Playoffs 2016

[Don Tonberry]

Matt should have unquestionably been sent off. Referee bottled it there.

A couple of other contentious decisions there but I'm happy with a draw after we were cut to ribbons in the first half. We are better away from home so hopefully we'll have an advantage now.

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

The only time I heard the Plymouth fans was when they were singing about a side that did the double over them...

Anyway draw was probably fair. Don't think the Matt 'headbutt' was a red card and poor keeping was displayed for 3 of the goals. All to play for.

 

[Ciderup]

I have to say I actually enjoyed watching the Pompey v Pilgrims game. As a spectacle it was decent and the Plymouth 2nd goal was a good finish. Apart from that (yes, I know it's L2, not the Championship) there wasn't a lot of quality on show but certainly loads of effort.
The big lad up front for Plymouth was a very lucky boy and will, stupidly, miss the rest of the PO's I would imagine. Silly boy, that could cost them.
I shall watch the 2nd leg on Sunday (??) as I quite enjoyed it tonight. Maybe Sky should show a few more games from this level rather than Leeds every week?
Fair play on a good game.

 

[StagsForLife]

Sorry but even though Matt went in on him, it was the softest headbutt ever and the Pompey player made a right meal of it.

 

[Ciderup]

Sorry but even though Matt went in on him, it was the softest headbutt ever and the Pompey player made a right meal of it.

Does that actually matter in the laws of the game, I'm not sure it does? All about aggressive intent isn't it?
You are right though.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Intriguing game with plenty of talking points! What on earth was Nelson playing at for the first goal? He had an absolute shocker last night. Then yes Matt should have been sent off according to the letter of the law for rubbing his head against the Pompey lad's. So a bit of luck for us there but that soon evened itself up when Pompey were awarded a second half penalty that was clearly outside the box. Win some lose some!

The game went exactly as I expected. Emotionally charged and a good atmosphere from both sets of fans. Some great proper football challenges flying in. Big credit to the green army selling over 2k tickets when the majority of them have to get 2 days off work at less than a weeks notice, it really is a fantastic effort.

Portsmouth dominated majority of play as expected but other than the 2 goals, Luke only had to make one save so in the end I think it's a fair result and a decent away performance from us. Just a shame we conceded those 2 sloppy goals which were entirely our own fault. Carey ran the show for us again and looks class. Sets it up nicely for a day on the beer on Sunday and cracking match on Sunday night at the Theatre of Greens.

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

I thought the ref must have missed the Matt headkiss, but another angle showed him looking right at it. Not sure how he could claim not to have seen the incident so under normal circumstances he shouldn't get a ban. Should have gone by the letter of the law, but the reaction of the Portsmouth player was embarrassing.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Remind anyone?

 

[Indian Dan]

But I'm sure the ref saw it and decided to take no action. It can only be a retrospective ban if the ref/linesmen said they didn't see a thing.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

But I'm sure the ref saw it and decided to take no action. It can only be a retrospective ban if the ref/linesmen said they didn't see a thing.

I believe the ref has now come out and said he didn't see it (covering his own back, cowardly). Which is clearly bollocks as we all saw him staring right at it. Doesn't bode well for Matt though. Ref bottled it imo.

 

[gashead88]

A good game last night, I thought the ref had a shocker and that he should of sent off 3 players matt, sawyer and the Plymouth defender for the penalty
And if he has come out bow and said he didn't see the headbutt he's a lier and needs to sort himself out as it'll ruin Plymouths chance of going through imo, will be weak up front.

 

[Ciderup]

A good game last night, I thought the ref had a shocker and that he should of sent off 3 players matt, sawyer and the Plymouth defender for the penalty
And if he has come out bow and said he didn't see the headbutt he's a lier and needs to sort himself out as it'll ruin Plymouths chance of going through imo, will be weak up front.

How on earth can he say he 'missed' it when the TV camera shows him looking straight at it? I agree with the Professor, he's bottled it and put the onus on to the FL to make a decision hasn't he?

 

[ProfessorGreen]

It's exactly what he's done, I'm a ref myself and can be brutally honest and say I've done the same (except I've never had to come out and explain myself to the FL!).

Re the Hartley penalty (free kick) incident. Think the ref was spot on with a yellow, the law isn't 'the last man', it's denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. You could technically be the 'last man' down by the corner flag. One of our other players has probably just about done enough to get in the refs eyeline to cast enough doubt that he could have at least got across to press and influence influence the attacker.

Should edit to add: I don't actually actively referee anymore, it was for extra cash when I was younger!

 

[iWomble]

I thought Doyle was utterly pathetic there. He's hard enought to get stuck into Matt and throw him around while he's on the ground, but collapses like he's poleaxed when Matt breathes heavily down his neck. Have a look at the footage from the side and Matt tries to pull Doyle's shorts down, which is the bit everyone seems to have missed. Doyle showed incredible awareness amidst the agony of being headbutted to be able to pull them back up with one hand to preserve his modesty in the same movement as he hits the deck.

 

[Destruction]

Good game last night, enjoyed it as a neutral.

I see Paul Cook hasn't changed mind, he came across as an utter tosser on the touchline last season when we played Chesterfield in the playoffs. He's basically Steve Evans, albeit an Evans who has been left out in the sun too long and mostly shriveled away.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Fair play to Cook though, it takes some balls to start on Paul Wotton!

 

[StuartD]

Fair play to Cook though, it takes some balls to start on Paul Wotton!

Was really impressed with Plymouth last night and I think they have 4 key players for me, that if they are playing at a 8 out of 10, then Plymouth are going to get promoted.

They are McHugh, Carey, Jervis and Wilde. Really like McHugh as he does a lot of the work for the others but has quality. Carey naturally stands out with his goals and assists, however the two wide players in Wilde and Jervis are massive for the team as they work so hard.

 

[mowgli]

We were trying to help you Pompey!

Allsop shouldn't be phased by this and should be plenty good enough for this level. I guess jumping straight into the car and into a squad for this game at a few hours notice isn't ideal, but that's bread and butter stuff there.

He was brilliant on loan for us this season tbf.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Was really impressed with Plymouth last night and I think they have 4 key players for me, that if they are playing at a 8 out of 10, then Plymouth are going to get promoted.

They are McHugh, Carey, Jervis and Wilde. Really like McHugh as he does a lot of the work for the others but has quality. Carey naturally stands out with his goals and assists, however the two wide players in Wilde and Jervis are massive for the team as they work so hard.

You're spot on with McHugh, Carey and Wylde (if he plays). For me Jervis is overrated and goes missing an awful lot. Didn't even see him second half last night. But he does have a physical presence. Pompey's defence looked very dodgy last night and I think this combined with peppering their dodgy keeper with high balls and shots with the backing of a sold out Home Park could really be a factor in which way the second leg goes.

 

[Gashead]

Why do I get the impression Stanley are suffering from 'missing out on automatics' hangover?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36286147

As I suspected, preparing for the play-offs is much harder for Accy (or Oxford for that matter, if it had been them) than it would have been for us.

 

[Indian Dan]

Wouldn't mind that Carey if Plymouth miss out.

 

[iWomble]

Why do I get the impression Stanley are suffering from 'missing out on automatics' hangover?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36286147

As I suspected, preparing for the play-offs is much harder for Accy (or Oxford for that matter, if it had been them) than it would have been for us.

Strange attitude to take into the semis. Coleman's team also self-combusted in the playoff semis in 2011 I seem to remember. We've got Darius Charles from that Stevenage side and a others with playoff experience so although Stanley should be favourites, I do fancy our chances here.

 

[WAP]

Careys impressed me every time I've seen him but I didn't even realise Jervis was playing last night.

 

[Vanni]

Erm no Mr Coleman, you weren't good enough for the autos. I watched the Stanley -Boro match and you cannot leave it that late to press for a winner. It was only some 10-15 mins from time that they really went for it and yes, they hit the post three times, but it was all a little too late I think.

 

[ambernuts]

Accy are still the best team (by quite a long way in truth) I've seen so I'm inclined to agree with Mr Coleman,

 

[iWomble]

Accy are still the best team (by quite a long way in truth) I've seen so I'm inclined to agree with Mr Coleman,

That may be true in the games you saw, but it doesn't mean they were good enough in all games over the season for automatic promotion otherwise they'd have been promoted instead of the teams that were good enough. We were good enough in a few of our games too. Doesn't seem very motivating to the players to have the attitude that playoffs are beneath them.

 

[cufc17]

I think I've said multiple times on here that I was underwhelmed with Accrington at Brunton Park, and I don't think they were much better at the Wham Stadium (though they maybe had a few key players out injured, I'm not sure). They're obviously up there on merit and have performed consistently throughout the season.

 

[WAP]

Article on our snooze saying no action to be taken over Jamille Matt. What a f*cking load of shit, we've been mugged off royally. That dreadful decision has potentially cost us a trip to Wembley as he wouldn't have been on the pitch to score the second.

 

[Vanni]

Accy are still the best team (by quite a long way in truth) I've seen so I'm inclined to agree with Mr Coleman,

Yes, they were very good at The Abbey, though I heard they didn't exactly pull up any trees at theirs. Still, this is the reason I don't like to rate sides after seeing them play United just once or twice if I go to the away match. If I did this, then I'd have to concede that, for ex, Crawley are stronger than the Cobblers. Which would be silly I think.

And oh, as impressive as they were at ours, it was Derry's second match in charge, and only a few days after he joined us, so things could have been different had we faced them when we were settling down.

 

[ProfessorGreen]

Article on our snooze saying no action to be taken over Jamille Matt. What a f*cking load of shit, we've been mugged off royally. That dreadful decision has potentially cost us a trip to Wembley as he wouldn't have been on the pitch to score the second.

Stop crying man, yes he possibly should have been sent off and not scored our second, however you should also have had a free kick instead of a penalty and not scored your second. Football has a way of making these things even.