On Tuesday I saw something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
Away at Whitehawk, defending a five-match unbeaten run, we conceded a goal and, as the ball was touched the assistant referee’s flag went up. The referee went over and had a chat with him and then decided to let the goal stand.
I can’t ever recall an assistant raising his flag and then the referee overruling him in that way. It turned out to be the winning goal.
From our position in the dugout, I couldn’t see if the flag was correct or not but others have said it was one of the worst decisions they had ever seen.
It was a poor decision that cost us a point, because neither team looked like scoring. It’s not sour grapes, it’s just how it is. The standard of refereeing is poor in the Premier League and it is poor in the Conference.
Before every fixture I’ve ever been involved in, the referee has said ‘If you need to talk to me, I’ll keep a line of communication open’ – then when you try to talk to them they often tell you to go away.
There was also an incident in our game against Eastleigh on Sunday, in which we held the leaders to a 1-1 draw.
Eastleigh took the lead from a free-kick given against Dean Inman, where he seemed to win the ball. It was two lads running together, with a clash of shinpads and a noise, but I think Dean made a fair challenge.
It was poor defending afterwards – the lads were disappointed with the decision but they should have composed themselves and realised there was a job to be done.
I don’t want to focus on bad decisions too much. Referees will make mistakes, they are all human and if we were scoring more goals then perhaps bad decisions wouldn’t be affecting our results so much.
We’ve got to crack on – no-one’s feeling sorry for themselves. Tuesday was the first defeat in six games for us and the lads are playing well.
After Tuesday, the league is tightening up but then it was always going to be tight.
We’ve now got to play our final nine games in 23 days, including matches this Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. It beggars belief how it’s been allowed to get like this.
I really don’t see why the season could not be extended. I know you want to fit in with a timeframe but it’s not helping the teams with small squads and small budgets.
How are we meant to cope with four games in seven days? These are part-time players who are up at 5am or 6am, commuting to work, not finishing until 6pm, then rushing into their cars or boarding a coach for an evening kick-off.
At a full-time club, they would’ve been in on Wednesday doing a proper warm down. As it was, all I could do was send a text out to everyone enquiring about fitness and availability.
I’m not making excuses, it’s just the position we’re in.
We will have to rotate at some stage, whether it’s in Thursday’s game against Basingstoke or Saturday against Dorchester, because players might be out on their feet or we might be risking someone doing a hamstring and missing them for the rest of the season.
Our next two games are back to back ‘home’ games at Woking. It’d be great to have some more fans through the gate.
The regulars make a lot of noise in the Shed and we’re thankful for that but if we can get a few more in it will give us a bit of a lift.
At this stage of the season, managers are often asked which teams are most dangerous – those fighting for things at the top or bottom of the table or those who have little to play for and can just relax.
In truth, the most dangerous team to us is ourselves. We’re quite capable of beating anyone in this league and we’re also capable of losing games. The swing from nine defeats in a row to five unbeaten has shown that.
The question is can we perform the way we know we can to keep the club in Conference South? We’ve got nine games to prove it.
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This post was last modified on 11/04/2014