NL: Dover Athletic v Torquay United 3pm 17/08/19

Rob 
Difficult to see that the footage provides anything conclusive with which to win an appeal. With the pin sharp multiple angles, slow motions and close ups that VAR provides for the Premier League, they can more confidently adjudge whether the official has made a 'clear and obvious' mistake.

If Asa Hall is pinning his hopes on a none too clear image as seen from the other end of the ground, then you're just as well to toss a coin as try to work out if a deliberate or accidental handball has taken place. If the Ref is adamant Hall's actions were deliberate then I can't see there is clear evidence to assert he got the decision wrong.

If the Ref is confused by the new rules and has given the penalty for unintentional handball, then his report should lead to Hall's red being rescinded in any case without the need to appeal. We saw Wolves have a 'goal' disallowed last weekend, and Manchester City have one chalked off this Saturday when 'ball to hand' assisted in a goal being scored. It's unlikely that the Ref at Dover was under a misapprehension that ball to hand in the case of a defender has to be penalised, but it's the only slim hope of a reprieve for Asa I'd imagine.

With the packed fixture list and Asa being no spring (chlorinated) chicken, having a rest and missing one game will do the Captain the world of good. He'll come back all the better for it. 

petef 


I think Pete lays out the current situation very well, and it's up to individual fans whether they consider what appears to be our favoured approach to be a problem or not.

Thinking back to the Ling period, my personal opinion was that the football we saw at Plainmoor was excellent, particularly with Eunan in his pomp,(The second season was far inferior from an entertainment point of view as the season wore on, as the pitch was often either under water, or resembled a turnip patch). But on our travels Lingy bored the opposition fans rigid. We'd shut up shop, keep it tight, and get virtually the whole team behind the ball, with the exception of Rene Howe (tracking back was never likely to be Rene's forte) Plenty of nil-nils or single goal wins away from home if I recall correctly, we could have been modelling our away approach on Arsenal of 1970-71.

I remember one northern based fan who was a regular contributor to another Forum, who was restricted to away games to see us, complaining about the lack of entertainment value. And you'll never please all the fans all the time. Play open attacking highly entertaining football all the time, and fans will boo the team on the occasion the result isn't to their liking. Factor in what a young team we have compared to many of the opponents we'll face, and that it's a noticeable step up in quality from last season, and Pete is right to suggest we might not have the variety of tools in our toolbox to overcome the numerous different challenges we'll face as the season goes on, in order to still come out on top as often as we did last season.

We may be a bit vulnerable to counter-attacking teams, but we create plenty of chances of our own. Goals and entertaining football for sure, and if we can only be more clinical with putting away a higher ratio of those good chances, then we'd still be well capable of outscoring plenty of opponents, even if a fairly unvaried open game continues to be our stock in trade.

Nor does a 'never mind the points just enjoy the entertainment' viewpoint need to be adopted toward this season. As Jon reminded us in the Maidenhead thread, even a 7th place finish gives you a shot at promotion via the play-offs. And given our mostly youthful players, new to a tougher league, to demand or expect much more might not be realistic for this season.

Possible weaknesses but obvious strengths. And a couple of injuries to key players and a whole new assessment will be necessary. From what we've witnessed so far I'd say no conclusive reasons for pessimism, and no justification for booing.