Posting a day early because the FA Cup fourth round gets underway on Thursday. Short fixture list over the past week but still some interesting stuff.
Magic Moving Vanishing Spray
Probably couldn't have gotten long odds on Brentford's Ivan Toney scoring upon his return after the eight month suspension for illegal betting. The circumstances of the goal are another matter all together. Nottingham Forest were called for a foul just outside their penalty area. Darren England dutifully marked the spot with a semi-circle of vanishing spray and headed off to supervise construction of the wall. Once given the go ahead, Toney carefully curled the free kick just inside the near post for a goal.
This recounting of the incident leaves out two key details. Once England turned his back to work on the wall, Toney first moved the ball a few inches to his right. Apparently not satisfied with the advantage the first move gave him, Toney picked up a section of the foam and moved it about a yard farther to the right, then placed the ball next to the relocated section of foam. You can see how Toney improved his odds here - this week's YouTubeableMoment. However, these actions weren't immediately known to the viewer, and maybe others as well.
Initially, the focus was on keeper Matt Turner for poor placement of the wall. Indeed, on first replay it looks the wall is easily too far to the right, leaving the near post exposed. Only later when we see how much Toney moved the ball do we realize there was much more to it. We wonder how Turner or any Forest player failed to a)notice the relocation and b)notify the referee. We'll give England a pass as his back was to the activity. But what about the Assistant Referee? Or why was VAR not involved? That neither intervened has led to the impression that Toney's activities were okay. I think it more likely that neither party noticed the action. Or, maybe VAR saw but had no idea what the proper response was; I'd argue that if he saw it, the VAR has an obligation to notify the referee.
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| Toney scoops the foam before moving the ball Photo: (Nick Potts/PA)/(PA Wire) |
Toney for his part insists that his actions were totally legal, citing some non-existent language in the laws that allows him "to move the ball a yard either way." I have no idea WTF he is referring to. There is nothing in the laws about leeway in positioning the ball. (For future reference, there is also no leeway in the location of a throw-in - it is to be taken from the spot where the ball left the field of play. The occasional lenience of referees on that point is in no way based on any plus or minus distance outlined in the rules but on the basis that usually it doesn't matter.) Also, if it was "totally legal," why does it appear that he instructed some of his teammates to distract the referee?
I'm in the "that is a violation" camp, a cautionable offense at that. Unsporting behavior includes "making unauthorised marks on the field of play." The whole point of marking the spot with foam is so that the referee doesn't have to keep a constant eye on the ball to know that the kick is being taken from the correct spot. This is a deliberate attempt to deceive the referee. While it is too late for sanctions on this particular incident, I very much hope we soon get guidance from the FA and/or the PGMOL about the correct procedure here. As of publication of this post, I have not seen anything.
Some have argued that Forest's complaint to PGMOL is "pointless." And, to the extent that some of blame is clearly on the Forest defenders and some of the credit has to go to Toney for a well-taken free kick, they are right. But we certainly need some response from PGMOL about the proper procedures before it happens again.
Wait, in an newer post, we hear that the PGMOL honcho Howard Webb has reportedly said there was nothing VAR could do on that play because it "can only be used to rule on errors relating to goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity." Excuse me, but there was a goal scored on the play. How is this not exactly like a foul in the build-up to a goal?
In Other Action
Well, Arsenal - Crystal Palace (5-0) and Bournemouth - Liverpool (0-4) were a bust and the snooze fest of a 0-0 draw between Brighton and Wolves was a disappointment. At least Sheffield United - West Ham had its moments. Down a man and a goal into stoppage time, Sheffield United looked to be dead in the water. Then, Coufal picked up his second yellow card (both in stoppage time by the way) so things were still exciting. West Ham keeper Areola committed a foul in the box a minute later to set up a PK for Sheffield. Dennis and I tend to think keepers get too much of the benefit on the doubt on calls in the box but even we're not convinced this was correct call. See for yourself here. It's a long clip because Areola had to be replaced Fabianski and it was a full five minutes before the kick was taken. McBurnie converted it and Sheffield grabbed a welcome point.
Hard To Caraboa It
Chelsea made short work of Middlesbrough's 1-0 lead, cruising to 6-1 win in the second leg for a 6-2 aggregate win. Not much to see here. Dennis said it well:
VAR has reviewed the ruling on the couch and the decision of nap has been confirmed.
Fulham - Liverpool was a better watch. One wonders what might have happened if Fulham had showed up a little earlier. Liverpool added to the 1-0 lead they carried into the second leg but not much else happened in the first half. Fulham got more serious in the second half and closed the deficit with a goal in the 76th minute. An equalizer was not in the cards so we are looking at a Chelsea - Liverpool final.
Chaos-on-Tyne
Newcastle's struggles on the pitch and financial strains off the field have led to a chaotic January transfer window, with names of potential departures and arrivals flying all over the place. So far the only actual transaction is the departure of Javier Manquillo, who hasn't seen much action this year anyway. But we've heard tell that Trippier, Wilson, Almiron and Guimaraes could be headed elsewhere. The idea is that they can't make any big moves without generating some cash by selling current players. Right now the most likely of those looks to be Almiron leaving for Saudi Arabia. We would not be happy with any of those losses. But more than anything, I would be annoyed at any move that sacrificed future success for a better finish this year. This season is gone. The Magpies could have fallen out of the top half of the table over the weekend but were spared by the Wolves 0-0 draw with Brighton. I think ownership is on the same page based on their rejection of the Kalvin Phillips loan as too expensive. I am hopeful they don't do something dumb in the closing days of the transfer window.
FA Cup Weekend and Mid-week Matchweek 22
The 16 fourth round matches are conveniently (or maybe not) spread out over five days from Thursday to Monday for our viewing pleasure. The field includes 15 Premier League sides, 14 Championship sides, two League Two teams and one National League South (6th tier) squad. In other words, not a lot of minnows left. And I won't say every fixture is mouth watering.
Things kick off Thursday at 2:45 with Bournemouth hosting Swansea. On Friday, the schedule makers have done us absolutely no favors by putting the two most interesting fixtures of the round against each other. Chelsea - Aston Villa start at 2:45 while Spurs - Man City kick off just 15 minutes later. Seriously? You had five days to work with and these two end up in the same time slot.
Saturday is a bit crowded but I can see getting up at 7:30 to see Ipswich Town and Maidstone United (the sixth tier side). There are four 10 am matches - Leicester City vs Birmingham might be the best of that lot. The day concludes with Newcastle on the road at Craven Cottage to face Fulham. We are not expecting an easy time there.
If you really like derbys, then you might be willing to get up at 6:45 Sunday morning to catch West Brom - Wolves.
Providing some evidence that maybe they do understand their audience, the schedulemakers did give Wrexham a time slot all to themselves. The Dragons will take on Blackburn Rovers at 2:45 on Monday.
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| Probably won't be wild celebrations like this in the Aston Villa - Newcastle rematch (Getty Images) |
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