Dissapointed- The goal that Never was.

[The 17 Bus]

It was the ball back across the goal that was awarded as a goal, according to teh replays, just before it hit the crossbar, not when it went wide.

I think we should have told the ref it was not a goal as well, could easily have been on the minds of our players as well, all in all a bit of entertainment, but not in the name of sport.

[Wycombe Royal]

Should a player deliberately miss a penalty when one has obviously been incorrectly awarded?

Should a team let the opposition score when they have been awarded a goal that was clearly offside?

Should a player who handles the ball intentionally in the penalty and gets away with it go running up to the referee and point out his mistake?

Of course not. It is not for the players to make the decisions in the game, it is up to the officials and if they get it wrong then it is not the players fault.

We had a harshly disallowed goal and probably should have had another penalty but all that gets forgotten.

[Derbyshire Royal]

Should a player deliberately miss a penalty when one has obviously been incorrectly awarded?

Should a team let the opposition score when they have been awarded a goal that was clearly offside?

Should a player who handles the ball intentionally in the penalty and gets away with it go running up to the referee and point out his mistake?

Of course not. It is not for the players to make the decisions in the game, it is up to the officials and if they get it wrong then it is not the players fault.

We had a harshly disallowed goal and probably should have had another penalty but all that gets forgotten.

Those are all good points and i accept them, however, there could always be an element of doubt, where in this instance there was no doubt apart from Mr Magoo the linesman. It just makes Reading FC look shoddy and desperate. I think that we should offer to replay the game, if we win we get 3 points, if we lose then we only drop a point and get back some semblance of credibility.

[Friday's Child]

It just makes Reading FC look shoddy and desperate. I think that we should offer to replay the game, if we win we get 3 points, if we lose then we only drop a point and get back some semblance of credibility.

I agree with you that the game should be replayed, as a principle, and that on this occasion RFC should offer this as a notion to Watford and the FA.

However - if we are successful then this sets a precedent. Decisions can be overturned post-match where an official has got it wrong. What next? Harper's free kick away to QPR a few seasons back? Unfair red cards ('I said "shoot" not "sh)t", you can prove it on the replay'). We are also then struggling to empower referees beyond video technology, which makes real-time more appropriate than after-match. If any such replay happens, I would vouch that there are repurcussions.

[Royal Lady]

Seriously, get a life! Do you think Reading are the first team in the history of the game to be awarded a goal that shouldn't have been a goal?? It wasn't up to us to put the score right! The officials were at fault. End of.

[mattmartin89]

'Stuart Atwell - the referee who gave Reading the goal that never should have been given in their 2-1 win over Watford - will escape severe punishment. (Daily Mail)'

[Wycombe Royal]

Should a player deliberately miss a penalty when one has obviously been incorrectly awarded?

Should a team let the opposition score when they have been awarded a goal that was clearly offside?

Should a player who handles the ball intentionally in the penalty and gets away with it go running up to the referee and point out his mistake?

Of course not. It is not for the players to make the decisions in the game, it is up to the officials and if they get it wrong then it is not the players fault.

We had a harshly disallowed goal and probably should have had another penalty but all that gets forgotten.

Those are all good points and i accept them, however, there could always be an element of doubt, where in this instance there was no doubt apart from Mr Magoo the linesman. It just makes Reading FC look shoddy and desperate. I think that we should offer to replay the game, if we win we get 3 points, if we lose then we only drop a point and get back some semblance of credibility.

We have lost no credibility. Bikey's disallowed goal? The penalty shout near the end?

Would talk of the match being replayed be doing the rounds if Watford had won? Of course not.

This has to go down as error by the match officials just as there are errors throughout the season. At the Stoke Everton match just a couple of weeks ago, Everton had a clear penalty denied for a handball a couple of yards inside the area but a free kick was given outside - should that match be replayed too?

Where does it stop? The officials got it wrong. End of.

[ElmParker]

What's not to love?

My favourite goal ever.

[Friday's Child]

Seriously, get a life! Do you think Reading are the first team in the history of the game to be awarded a goal that shouldn't have been a goal?? It wasn't up to us to put the score right! The officials were at fault. End of.

Well... to be honest, there are not many quite so ridiculous as this one, if you compare to situations where there have been handballs by the scoring team, or fouls of other types on the way to a goal being scored.

Everyone on the pitch knew that it wasn't a goal, but took it anyway. I can't agree with you that it was not up to us to put the score right. I would like to see us call for a replay, then go out there heads held up high and batter them for 3 points.

Oh.... and as a "morale booster" of sorts, we are a big draw in this division, and should actively seek a replay as a "big club" would do. We should not need to scrounge for points, so lets "'ave em", eh?

[Derbyshire Royal]

Unfortuantely not end of.

Reading FC's image will be tarnished by this, we pretend that we are a fair minded club and that the Oliver Holts of this world were wrong. I am not saying that this has never happened before, I was at the game in 1978 when Youlden didnt score, what I am saying is that it would be good for us to take the moral high ground rather than just shrugging our shoulders and saying isnt life a bitch!

[Wycombe Royal]

Everyone on the pitch knew that it wasn't a goal, but took it anyway.

So when a team get awarded a penalty and everyone on the team knows it wasn't a penalty should they miss it deliberately? And that type of situation must happen far more frequently than the one that occurred on Saturday.

[The 17 Bus]

It is when it oversteps the mark of fairness, in the heat of the game players can sense when a decision is wrong, and this one was badly wrong, Hunt could have told the ref that it had not gone in or near being a goal, he chose not to, had the ref chosen to still allow it then so be it. Players are always trying to get the ref to change their decisions, so saying it's nowt to do with the players is a tad, well a tad wrong too

Re play the game, not in my eyes, it is too late what has happened has happened

If my memory serves me correctly the Tommy Youlden goal was disputed by the Reading players on the day, but the ref still allowed it?

[The 17 Bus]

Everyone on the pitch knew that it wasn't a goal, but took it anyway.

So when a team get awarded a penalty and everyone on the team knows it wasn't a penalty should they miss it deliberately? And that type of situation must happen far more frequently than the one that occurred on Saturday.

Having seen loads of pens missed i reckon some players do just that

[Millsy]

Should a player deliberately miss a penalty when one has obviously been incorrectly awarded?

Should a team let the opposition score when they have been awarded a goal that was clearly offside?

Should a player who handles the ball intentionally in the penalty and gets away with it go running up to the referee and point out his mistake?

Of course not. It is not for the players to make the decisions in the game, it is up to the officials and if they get it wrong then it is not the players fault.

We had a harshly disallowed goal and probably should have had another penalty but all that gets forgotten.

Those are all good points and i accept them, however, there could always be an element of doubt, where in this instance there was no doubt apart from Mr Magoo the linesman. It just makes Reading FC look shoddy and desperate. I think that we should offer to replay the game, if we win we get 3 points, if we lose then we only drop a point and get back some semblance of credibility.

Yes there was. Coppell couldn't have seen what happened with 100% certainty. He'd have a vague idea but would have to see video evidence and have a good chat with the 3 or 4 Reading players who might've known in order to be doubtless. In the 5-6 minuted of available time, time which is like absolute gold dust to get the players ready for the next half, he certainly wasn't going to spend it to try and question the doubt surrounding the goal now was he? So in his mind there was doubt, and in the few minutes he had he had more important things on his mind. The officials have their job and the managers have theirs. It's not the job of a manager to spend valuable time trying to ascertain doubt levels of an official's decision.

Coppell did quite rightly hint that if the ref had come up to him in no uncertain terms during the break and said it was a definite messup chances are he'd give Watford a goal i.e. otherwise he had doubt. If he didn't then maybe that;s fine. But he did. And so the show carried on.

However I agree I'd like to see a replay because I genuinely believe the whole sorry episode costed us in the end, all things considered, and we could otherwise have won.

[Wycombe Royal]

Unfortuantely not end of.

Reading FC's image will be tarnished by this, we pretend that we are a fair minded club and that the Oliver Holts of this world were wrong. I am not saying that this has never happened before, I was at the game in 1978 when Youlden didnt score, what I am saying is that it would be good for us to take the moral high ground rather than just shrugging our shoulders and saying isnt life a bitch!

I think that biggest factor against your argument is Aidy Boothroyd - "I would have done the same in their situation".

It is not up to the players to put the mistakes of the officials right otherwise the game could descend it a farce and just lead to even more arguments.

[CholseyRoyal]

It was the ball back across the goal that was awarded as a goal, according to teh replays, just before it hit the crossbar, not when it went wide.

I think we should have told the ref it was not a goal as well, could easily have been on the minds of our players as well, all in all a bit of entertainment, but not in the name of sport.

Actually a very valid point. I wonder if the players at the time did think that was when the goal was given as surely they wouldn't have believed it was given when the ball was way to the right of the goal?

[Friday's Child]

So when a team get awarded a penalty and everyone on the team knows it wasn't a penalty should they miss it deliberately? And that type of situation must happen far more frequently than the one that occurred on Saturday.

Yes ! If we are going to eliminate any fuzzy-logic here, then lets go the whole hog....!

Dishonesty is the save no matter whether you dive for a penalty or accept a goal that you very well know should not have stood. There is a lot of focus on driving out diving for the same reasons, surely we should be consistent?

It feels like we are "buying a goal" by accepting that this situation is fine. I would rather take a stand as a club and say that we will replay the game, and claim the (rightful?) three points that we would have got, should the poor decision have not inspired Watford to a second-half comeback.... and then go out and prove this...

[andrew1957]

Just listened to TalkSport this morning and they inferred that RFC players were unsporting for not allowing Watford to score an equaliser.

I fear that (very unfairly in my opinion) RFC are being tarnished by the error and I have come to the opinion that we should offer to replay the game.

To be fair this was not just an ordinary error - it was probably the greatest refereeing error I have ever seen in more than 30 years of watching football (along with Maradona's hand of God goal).

I actually believe we would have won the game if it was not for the "goal" being given as our players seemed to me to lose focus after it was given (understandably) so would be quite happy with a replay and I think this is the only way of dissipating the bad taste.

[Sarah Star]

Have any protests against decisions that benefit your own side ever been accepted? That one where Robbie Fowler protested against the penalty didn't work as he still ended up taking the penalty, and even when Seaman (not Shilton) saved it, his team-mate put in the rebound.

I don't see how in a game where there were several shots on goal, the players can immediately say with absolute certainty that there was no goal. It's much easier after the event when you've got the benefit of replays and videos from a clear angle, with no one blocking your view.

If we are worried about our image I guess we could sportingly offer to replay the game. I doubt Watford would want that to happen though.

[CMRoyal]

In retrospect, I wish the boys had reacted more quickly and allowed Watford to equalise from the kick off - any time later (ie after a half-time team-talk) was out of the question. Now we're being held up as an example of all that is unsporting in the game, depite Boothroyd saying that he would have done the same. Maybe an offer of a replay would repair the damage - we know Watford would rather take the point, but at least it would be seen as a sporting gesture.