[FT] Rangers 0 - 2 Motherwell

[cooponthewing 1,139]

Yup, plenty of folk in with sand in their eyes this morning.

[StuGers 477]

Cardoso caught Moult with his elbow in the first half. I would say it was accidental but Moult and all Motherwell fans would disagree.

 

How is Moult getting on with his broken nose?

[union 0]

obviously some do not understand the law is now intent not effect,can put the ref down as one of those.

[boabie 230]

I thought we played quite well in the first half. No idea why we lost our rhythm from the kick off after half time.

The referee yet again was a disgrace.

The second goal was offside.

Getting blootered post match probably saved my sanity.

[Big Jaws 570]

I thought we played quite well in the first half. No idea why we lost our rhythm from the kick off after half time.

The referee yet again was a disgrace.

The second goal was offside.

Getting blootered post match probably saved my sanity.

 

No the second goal was fine Tav was lazy and didn't get out quick enough playing Moult onside. Alves was supposed to be the last man.

[Darthter 542]

My thoughts:

 

I thought we were actually the better team on the park...I don't think we played anywhere near as bad a many are making out. The truth is that M/well scored one REALLY scrappy goal, where the ball could have gone anywhere, and a second with a fantastic bit of finishing from Moult - an attempt that more often than not would have missed. Other than that, I only really recall them having one clear chance (cleared off the line). We, on the other hand had a lot of good chances - some very clear cut ones. We also had several spells of VERY heavy pressure in & around their box.

 

Bottom line - They took their chances....we didn't.

 

As for the refereeing....we are better than blaming the refs performance for losing the match, and I for one certainly don't think the refs performance overall caused us to lose. However, his performance was shocking. It's no wonder PC was getting as worked up as he was. Some of the decisions were jaw-droppingly bad - even more so considering there are 4 officials watching the game. I will concede that Morelos does tend to go down far too easy & can therefore sometimes make it difficult for Refs to make a decision, but there were several incidents yesterday that the Ref had a clear view of, and were very clear that the players were NOT putting it on. Playing a physical game is one thing, but some of the challenges recently went way beyond that. I wouldn't go as far as saying the players "need protection", but simply enforcing the rules properly & evenly would take of the worst of the challenges. Fabio Cardoso getting his nose broken by a leading arm/elbow - Anyone expect the compliance officer to apply a retrospective (2nd)yellow or red card for Bowmans challenge??? (I'll not hold my breath). The Moult/Alves incident.....I think was born out of frustration more than anything. There was shots of them moments after, looking relaxed, chatting & shaking hands. They both should have been off the park regarless though.

 

There was still some slack play/passing, but in general I though we moved the ball pretty well. I thought the defence looked more robust (in general), and we did produce some wonderful attacking moves.

 

I don't think PC will be on his way out anytime soon, but I do think a "dossier" of refereeing incidents MUST be presented to the relevant authorities & also widely circulated round the press.

[MacK1950 2,357]

I agree that the referee didn't lose us the match unlike Beaton v Hibs but the standard is so poor and does not do their profession any good.Yesterday he didn't seem to have dark glasses on so can only assume he was wearing dark tinted contacts and blinkers.

The referee thing has been the only constant over our journey especially in the Championship then the Premiership.

[Gonzo79 15,152]

We regularly start the second half badly under PC. It's inexplicable.

[JohnMc 2,708]

But how is it fair if the tactics that they use are illegal by the laws of the game? What is even the point in continuing?

 

Thomson’s tackle was a cruncher yes, but we’re now talking about players getting broken bones and it being deemed acceptable (well when it’s a Rangers player).

 

Centre halves get broken noses StuGers, it's not right but it's always happened and will continue to happen. The ex-Man Utd defender Vidic was in the papers at the weekend and told how he'd had his nose broken half a dozen times. Stephen Caldwell had his nose broken by Duncan Ferguson in a reserve match and they were mates with each other. I'm struggling to think of a centre-half who hasn't had their nose broken, or cheekbone or lost their front teeth at some point.

 

It's not just us either. We might not like to hear that but it's the truth. That Celtic full back had his jaw broken in the Scottish cup final and the player who did it stayed on the park and if the penalty that Hibs got on Saturday had been given to Motherwell yesterday we'd have been rightly furious. Football is a physical sport, sometime too physical, but we can either learn to deal with it or we can get used to losing.

[Rousseau 10,489]

People are rightly furious at the standard of Refereeing, but I don't think we're -- or hope not -- suggesting that it's the reason we lost. We played well, but didn't take our chances.