Deeney does not look anything like the player he was at the start of the season. Don't know if he lacks fitness or what, but I have said several times that we don't have a direct replacement for him. FF worked his socks off and for me was the best Watford player on the pitch just ahead of Murray, but he does not seem to be a 15 goal a season player to me. I still think that we need a very quick player up front in the Vydra mould.
Whilst I agree it was an error for the "goal" remember they do only get one quick look... Guess the lino was badly placed? Thought not sending off their number 2 was a worse mistake.. The incident does mask quite an average performance generally although though FF did well and would have deserved a goal. Sloppy and slow on the ball at games and they got at us out wide a fair bit. Lots to work on but the defence looked better I felt.
Lino was level with the top of the penalty area when it happened, heading at full tilt for the corner flag - probably didn't even see it. Agree about the non-sending off. Strange how Sky highlights chose not to show that incident, yet did show Fessi's tackle on the keeper & subsequent booking...
Just strikes me as typical that we that we very rarely, if ever, get these decisions going our way. I think that is what grates the most. Personally I think the ball was over. But as others point out they only get one look. Alas we'll never know now, but it would have been interesting if the goal line tech had ruled the ball in play. Pretty sure that would have been given at the other end. Vic makes a valid point from the perspective of the law but the camera angle aside the goal is inconclusive. All a bit unsatisfactory, but they do only get one shot at it. Worse though was how Bruno was still on the pitch for the duration. I might try and keep all the players on the field on a Sunday morning but then it is a hobby. At professional level there is no excuse. Again, had FF made a similar challenge after his correct caution, would he have stayed on? I don't think so. Poor. Very poor form a PMGO.
Very true - I'd like to see where in the rules it states that the number of players that stay on the field is at the referee's discretion.
From the picture OFH posted the entire ball has crossed the line. But from a video of the side view it's less clear. However Sky are reporting it as a goal and I doubt they would if it wasn't.
Well of course it was a goal and probably the lino was out of position to see it. But what really got to me was the Brighton fans constant booing of Fessi. In my opinion he was the best player on the pitch - far better than anything in their team - but they continues to boo because he tried to win a ball from Kusak (or however its spelt). Yes he made an error and was correctly booked but there was nothing malicious about his challenge. Far worse was Bruno whose behaviour on the pitch was clearly deliberate on more than one occasion. This from the fans who like to make a big thing of opposition fans chanting homophobic things - yet they are quite prepared to boo a quality player - those who live in glass houses etc.
How do we know that the camera was looking directly along the goal line. It would not have to be very far out of line ( moving towards the centre line )for there not to be a gap between the near and far post giving the impression that it was directly in line, but still create enough of an angle such that the near post would obscure part of the ball, giving the impression that the ball had not crossed the line, whereas it actually had. Otherwise I thought the game was basically rubbish and the only thing that kept me from leaving the pub early was that I never leave sporting events early, just in case. Apart from our two goals we never looked threatening or dominant. Was Deeney poor because of lack of form or was he not getting the service he needs. Look at Brighton's record over the last 10 games to see if they are a good team on current form. We should be winning most games like this if we are going to keep in touch with automatic promotion, otherwise we will have to compete for the playoffs again without a high expectation of getting there. Yes we can look at the non-goal and not sending off Bruno, but we have to accept that these things will happen and not use them as excuses, otherwise there will be an excuse every other week and no promotion at the end.
As much as I didn't want to do this, I am this morning feeling bitter about a result where we got what we deserved for a sub-par performance. The pragmatist in me knows we did enough for a point and Brighton played reasonably well and created enough chances themselves and it was a fair result. The football supporter in me is brimming with rage at the injustice of it all. It was a goal, there is no doubt the replays show there was clear daylight between the goaline and the ball. It was not a congested box and the ball was travelling very slowly. There is no excuse for two officials to both not make the right call on this. The linesman was in a decent position and the referee was perfectly placed on the edge of the box. What I find amusing is that in the reports you read, I have read BBC and SkySports this morning and both use terms like "it appeared to trickle over the line" and "replays suggested " Is FA so powerful that they can fine and give a touchline ban to media organisations for speaking out against a refereeing decisions!
I find Oscar Garcia's post match comment interesting, he quite rightly said that from his position it was impossible to see if the ball had crossed the line, he then goes on to say that he didn't ask Gordon Greer about it! Like hell! A controversial incident like that is BOUND to be discussed. The inference from that is Greer confirmed that the ball had crossed the line but I'm not going to admit that to you!
"I thought the game was basically rubbish and the only thing that kept me from leaving the pub early was that I never leave sporting events early, just in case". I don't know what it was like on tele - but being at the game I thought the last 20 minutes or so was really exciting - I agree Deeney seems out of sorts but Fessi, Doyle, Almunia were excellent.
I thought we were pretty poor. Our possession and passing was once again rather sloppy, and it was a frustrating match to watch... but seeming how boring most of the game was, there were certainly some talking points, and great to see two teams going for the win at the end rather than both accepting a draw With regards to the 'goal'. When it happened in real time, it looked over. I saw clear green between the line and the ball. Then when they showed the angle down the line, it looked much tighter and couldn't see the green - but Sky seemed so convinced, and even the co-commentator (who I thought was poor) agreed, so will take that! It was a tough call to make at the distance the lino was and may have had his vision blocked, so times like this is where they need help and don't blame them for such a decision. As for Bruno... if that was FF or McGugan going that challenge, I'd be pretty confident they would have received a 2nd yellow. Overall I think a point was fair as both had good chances to win - a couple of good Almunia saves, against our goal that wasn't and FF hitting the post. Our possession and passing needs to be addressed though, too many first touches getting away from the player! I would have taken a point before the game though....
Can I quickley say what a brilliant performance from the travelling hornets , heard em loud and clear on the box
