The Crewe match thread, or the 'Annoy Accy Mad' thread.

[AccyMad]

Originally Posted by Morecambe_Red

It really should have been abandoned from the sound of it. I think they said each club could provide a liner but each liner was rejected by both the clubs. Surely they could have had the Crewe volunteer covering the Accy forwards and the Accy liner covering the Crewe forwards. Probably be plenty of offside decisions but less of a farce than one liner.

That would have made more sense

[Crown Grounder]

We are certainly on the "Crest of a Slump" and I gather from the posts on this thread so far that you are all rather unhappy. All teams and their manager go through bad periods during the season. Lets just keep it all in perspective. We all know we have one of the lowest levels of resources in League 1 and that the FA Cup is a competition that often favours the team from the league below. I honestly believe that our results will start to improve in the weeks to come. The manager has the opportunity to make changes in the January window and who knows we may still be playing in League 1 next season. Its an amazing achievement that Stanley have had the success they have had over the last 15 years. I know its very hard supporting a losing team, but the role of the twelfth man is to keep supporting "their players and their manager" through the good times and the bad times.........to quote one level head (USUALLY!!) on this forum..."ON STANLEY ON"....and KIWI....don't start another match thread until Accy Mad gives you permission to do so..........Up the Stanley...

[alexbarmy]

Originally Posted by Morecambe_Red

It really should have been abandoned from the sound of it. I think they said each club could provide a liner but each liner was rejected by both the clubs. Surely they could have had the Crewe volunteer covering the Accy forwards and the Accy liner covering the Crewe forwards. Probably be plenty of offside decisions but less of a farce than one liner.

According to the Crewe side of the story, Crewe accepted Jimmy Bell's son as a linesman but he then backtracked and said he wasn't comfortable running the line. A Crewe fan was qualified to run the line but Accrington didn't agree to that.

However, Dave Artell was adamant he wanted to complete the game for the sake of his team and the travelling fans.

So the FA were called in to rule and the rules were found. Strange rules though - I am sure in the 70 minutes it took they could have found a local referee.

[Revived Red]

Originally Posted by Revived Red

23% of our goals conceded have been conceded in the last 10 minutes. In total contrast 0% of our goals have been scored in the last 10 minutes.

I have to agree with Exile when he says that statistics are concoctions produced mainly by the pundits. Assists/percentage possession etc etc are meaningless rubbish. But I do take note of the stat mentioned above. It should be saying something to our management team. Why is it that almost one quarter of the goals conceded come in the last 10 minutes of a game. Is it fitness? Is it concentration? Surely it cannot be simply coincidence.

And the failure to score a single goal in those final 10 minutes illustrates how pointless it is to bring on a substitute during that time.

[cashman]

like crown grounder i also expect our results to improve, but the annoyance in the main is over what happened on sat with NO explanation. ok crewe were the best side without doubt, but the farce that happened after the injuries to the officials deserve explanation surely? me and many i have spoken too do not believe that what happened is covered by the F.A.s rules.

[Exile on Spencer St]

Originally Posted by Crown Grounder

We are certainly on the "Crest of a Slump" and I gather from the posts on this thread so far that you are all rather unhappy. All teams and their manager go through bad periods during the season. Lets just keep it all in perspective....

Wise words, Crown Grounder.
Look at the England Rugby XV. World beaters, arguably best performance of all time one week. Next week, hopeless fools who can’t even pass to each other.
We could (as I know one southern Stanley fan does) also support Leyton Orient!
Beaten not by a team eight places below them but by one 78 places below.
Perspective.
What was clear from Mr. Evtimov’s eloquent interview and Coley’s comments was that all the players and staff know that they were crap on Saturday. I would be more worried if they thought they played well or were unlucky.
Big challenge at Rotherham. Hope the team show Messrs Barlaser, Crooks, and Ihiekwe just what they are made of.

[Inspector Morse]

You can set your watch by Stanley's traditional pre-Christmas slump.

[ASFC1019]

Farcical situation on Saturday really.
As has already been stated Jimmys son Elliot, level 4 referee was asked to run the line but felt it would be inappropriate for obvious reasons. Then a Crewe fan offered but that was also rejected for obvious reasons.
Ended up a ridiculous situation!!
Less said about what actually happened on the pitch, the better.

[VALAIRIAN]

Originally Posted by Revived Red

I have to agree with Exile when he says that statistics are concoctions produced mainly by the pundits. Assists/percentage possession etc etc are meaningless rubbish. But I do take note of the stat mentioned above. It should be saying something to our management team. Why is it that almost one quarter of the goals conceded come in the last 10 minutes of a game. Is it fitness? Is it concentration? Surely it cannot be simply coincidence.

And the failure to score a single goal in those final 10 minutes illustrates how pointless it is to bring on a substitute during that time.

Also, not a coincidence that the best team in the land at the moment, has scored more goals in 90+ minutes that anybody else.....???

[yonmon]

Originally Posted by Lord Stiffupperlip

This tedious & incessant criticism - from all quarters, of virtually every player in the squad only diverts responsibility from where it truly lies -
THE MANAGER!
He picks the team, decides the formation & dictates the tactics.
The fact that L2 Crewe came & virtually dominated the game only proves how oh-so predictable we've become.
John Coleman was as culpable for yesterdays defeat as any member of the team, yet seems to have escaped scot free from any criticism.
Silly me! Of course it's all the players fault!.....

TOUCHE !!....

[yonmon]

Originally Posted by Morecambe_Red

It really should have been abandoned from the sound of it. I think they said each club could provide a liner but each liner was rejected by both the clubs. Surely they could have had the Crewe volunteer covering the Accy forwards and the Accy liner covering the Crewe forwards. Probably be plenty of offside decisions but less of a farce than one liner.

Great Idea MR !!... I think??
I have abdicated from this thread.. totally confused !..
I'll let Cashy carry on from here... !!

[DAV007]

Is Andy Holt still raging?

[choirboy]

Originally Posted by cashman

"Crewe were the best side without doubt, but the farce that happened after the injuries to the officials deserve explanation surely? me and many i have spoken too do not believe that what happened is covered by the F.A.s rules".

FIRSTLY. I fully agree that Crewe outplayed Stanley throughout the first half and I think that we were actually lucky to be only one goal down at half time. So I have no issue with the scoreline.

SECONDLY. I have read the relevant rules regarding injuries to referees and assistant referees produced by the FA and I also read the FA rules for conducting The FA Cup.
I could not find a rule about the continuation of a match with only a referee and one assistant referee. As has already been pointed out earlier on this post ........ there was a call made to the FA and head of referees and they said that the game had to be played with one assistant. I believe that this decision was made on the spur of the moment and I consider that it was a MASSIVE MISTAKE and that the FA need to ammend/extend the relevant rules in 'The LAWS OF THE GAME' in order to make sure that the match should be allowed to continue fairly and in the full spirit of the sport!

THIRDLY. The fact that their was a 'Toss Up' for which team had the advantage of a defensive assistant referee is an admission by the FA that one team was going to be disadvantaged and would therefore be UNFAIRLY treated! The only way that the match might have continued IMHO was if Usain Bolt was a Fully Qualified FA referee, and that he was in our locality at the time of the match! Then perhaps he could have RUN THE LINE ON ONE SIDE OF THE PITCH FROM CORNER FLAG TO CORNER FLAG!....ZOOOM!


I thought that the excessively long delay, with very little information over the loud speaker system was really poor and inconsiderate to the position of supporters who needed to know what time they would be staying until at the ground. My daughter had to leave after only ten minutes of the second half as she had tickets for a concert in Burnley. Q; Should she be financially recompensed?

IMHO to play the second half with only one assistant referee was not only FARCICAL but very UNFAIR to the team losing 'The Toss'......(Stanley in this case). It was TOTALLY UNFAIR... IMHO because the team defending the half of the field without the linesman could not play a normal defensive game, they dared not attempt to 'Squeeze' their opponents out of the defensive area because of the risk of obvious 'off sides' not being observed. Some Crewe players clearly tried to take advantage of this and eventually the frustration for the defending side led to the Red Card.

I was told, or read somewhere, that the assistant referee who was on the pitch for the second half has not actually 'refereed' a match on the pitch for SEVEN YEARS. Players on both sides clearly tried to take advantage of him, they gave him far too much verbal grief and the lack of an assistant referee made his job pretty near impossible. He was so bad that it was only in the last ten minutes that I realised he was not an amateur referee from one of our local leagues who had been drafted in! In my view the 'new referee' was not fit to officiate from the centre of the pitch. He made some terrible decisions and denied clear penalty claims. I have never seen so much ridiculous and obvious shirt pulling at corner kicks and free kicks! However, IMHO the players should take more of the blame for this than the unfortunate second half referee.

I was also concerned for the safety of the players as things could have gone really out of control but luckily once Crewe scored the second goal, both sets of players seemed to sensibly just.... 'play the match out to its inevitable conclusion'.

It is easy to make comments 'after the event' but my own view is that the match should not have continued with only one assistant referee.

IN SUMMARY;
1) The second half of the match was NOT PLAYED ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD, in spite of Andy Holt spending £350,000 on improving our pitch last summer! This is completely contradictory to the LAWS OF THE GAME written by the FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION.
2) The FA need to rewrite their rules about this type of situation occurring in their 'Laws of The Game'.


THIS SITUATION SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN!
THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION MUST LEARN FROM THIS AND MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES PROMPTLY TO THEIR 'LAWS OF THE GAME'!

[choirboy]

Flippin' eck! Took me ages to write that!

ON STANLEY ON

[cashman]

well thats speaks volumes for people that crack on they know it all, but know nowt. i know very little dont pretend i do, but i also looked and could NOT find a rule that covered this abomination, also i cannot understand why our club did not seem to have checked this out, they had enough time to do so.