"Kick it back to them please"

[Olé]

Apologies for starting a new thread but have not found a thread where this was properly covered. 

Any reason why in both halves a Preston player went down with City on the ball and when play resumed, and under instruction of the referee, City kicked it back to the Preston keeper!? Am I the only one who went full WTF!?!!

Maybe it's been a long week but I really don't remember that being what happens as an "unwritten rule". If you don't contest a drop ball it's generally because you acknowledge that it should go back to the team that was in possession, even if that does mean starting again with the keeper.

But to give it back to the keeper OF THE TEAM whose player needed the game stopped, and was not in possession, erm pretty sure I've not seen that before. And we went along with it TWICE. I honestly think I've missed something. Why was everyone so cool about it?  

Not to say the referee made any difference to the result (even after the laughably bad whistle at the end when their player feigned injury off a knock from his own teammate AND after the ref let them attack without stopping it) but on what planet does needing attention get YOU the ball back. If that was how the 'rule' worked then teams would go down every 5 seconds and the whole time once one goal up.

Help me out here! What have I missed? My default view is that our players are ****ing spineless tossers that no one said anything but perhaps I've missed a crucial change to the etiquette of football. I don't want us to be an Alex Neil or a Neil Warnock team but it would nice once in a while if we showed some balls and spoke up if we felt we were being wronged. No coincidence Daniel Johnson and the rest of them were in the refs ear before both those uncontested drop balls. Our players not so much. 

(side note: we could have played all night and not won so it's no slight on Preston's result but under Alex Neil they really are a reboot of a John Beck era Cambridge, not just niggly but literally trying to con their way through football matches -a bit like our manager )

[Harry]

Agreed.  What got me though, was the one just infront of the dugouts where the stoppage had already wasted 90 seconds, and we proceed to kick it back to them, but we put it out for a goal kick, allowing their keeper to take another 50 seconds to restart again!!  WTF!  We should've passed it to their CB and immediately put him under pressure.  This was brainless football.

As you say though, it mattered not.  The ref couldv'e added another 90 minutes and we wouldn't have scored.

[Dr Balls]

12 minutes ago, Olé said:

Apologies for starting a new thread but have not found a thread where this was properly covered. 

Any reason why in both halves a Preston player went down with City on the ball and when play resumed, and under instruction of the referee, City kicked it back to the Preston keeper!? Am I the only one who went full WTF!?!!

Maybe it's been a long week but I really don't remember that being what happens as an "unwritten rule". If you don't contest a drop ball it's generally because you acknowledge that it should go back to the team that was in possession, even if that does mean starting again with the keeper.

But to give it back to the keeper OF THE TEAM whose player needed the game stopped, and was not in possession, erm pretty sure I've not seen that before. And we went along with it TWICE. I honestly think I've missed something. Why was everyone so cool about it?  

Not to say the referee made any difference to the result (even after the laughably bad whistle at the end when their player feigned injury off a knock from his own teammate AND after the ref let them attack without stopping it) but on what planet does needing attention get YOU the ball back. If that was how the 'rule' worked then teams would go down every 5 seconds and the whole time once one goal up.

Help me out here! What have I missed? My default view is that our players are ****ing spineless tossers that no one said anything but perhaps I've missed a crucial change to the etiquette of football. I don't want us to be an Alex Neil or a Neil Warnock team but it would nice once in a while if we showed some balls and spoke up if we felt we were being wronged. No coincidence Daniel Johnson and the rest of them were in the refs ear before both those uncontested drop balls. Our players not so much. 

(side note: we could have played all night and not won so it's no slight on Preston's result but under Alex Neil they really are a reboot of a John Beck era Cambridge, not just niggly but literally trying to con their way through football matches -a bit like our manager )

And then nearer the end, we actually had a contested drop ball between Pack and Robinson.

As for Preston's tactics, it may be "professional" but it doesn't win any friends. To even be mentioned in the same breath as Colin for shameless gamesmanship (i.e. Cheating) should be a badge of shame no other team or manager should ever want.

[wendyredredrobin]

We were saying exactly the same about the drop balls.  To be fair though, it made no difference as we didn't look like we were ever going to score and that is the more worrying feature.

[Offside]

Agree about what happened today. Bonkers. There was also the ridiculous scenario when the ref allowed them to continue thier attack when their player was down and then stopped play when we had a chance to counter.

I'm finding this whole rigmarole with play being stopped or the ball being kicked out when a player is "injured" intensely frustrating. It just allows teams like Preston to break up the game too easily. I appreciate play needs to be stopped for some injuries, but surely not when a player just decides to sit down, which seems to happen several times each game with said player then making a miraculous recovery after spending 2 seconds off the pitch.

[Xiled]

I'm sick of seeing us play Preston. Mostly because they win but also because today they blatantly cheated more than any other team in this division.

I lost count of the times they kicked or threw the ball away after a stoppage. Only one booking for this if I remember.

Got bored of the goalie moving the ball to the other side of the 5 yard box for every goal kick.

Falling down and feigning injury when the ball is 20m away from you isn't football.

The last 10 minutes of the game should have been half an hour for all the histrionics and gamesmanship.

As said above, the referee had no control of the drop-balls and had no right or reason to keep stopping play.

We were terrible today but if one good thing comes from this season then Preston will be relegated. A team that I previously respected cheated more cynically than even Neil Warnock's teams. And that takes some doing.

[1960maaan]

5 hours ago, Dr Balls said:

nd then nearer the end, we actually had a contested drop ball between Pack and Robinson

I think that was only because Pack had a moan at the Ref, probably would have been another uncontested otherwise.

5 hours ago, Xiled said:

Got bored of the goalie moving the ball to the other side of the 5 yard box for every goal kick.

But I did notice he made us take a corner from the side it went out, really poor weak Ref.

6 hours ago, Olé said:

Not to say the referee made any difference to the result (even after the laughably bad whistle at the end when their player feigned injury off a knock from his own teammate AND after the ref let them attack without stopping it) but on what planet does needing attention get YOU the ball back. If that was how the 'rule' worked then teams would go down every 5 seconds and the whole time once one goal up.

That incident was one of the singularly worst bits of Refereeing I have ever seen. 
A player collides with his own man, they are happy to play on while they are attacking . Attack breaks down and we have possession nowhere near the player and are breaking , only then the Ref deems a leg injury so bad as to stop play FFS ??????  
I know it is at the Refs discretion but surely if he's not injured enough for them to kick the ball out when they have it, it's not bad enough to stop play at all, shocking.

 

[MarcusX]

29 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

 

But I did notice he made us take a corner from the side it went out, really poor weak Ref.

 

 

Well that’s a rule. Corner must be taken the side it goes out, goal kick can be taken anywhere in the 6 yard box. 

[Robin Goch]

We’re just far too nice. I miss the days of Peter Beadle smashing the ball out for a throw in by the corner flag in those situations. 

[Mad Cyril]

Boils my p### when a ref stops play for a non head related injury. No life threatened, no quality of life preserved by more instant treatment. Then to check if the player wants the physio on??!!! If the ref deems the injury so bad as to stop the game, he should be instantly calling on physio, medic, field surgeons and the bloody air ambulance.

[TV Tom]

I always find it strange that players only go down when they are winning, surely refs should of cottoned on to this by now ?

[italian dave]

7 hours ago, Xiled said:

I'm sick of seeing us play Preston. Mostly because they win but also because today they blatantly cheated more than any other team in this division.

I lost count of the times they kicked or threw the ball away after a stoppage. Only one booking for this if I remember.

Got bored of the goalie moving the ball to the other side of the 5 yard box for every goal kick.

Falling down and feigning injury when the ball is 20m away from you isn't football.

The last 10 minutes of the game should have been half an hour for all the histrionics and gamesmanship.

As said above, the referee had no control of the drop-balls and had no right or reason to keep stopping play.

We were terrible today but if one good thing comes from this season then Preston will be relegated. A team that I previously respected cheated more cynically than even Neil Warnock's teams. And that takes some doing.

And, ironically, the one booking they did get, the guy actually threw it to exactly where the ref the indicated the free kick should be taken from!

agree, used to like playing Preston, despite the results, but last season up at their place they were a total disgrace, and no better yesterday, except that they've lost the master, Greg Cunningham.

And, why did Robinson need to do that ridiculous display in front of the SS when we scored? I wasn't aware that he'd had any stick from us, indeed most City fans seemed to be saying he was the only evidence of there being a footballer on the pitch. It was a sign of how deflated the whole atmosphere was yesterday that neither City players nor crowd seemed to get particularly fired up by it.

[East End Old Boy]

2 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

I think that was only because Pack had a moan at the Ref, probably would have been another uncontested otherwise.

I do hope this was the case, the drop ball situations were badly managed and I’m sure the referee cannot stop you contesting the ball once it’s dropped, although happy to be corrected if not the case.

[ralphindevon]

I nearly lost my voice shouting at just about everybody during these pantomime acts.

The one where the guy had cramp especially,  I couldn't believe the ref got conned by that and after, when it was clear he had conned the ref by holding his head, why wasn't he booked? 

Our players were just as daft with Taylor at one point kicking it out for a goal kick which just wasted another couple minutes, why not kick it straight to the keeper and get on with the game? 

[marmite]

When a player "limps" off with the physio then immediately sprints back on when signalled by the ref, he should be carded even if he is already had a yellow. Yesterday their player sprinted 70 yards to rejoin the game after limping off. The 4th official should be watching these antics and alerting the ref.

 

[Always Believesham]

After that awful decision to allow Preston to attack and stopped play when City got the ball away, did anyone else notice Huntingdon hurling his fists at the city fans when the boos erupted?

That was the only thing that eventually got me out my seat yesterday - Robinson’s antics, childish as they were, annoyed me less than our inability to play football yesterday.

Having to kick the ball back when we were in possession was disappointing more than anything. In situations like that, we should at least start passing the ball back at good speed and on target. If it goes in then it’s their fault.

[Olé]

31 minutes ago, italian dave said:

And, ironically, the one booking they did get, the guy actually threw it to exactly where the ref the indicated the free kick should be taken from!

Haha amazing, thought I was the only one that noticed this, after all that the booking for Johnson was a complete travesty and once again highlighted how inadequate the referee was. City's abysmal football and complete competitive disinterest has done the ref one almighty favour because if for one moment we were actually in that match, HE would be the only talking point. 

Regarding Preston, they've been doing this since Alex Neil took over so it's obviously on instruction and a key part of their style. The team that beat us 5-0 was a far better team. But it was the same up there last season under Neil, these days Preston set out to extract any advantage they can get from the referee. Relentlessly. All game. Alex Neil is ten times worse than Neil Warnock.

[wayne allisons tongues]

Was there goal offside? If so even more incompetence from the officials

[man in the middle]

1 hour ago, Mad Cyril said:

Boils my p### when a ref stops play for a non head related injury. No life threatened, no quality of life preserved by more instant treatment. Then to check if the player wants the physio on??!!! If the ref deems the injury so bad as to stop the game, he should be instantly calling on physio, medic, field surgeons and the bloody air ambulance.

Double annoying when the ref is happy to play on when their going forward and then stop play when we get the ball back and start attacking them ? 

[handsofclay]

The ref should just wave the physio on when a player stays down and let the play continue whilst the physio does his thing. I'm sure professional footballers can direct the ball so that it can avoid a stricken player and a kneeling physio. If this was introduced, there would be hardly any need for uncontested drop balls and players would only stay down when genuinely injured as while they were receiving treatment their team would be down to ten men. Once the player had been attended to he could then regain his feet and get on with the game, no need to take up further time limping off only to Sprint back on again 2 seconds later.

If it is a serious injury, the physio can indicate to ref (unless it is immediately apparent) and the game be stopped whilst extra medical assistance comes onto the pitch, stretcher bearers etc.

 

[Bernard Lerring]

2 hours ago, Robin Goch said:

We’re just far too nice. I miss the days of Peter Beadle smashing the ball out for a throw in by the corner flag in those situations. 

I was thinking that yesterday, why did we not do this?

If Preston were resorting to underhand tactics so should we. I wouldn't want us to play like that every week, but fight fire with fire surely 

[italian dave]

37 minutes ago, Olé said:

Alex Neil is ten times worse than Neil Warnock.

NW can still teach him a thing or two, I think.

Writhe around clutching your head, to stop,play, but then tell the ref you don't even need the trainer on. And no-one will ever better the 7/8 minutes of treatment to the Rotherham player, who then sprints back on. AN is still way behind that, with a mere 2/3 minute delay!

[italian dave]

1 hour ago, Mad Cyril said:

Boils my p### when a ref stops play for a non head related injury. No life threatened, no quality of life preserved by more instant treatment. Then to check if the player wants the physio on??!!! If the ref deems the injury so bad as to stop the game, he should be instantly calling on physio, medic, field surgeons and the bloody air ambulance.

Slightly off topic, but I've always wondered when I hear this; is it painful when p### boils?

[Tin Soldier]

We are “too nice” as you call it. BUT we are a rudderless ship in the making. No leaders, no bite, no motivation, no tactics, no guile on the ball, no one to drive the attack, no one to defend like soldiers, infact the longer the Johnson area continues, the more we look like relegation material.

In previous seasons, Johnson has struggled to get us out of a rut through no new ideas to offer - just excuses. I am starting to feel conned with all the petty excuses he makes post match. I cannot see him turning this one around this season neither. The difference this season is that the slump has started in November rather than January - dangerous times I feel.

[JoeAman08]

The ref was not a talking point because city were worse than he was. We were so bad I don’t even feel the need to talk about one of the top 5 worst refs I have seem at AG. Tbf I was livid when he allowed them to play on and get a low cross in then call it back as we were countering. The last 5 minutes or so I honestly wished harm on Preston and was hoping someone would two foot or on the drop ball Pack just swing for Robinsons legs. In hindsight would have been bad but at the time all things considered I wasn’t happy

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, harrys said:

I always find it strange that players only go down when they are winning, surely refs should of cottoned on to this by now ?

I know. 

Its because they understand the rules / laws but don’t understand the game. 

As for every other post on this thread - 100% spot on. 

The bit that gets me is that most of our players accept it. One or two got in the refs ear, but we should’ve been in his ear every decision. 

[Olé]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

The bit that gets me is that most of our players accept it. One or two got in the refs ear, but we should’ve been in his ear every decision. 

More or less the main point of my original post Dave, I lost an awful lot of respect for every single one of our players yesterday, they are all spineless and I'm not convinced they're really that bothered. I don't need them to be flying into challenges or talking back to the ref all game, but they need to compete, and if that means caring when they are being mugged off by the opposition and their strategy to con a referee, rather than simply kicking the ball back to an opponent, on demand, for no justified reason, and TWICE, then for gods sake man up and show you care. Protest. Kick it out. Don't kick it back. But no, the easy thing is to hide away from responsibility or leadership and that means just go with the flow. A team captained By Marlon Pack, what a surprise.

[Rudolf Hucker]

There is so much cheating now in football that sadly, I enjoy this once great game far less. Since referees were instructed to halt play for head injuries, guess what - the instance of 'head injuries' during a game has now increased exponentially but the whistle only ever needs to be blown for the team which is winning; these bogus 'injuries' never afflict losing teams which are chasing the game.

Players defending a free kick now stand directly over the ball, preventing a quick restart yet referees NEVER take action. Yesterday I witnessed Daniel Johnson, a player I admire for his skill and vision but detest for his onfield antics, dictate Pack's free kick intent; Pack wanted to play a quick restart forward but Johnson stood over the ball and refused to budge so Pack played it back to Webster.

In a week where  £300,000 PER WEEK Raheem Sterling trips over with no defender within touching distance, yet neither he nor his teammates can man-up and tell the ref that he's made the wrong call (in a game they go on to win 6-0) I've spent my Saturday afternoon watching the most blatant display of cheating I've witnessed since last we played PNE (a team for which I've previously had a lot of warmth). I've reached the conclusion that the stupidly overblown rewards in football have made the cost of failure too high resulting in a mockery of a game for which I've had a lifelong love.

Of course all teams now do this to some extent but what we witnessed yesterday was a new sad level (and I've witnesses the Lazarus like recovery of the defender - was it Rory Holden? - in Warnock's Rotherham team leaping up like a gazelle after what seemed like an 8 minute interruption). I instilled into my kids that cheats never prosper but sadly in football, they now do which is a sad metaphor for society. It's about time that the FA stopped ignoring it and take some decisive, remedial action.

[Davefevs]

@Rudolf Hucker Greg “Lazarus” Halford

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 hours ago, JonDolman said:

I would usually be fuming at such annoying dirty tactics. But I just thought yesterday we were never going to score, even if the ref had given us the proper injury time, as 6 minutes did not seem enough for me. We couldn't get near their goal, and didn't even look in a hurry at the end. 

Agreed.

83 mins to get a shot on target vs a side who shipped 30 goals before Saturday very poor.