Akinfenwa enigma
Just wondering if there is anyway that as a club, we can get a referee to understand that because a defender bounces off him, it doesn't mean he has commited a foul. As fans we see it every game, it is so frustrating for us, the team and the coaches. Surely the football league can find an official that understands that not all defenders can bully every forward, I know that is the norm but Bayo isn't a normal forward. It is a great sight to see Bayo taking the ball down off his chest, turning & building a head of steam, watching defenders going down like skittles, however it usually concludes when the ref blows for a perceived foul, when from my POV I can't see one?
Is there a solution that others can offer?
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I agree and feel some sympathy with the guy. A Notts County fan even acknowledged it saying something like just 'cos our players bounced off him doesn't mean he fouled them. I,sadly,am not sure the increasingly poor referees at our level are able to be as clear thinking as our friend from Notts County.
I think there is only one simple solution.
transfer Bayo to another club.
When they play against us, I guarantee most Wycombe supporters will be screaming for every challenge to be a foul (and accusing the ref of incompetence when he doesn't give them).
Agreed @DevC . It's amazing how the view can be changed. I always thought Andy Rammell was a similar player. There were plenty of games that he couldn't buy a break from a referee and some weeks you could tell inside five mins he would be struggling.
Oh another post criticising Wycombe supporters @DevC
Not necessarily true, often whenever I've seen Akinfenwa (or other big players) play against us I've thought that refs just don't understand, particularly when against bean pole centre backs. (With Stewart and Pierre at the back it's a different story)
@RITM, yup, Rammell rarely got the benefit of the doubt from the ref. Tommy Mooney however was a master at backing straight into defenders and somehow still winning the free kick, a man for whom the phrase 'wily old pro' could have been invented...
Err no, Peter. Just recognising that Wycombe supporters tend to view the game through blue tinted glasses just as Notts do through black and white and Plymouth through green etc etc. We are all pretty guilty of it, although admittedly to a differing extent.
TBH my first thought at Notts when AA made hos last challenge was that's a foul, that will be a second yellow. It was a pretty dumb challenge from an otherwise excellent player in the circumstances.
@PBo I've always called that type of foul the Alan Shearer foul. He created a career using a system of backing in to a defender, slightly arching his back in to them and then falling forward. Mooney made good use of it too.
Ref's don't know how to rule on Akinfenwa but how you see it is mainly based on what coloured spectacles you are wearing. I think he tries the innocence card as often as he is wronged against.
Simon Garner was an absolute master of the "art"
It's an enigma. I thought this season referees had become rather more aware of the "bouncing off" effect when a 16 stone muscular man challenges for the ball. For the first time in many seasons he doesn't feature in the "most fouls" section of the matchday programme. He has been well out in front in previous seasons and I do claim, self-righteously, to have commented on occasion (when he has been playing against us) that he seemed to be somewhat hard done by. Let's hope one or two referees will read this thread and see the light!
Terry Glynn was the finest ive ever seen, at backing in to a rugged centre half and timing his lunge forward to perfection, and getting the foul from the ref.
I would imagine he's used to it by now...I think he's one of the best players we've got and the odd suspension will have to be the price we pay for what he brings to the team.
Moral dilemma, bother in law coming home to U.K. for Christmas, has bought flights forward to land Saturday morning, he is beyond excited to be at Adams Park on Saturday 'can't wait to see The Beast in a Wycombe shirt' / 'he must be creating all the chances for the new kid' etc etc. £5 friend ticket purchased for him but when to explain the suspension ? (He flys out again morning of the 30th so no Cheltenham trip possible) I'm currently going for handing over a team sheet in the Veare after a couple of pints....
If he's a clueless type, and you haven't said the name Akinfenwa,or described him, just say Hayes is the guy.