some posters on this board need to pay a visit to Specsavers.
Pearce clearly tugged Afobe's shirt, which is a foul. It was in the box, so it is a penalty.

"Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity" is a sending off offence.
Pearce did just that. Afobe could have got the shot off before Gorkšs got across to make the block (if he hadn't dropped after the tug).

The ref got it right. The red card was justified and if Adkins gets it recinded, I'm a lesbian.

[bcubed]

deffo not a red...unclear from that footage if it was a pen or not. Did Pearce clip his legs or pull him back? All looks a bit clumsy

Not clear at all, but given the ref was dreadful, getting almost everything wrong and losing control altogether at times and given Wednesday players were spending half the game diving and faking injuries I am inclined to think we were hard done by!