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Quite the opposite, he 100% confirmed McKenna’s version of events.

“Once they realised that if the game was called off the result would stand and that might then not be good enough for them to get in the top two, they wanted to carry on.”

 

Not in the interview i watched!!

 

Were you given the option to stop the game? Yes but i said i wanted to play on!!
He then goes on to say that they didn't want to have to play it again because of fixture congestion!!

 

At the end of the day, there's no way it would ever be replayed and nor should it, the same for both sides, we just have to accept we choked again and move on!!

 

You’ve totally missed the point Spanish. Whilst they were discussing what to do on the sideline, the referee completely made up a rule that doesn’t exist. That can be the basis for legal action.

Even if nothing happens, I’d be surprised if Mark Ashton doesn’t have conversations about the situation.

It’s also a lesson for McKenna. I’m a bit disappointed that he hasn’t done his revision and can’t recite all the rules verbatim.

 

It’s a bit far fetched to suggest that the number of refs that have cost us points this season could have all been bought, but there’s a question over the integrity of the competition with the standard of refereeing that’s nowhere near fit for purpose. And it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that there’s some corruption at this level.

 

Nothing to do with corruption in my opinion, the further down the pyramid you go, the worse the officials are going to be and are. As a club / team, we need to try and rise above that and concentrate on our own performances which have gotten worse over recent weeks. Think the Charlton game may have knocked the confidence more than was 1st thought

 

Not getting a result because of poor refereeing decisions is one factor affecting us. Wouldn’t we all be feeling different if we had even an additional four points on the board?

 

I agree that there have been multiple penalty decisions that could / should have been given which would have resulted in more points. If there was VAR at our level then we would have more points but we have to start dealing with the hand we’re given. We haven’t been ruthless enough in either penalty area which has also cost us points

 

Huh, that's not what you said....you said both wanted the match stopped, which is incorrect and as for even suggesting corruption against us, i think that is absurd, just **** standard of refereeing

 

That bit is subjective and nuanced - your video there is the first I heard of him saying he wanted to continue - point being maybe if they’re told something different he agrees it should stop. I don’t think anybody wants to ever abandon a game and have to do play an extra fixture but the conditions were farcical at that point. He certainly did say the game should have been stopped.

It’s not that absurd to talk about dark and dodgy things going on by the way, corruption is rife in sport - football included - and these refs are not exactly raking it in. I can’t see Sheffield Wednesday or Plymouth interfering but who knows who has got an interest in our fortunes this season. What with Boris Johnson getting dodgy favours and appointing the BBC Chairman, this stuff goes on all day every day in all walks of life. Why would League One football be any different when we know it goes on at lower and higher levels of the game?

 

Bl**dy h*ll Hampy, proper tin foil hat theories there. Looking at some of the pictures & highlights, this should have been called off. plus if the ref did state the result would stand after 75 minutes then perhaps we do have a case to ask for it to be relayed ?
going back a few years we played Leicester at home in those atrocious conditions in the snow, we wanted to play on they wanted the game stopped. we won so there was no complaints from us then.

 

If League One referees can be bought so easily, then maybe we should've saved money spending on players over the last couple of windows and bribed officials instead.

If there is some grand conspiracy in lower league football - highly unlikely, in my opinion - then surely the EFL would be getting referees to favour the bigger teams (like Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby) in League One, so that those clubs are in the Championship making that league the strongest 'product' it can be (in terms of television viewing figures, attendances etc.)?

I think the truth is a little simpler. The standard of officiating in the lower leagues is worse than the divisions above. Referees generally show unconscious bias to favour home teams and underdogs. We're spending a lot of money in this division, comparatively to the other sides. We outplay most teams, so maybe referees let more things go against us, because we create so many chances.

Either way, the standard of refereeing is not why we're on a poor run of form. I think the bigger factor is that we are not a prolific team, as we struggle to convert our chances. The stats reflect this. We also cannot sustain the high tempo and control of the match over 90 minutes, so when we look complacent and drop in tempo, opposing teams punish us. We are also overly cautious and defensive when we take leads, which has been the case ever since the 4-4 draw against Charlton. The club is also not used to success, so we haven't quite fostered that winning mentality which teams like Plymouth (for example) have built up over the last few years.

We're not down and out by any stretch. The new signings will hopefully improve the team and make us more efficient in front of goal. McKenna is clearly a talented and intelligent coach, hopefully he'll be making tweaks to the system and putting more trust in us to see games out without being overly cautious.

 

Barking slightly up the wrong tree. A lot of corruption in sport is down to betting, and there could be any number of business interests that benefit from the fortune of other clubs’ success and therefore hindering ours.

 

Ah I see. I take your point, but I still find it unlikely/really hope there isn't this grand conspiracy in English football. I think the reasons for our downturn in form are on us and we've got the ability to overcome them.