Agreed, except it should be a red. He dump tackles Hanlan. Total disregard for the safety of your opponent.
Football is a physical game and there is a risk of injury. That is supposed to be minimised to a reasonable extent through decent officiating and a basic level of decency among the players. Both failed today.
That was an emotionally draining match for many reasons, not least those horrific injuries. It's never nice to see players frantically beckoning for medical support.
Jack Grimmer mentioned on commentary that Vokes is out for another four or five weeks. I can't imagine we'll see Hanlan again this season, sadly. Taylor remains underwhelming. De Barr never seems to be low enough for Tjay to rise above it.
I was proud of the way our players reacted to Leahy's situation, including Keogh & Vokes getting Lukes wife & escorting her to the tunnel; the way Josh as skipper kept the team calm, talked to the officials & ushered away the Stevenage players & especially the way Bloom's behaved & reacted to all the shite from Evans etc.
The following sentence is normally a big taboo for me, but I am perfectly content to see Stevenage go bust after that. Absolute scumbags on and off the pitch. Nick Freeman must be embarrassed to come back to AP with that lot.
One to move on from! An absolutely horrible game. To be honest, Stevenage just bullied us all over the pitch and were the better side. Not much else to say.
From our point of view, I just hope Luke and Brandon are ok and make speedy recoveries from what looked to be horrific injuries.
Have to say, I thought the conduct of the Stevenage players, fans and management left a lot to be desired. No blame attached to them at all for the 2 serious injuries, but considering the how physical a side they were, I've never seen so many players go down after so little contact. To then have their players smiling and winking at the home fans was in poor taste considering the events that had taken place. Likewise the conduct of their fans whilst a clearly serious situation was developing on the pitch left a lot to be desired. And whilst, I didn't see this (I was on my way out of the ground at the time). It very much sounded like Evans was giving the giving the celebratory fist pumps to the Stevenage fans after the game. If so, I think that's really poor from him. No problem with him going over applauding them etc, but surely it's not asking too much of him to perhaps tone down the celebrations when the opposition have ended the game with 2 players in hospital! I honestly can't image Bloomfield celebrating a victory in that manner in those circumstances. Not seen the post match comments from Blooms, but I'd think their celebrations post match would really have riled the Wycombe camp.
I didn't see what Hanlan did to their no.5, but slam dunking him to the ground in retaliation must have been far worse, and certainly deserving of a card, and a reversal of the original free kick award. Leahy's concussion looked bad, and we have to hope there are no lasting effects.
All that aside, our attack today was as blunt as a beach ball, and as others have said, only Max and Scowen emerged with any credit for their performances.
We were bullied out of the game. I thought for 20 mins or so we defended crosses well and looked reasonably composed. But eventually Stevenage's physical superiority paid off. It really was men against boys at times.
I don't object to teams setting up the way they did. They were well drilled and outmuscled and outran us all over the pitch. It is a very effective strategy if done well and gives teams with less cash a route to compete with bigger clubs. We also can't really complain at the gamesmanship and attempts to break up play, since we did much the same under Gaz.
The issue comes when poor refereeing means any attempt to get the ball down and play is crushed from the game through sheer brute force. Excessive force needs to be punished, shirt pulls and 'leaving one on them' dealt with early. Otherwise you get the kind of 1980s Wimbledon crap we witnessed today.
Going forward we're now in a pickle with the limited attacking options available. Without a change of shape or strategy it is hard to see us scoring many goals at all until Vokes is back (and perhaps not then either). We simply have no target man at all. Very worrying, considering we've struggled to create in games this season as it is.
January is a tough time to recruit good forwards and we won't be the only team looking. At the very least we need a young player with genuine pace who is willing to run the channels. Taylor doesn't run in behind, doesn't win headers and always looks for the ball to feat, which isn't really what we need.
The game in two weeks against Reading really is important. Hopefully we've got a couple more players fit by then.
Unfortunately if Hanlan commits the first foul there is no reversing that decision. However if no booking to their player then from the accounts I’ve read (I was not there today) he could still find himself in serious trouble from the FA. Oh - and the ref!
On chance creation, we've created 26 big chances this season (actually among the most) - and missed 20 of them. Not sure where that puts us in the context of the league as a whole, but I can't imagine we rank high for conversion...
Bloomfield's comments post match certainly interesting! Clearly not happy with Stevenage's conduct and clearly furious that they falsely accused him of trying to get the game called off.
Whilst they deserved the win and looked a very strong side, I agree with Bloomfield that their conduct this afternoon was a disgrace. The behaviour of players, fans and management was was miles away from anything we've witnessed under Bloomfield and before him Ainsworth.
Blooms post match interview is a hugely damning of the opposition - well worth listening to, especially as he delivers it in that incredibly calm level headed way he has.
Did I miss the chanting? I heard them chant 'what the fuck is going on?' after Leahy had gone off. A bit uncalled for, but it was aimed at the ref, and no-one really knew what was happening?
Went to the Stevenage forum to read the ten posts made there. Eight were wondering if the game set a British record for minutes played and two said our injuries were because our players hurt themselves trying to make fouls.
Any youngsters on here who want to know what forums looked like in the 1990's should pop over and take a look.
Heard them chanting for a red card for Max, for a negligible incident where some goon ran into him and he barged them away. Didn't hear much beyond that.
Comments
Maybe Stevenage will surprise us all and condemn their moronic minority (?)
Mixture of surprise and usurp?
Lol whoops
Agreed, except it should be a red. He dump tackles Hanlan. Total disregard for the safety of your opponent.
Football is a physical game and there is a risk of injury. That is supposed to be minimised to a reasonable extent through decent officiating and a basic level of decency among the players. Both failed today.
Feared as much.
Thankfully no game for 2 weeks to see if anyone missing can get fit, then we might need to change formation, or put McCleary back up front.
That was an emotionally draining match for many reasons, not least those horrific injuries. It's never nice to see players frantically beckoning for medical support.
Jack Grimmer mentioned on commentary that Vokes is out for another four or five weeks. I can't imagine we'll see Hanlan again this season, sadly. Taylor remains underwhelming. De Barr never seems to be low enough for Tjay to rise above it.
Phillips and Sadlier, your time really is now.
I was proud of the way our players reacted to Leahy's situation, including Keogh & Vokes getting Lukes wife & escorting her to the tunnel; the way Josh as skipper kept the team calm, talked to the officials & ushered away the Stevenage players & especially the way Bloom's behaved & reacted to all the shite from Evans etc.
The following sentence is normally a big taboo for me, but I am perfectly content to see Stevenage go bust after that. Absolute scumbags on and off the pitch. Nick Freeman must be embarrassed to come back to AP with that lot.
One to move on from! An absolutely horrible game. To be honest, Stevenage just bullied us all over the pitch and were the better side. Not much else to say.
From our point of view, I just hope Luke and Brandon are ok and make speedy recoveries from what looked to be horrific injuries.
Have to say, I thought the conduct of the Stevenage players, fans and management left a lot to be desired. No blame attached to them at all for the 2 serious injuries, but considering the how physical a side they were, I've never seen so many players go down after so little contact. To then have their players smiling and winking at the home fans was in poor taste considering the events that had taken place. Likewise the conduct of their fans whilst a clearly serious situation was developing on the pitch left a lot to be desired. And whilst, I didn't see this (I was on my way out of the ground at the time). It very much sounded like Evans was giving the giving the celebratory fist pumps to the Stevenage fans after the game. If so, I think that's really poor from him. No problem with him going over applauding them etc, but surely it's not asking too much of him to perhaps tone down the celebrations when the opposition have ended the game with 2 players in hospital! I honestly can't image Bloomfield celebrating a victory in that manner in those circumstances. Not seen the post match comments from Blooms, but I'd think their celebrations post match would really have riled the Wycombe camp.
I didn't see what Hanlan did to their no.5, but slam dunking him to the ground in retaliation must have been far worse, and certainly deserving of a card, and a reversal of the original free kick award. Leahy's concussion looked bad, and we have to hope there are no lasting effects.
All that aside, our attack today was as blunt as a beach ball, and as others have said, only Max and Scowen emerged with any credit for their performances.
Worst visit ever to Adams Park.
We were bullied out of the game. I thought for 20 mins or so we defended crosses well and looked reasonably composed. But eventually Stevenage's physical superiority paid off. It really was men against boys at times.
I don't object to teams setting up the way they did. They were well drilled and outmuscled and outran us all over the pitch. It is a very effective strategy if done well and gives teams with less cash a route to compete with bigger clubs. We also can't really complain at the gamesmanship and attempts to break up play, since we did much the same under Gaz.
The issue comes when poor refereeing means any attempt to get the ball down and play is crushed from the game through sheer brute force. Excessive force needs to be punished, shirt pulls and 'leaving one on them' dealt with early. Otherwise you get the kind of 1980s Wimbledon crap we witnessed today.
Going forward we're now in a pickle with the limited attacking options available. Without a change of shape or strategy it is hard to see us scoring many goals at all until Vokes is back (and perhaps not then either). We simply have no target man at all. Very worrying, considering we've struggled to create in games this season as it is.
January is a tough time to recruit good forwards and we won't be the only team looking. At the very least we need a young player with genuine pace who is willing to run the channels. Taylor doesn't run in behind, doesn't win headers and always looks for the ball to feat, which isn't really what we need.
The game in two weeks against Reading really is important. Hopefully we've got a couple more players fit by then.
Unfortunately if Hanlan commits the first foul there is no reversing that decision. However if no booking to their player then from the accounts I’ve read (I was not there today) he could still find himself in serious trouble from the FA. Oh - and the ref!
On chance creation, we've created 26 big chances this season (actually among the most) - and missed 20 of them. Not sure where that puts us in the context of the league as a whole, but I can't imagine we rank high for conversion...
Agreed with bargepole. Worst experience in a very long time. Wish both players a speedy recovery. Regards John
Bloomfield's comments post match certainly interesting! Clearly not happy with Stevenage's conduct and clearly furious that they falsely accused him of trying to get the game called off.
Whilst they deserved the win and looked a very strong side, I agree with Bloomfield that their conduct this afternoon was a disgrace. The behaviour of players, fans and management was was miles away from anything we've witnessed under Bloomfield and before him Ainsworth.
Blooms post match interview is a hugely damning of the opposition - well worth listening to, especially as he delivers it in that incredibly calm level headed way he has.
The thought of Stevenage fans high sixing each other on the way out of AP makes my blood boil.
Did I miss the chanting? I heard them chant 'what the fuck is going on?' after Leahy had gone off. A bit uncalled for, but it was aimed at the ref, and no-one really knew what was happening?
Was there worse than that?
Aren't you from Stevenage? 😅
No, I grew up in Hatfield (not the most salubrious place itself, to be fair) but stewarded Stevenage, Chelsea and Reading one season in the late 90s.
Ahh, that'll be it! I knew there was a connection somewhere (sorry to associate you with that hole).
Unfortunately today's referee was well below the standard that you'd expect for an expected physical game.
He came across as being intimidated by Evans and his players.
At no point in the game did it feel like he had control. He just played the stevenage tune
Unfortunately I couldn't see us scoring if we were still playing
Went to the Stevenage forum to read the ten posts made there. Eight were wondering if the game set a British record for minutes played and two said our injuries were because our players hurt themselves trying to make fouls.
Any youngsters on here who want to know what forums looked like in the 1990's should pop over and take a look.
Heard them chanting for a red card for Max, for a negligible incident where some goon ran into him and he barged them away. Didn't hear much beyond that.
Really hope Brandon and Luke are OK and not too serious. Get well soon fellas.
As for the game itself the less said the better, the injuries are taking the attention away from how bad we actually were, toothless.
No worries at all - great memory, mate!!!!
When Luke was down and the ref was pissing about I heard a Wycombe fan shout “that’s on you ref”, and I have to agree.
Heard this too from Vipienne
Never thought I’d say it. But Joey Barton was Right.
the man is a weeble. Fucking “head knock”. Someone needs to knock his head in a similar way - for science - to see how he feels afterwards.