Well is this a real macoy 6 pointer or just another 3 point game? Will Argyle finally do the right thing and win an away game for the first time this season? Of course they will............(gulp) COYG
Available: Pleggy, Obafemi. Not Available: Hardie. Mirom Muslic coined a phrase we’ve all been looking for to describe what Ryan Hardie is - “our best transition striker” - best used by winning the ball back and playing him in quickly behind the defence. That’s why he’s been doing something nobody else has - playing Hardie alongside a big No 9 like Bundu where Morgan Whittaker used to be, not as a lone central striker. Given the above, could he play Mumba or Issaka in that role? They have the pace but do they have the killer finish? Of the two, Issaka is more like Hardie: very direct, minimal interest in passing. Mumba tends to over elaborate but if he could be persuaded just to go straight for the jugular, he has the experience. Doubtful: Randell: missed training for medical appointment in relation to a hip problem he’s been carrying that for a while. Back in full training: Edwards. Thank goodness.
I hope Miron Muslic has set the team up not to lose under any circumstances tonight......a defeat would be a colossal disaster and give Luton's season a kick-start. We could do with Joe Edwards being available for his leadership alone....he might at the moment be our best chance of a goal.
Hazard, Palsson, Katic, Talovierov, Puchacz, Houghton, Randell, Sorinola, Wright, Al Hajj, Bundu. Subs. Grimshaw, Baidoo, Boateng, Gyabi, Mumba, Ogbeta, Obafemi, Szucs, Tijani.
If anyone had tuned into this randomly, they’d probably have taken it for a League 2 game. That may be unfair to some teams in League 2. It was though two relegation threatened teams battling for survival, so I suppose we have to make allowances. We got very little from the referee but to be fair to him, he managed to get through it with only one yellow card. How I’m unsure. The key decision was the disallowing of Callum Wright’s first half “goal”. Wright was sandwiched between two defenders chasing a long ball. He was offside relative to the defender closest to the linesman but NOT to the one a yard behind him. It would have looked offside at a quick glance but the linesman surely should have realised that he couldn’t see the second defender behind Wright, in which case he should have at least given the benefit of the doubt as there was only millimetres in it anyway and Wright was 30 yards from goal with plenty still to do. That might cost us dear. I’m going to put the goal we did concede down to Hazard. It’s one of those where keeper and attacker are face to face 5 yards away from each other with the ball in between. To me, he has to flatten the striker taking ball and all (a la Jordan Pickford) but instead, he just flapped. In the end Maxi forced home the equaliser from a dead ball and it was no more than we deserved. In the end, this may be a valuable point, as long as we win on Saturday. As they say, draw away and win at home is promotion form (in the absence of parachute payments). Onward and upwards.
Just occasionally we see evidence of divine justice. On 68 minutes, Luton’s CB McGuiness goes down injured after his foul on Bundu. It’s one of those mysterious but often apparently near fatal injuries that happen when teams are 1-0 up with not long to play. Given the need for not one but two staff from the Luton bench to come out to attend to him, the ref invites him to leave the pitch to recover. While he’s there, he’s able to watch Maxi score the equaliser with an unmarked back post header. What a shame McGuiness wasn’t there to help defend. Luckily, he was able to make a full recovery and come back into the pitch as if nothing had happened. Wonders and miracles never cease.
Looked at the video....Wright's off-side goal was a very tight call.....we didn't have a good enough camera angle to judge.....the one time that we might of benefited from Premiership technology.
A frame or two too early maybe ? The Luton player and Wright's left legs seem to be the wrong side of each other ? Ruled off side so can't allow it to fester.....move on to the Cardiff game and revenge for that 5-0 thrashing.
Unfortunately I don’t have a full viseo editing suite and anyway, it’s from an angle. It’s tenths of seconds before Puchy strikes the ball. His body is onside, his pinkie doesn’t matter. Nevertheless, for the majority of fans who put up with this every week, it’s onside. it’s irrelevant now/ nothing’s going to overturn it. Bur it’s an incorrect decision.
