Slough Postponement

Firstly, thoughts and prayers with the supporter who collapsed at the game today. I hope they are ok and make a recovery.

I understand from talk in the stands that we refused to take to the pitch, rather than the referee deciding to postpone the game. If this is true then I hope we get the book Thrown at us, to use the ill health of a supporter to try and get us out of jail is immoral. I really hope I’m wrong - has anyone been told similar?

I don't know any facts because I was not there. . . just listening to the commentary on BCIR. Just because our team refused to play on does not mean that they did it out of any selfish reasons . . . . in order to force a replay etc. They might just have done it out of respect for the fan that had collapsed or out of respect for Slough fans. It would have been very hard for the players to play on after such a thing happening. As someone put in the comments on BCIR even if we just have to give Slough the points, so be it. There are more important considerations when such a thing happens . . . . like having respect for fellow human beings.

Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with the fan who was taken ill and his family and friends.

A_discreet_Roman wrote:Firstly, thoughts and prayers with the supporter who collapsed at the game today. I hope they are ok and make a recovery.

I understand from talk in the stands that we refused to take to the pitch, rather than the referee deciding to postpone the game. If this is true then I hope we get the book Thrown at us, to use the ill health of a supporter to try and get us out of jail is immoral. I really hope I’m wrong - has anyone been told similar?

You should not listen to chatter from people who cannot possibly know the facts.
This looks like trolling to me.

A_discreet_Roman wrote:Firstly, thoughts and prayers with the supporter who collapsed at the game today. I hope they are ok and make a recovery.

I understand from talk in the stands that we refused to take to the pitch, rather than the referee deciding to postpone the game. If this is true then I hope we get the book Thrown at us, to use the ill health of a supporter to try and get us out of jail is immoral. I really hope I’m wrong - has anyone been told similar?

Only a referee can abandon a match, Tom.

It would appear that the Slough manager is suggesting something along the lines of the rumours.

Obviously great news that the supporter is fine, and that’s the main thing.

The elephant in the room with the Slough fans and others demanding that they be awarded the game is that I don’t actually think we’d have lost if it had gone to the end, 4-4 wasn’t out of the question with how the second half was going.

I find it hard to believe that we would try to manufacture an abandonment like Slough seem to be claiming, Jerry’s interview on YouTube certainly paints a different picture.

All seems very bitter and acidic from anyone connected to Slough. I guess the referees report will decide the outcome and future of the any rearranged fixture. However if JG has pulled a fast one then it does not sit well with me one bit.

The difference between our club and Slough is that most of our players and management have been through the Alex Fletcher incident. It must have been quite troubling for all.
But if the fan was OK before the ref took the players off why wasn't this communicated to the ref.

To lean on the Alex Fletcher tragedy as a reason is clutching at straws IMO. Scott Davies hasn’t hidden in his interview, been very direct that Jerry has used the situation to save today’s debacle. Is getting dogs abuse on social media too from supporters and players.

Horrible mess.

It does seem a recent change in the football environment that games are impacted by off-field medical emergencies. I am of  an age that remembers when a similar event would only have resulted in a tannoy request asking if there was a first aider in the ground or could Ted Dransfield take his water bucket and magic sponge to the Poplar side.

Anyway it is good to know that whoever was the casualty seems to be ok.

A_discreet_Roman wrote:To lean on the Alex Fletcher tragedy as a reason is clutching at straws IMO. Scott Davies hasn’t hidden in his interview, been very direct that Jerry has used the situation to save today’s debacle.  Is getting dogs abuse on social media too from supporters and players.

Horrible mess.

A team winning 4-2 up with disruption to the momentum of the team on the comeback are bound to take the view once the spectator was OK. That morale high ground in Slough had better be big enough for all those wanting to get on it. Betjeman had a point.

The walk from Slough centre to the ground was interesting. Not sure what Betjeman would have made of the Polish supermarket that was staffed by Sikhs!

A_discreet_Roman wrote:To lean on the Alex Fletcher tragedy as a reason is clutching at straws IMO.

Well it's not mine which is why I said it. And I know a lot of supporters felt sick when it happened.

BenE wrote:But if the fan was OK before the ref took the players off why wasn't this communicated to the ref.

I think there has been some misunderstanding. The players left the field almost immediately after the game was stopped and before the physios got to the incident. 
I guess the League will look into what happened with the ref’s report holding sway. I don’t think there’s a moral high ground being taken and I know what we’d have thought if say Braintree had done the same as us today…

comrade powell wrote:

BenE wrote:But if the fan was OK before the ref took the players off why wasn't this communicated to the ref.

I think there has been some misunderstanding.

Yes I misread the Slough statement.
As you say the refs report will clear it up. The team in the winning position will never be happy.

From where I was sat, whilst the players were off the field and the referee was stood at the entrance to the players tunnel, I could see that Jerry Gill was the one having the most conversation with the referee. I think that Jerry's interview on YouTube makes it obvious that Jerry was influential in persuading the referee to call the game off.
There may have been reasonable points that were made, such as, given that the ambulance had still not arrived, medical personnel were still needed to attend to the guy who had collapsed, and were thus not available to attend to any players if an injury had occurred when the match resumed. So, perhaps, it was Jerry using a bit of experience to be persuasive.
Whilst the guy did not seem in any great distress, though still obviously unwell, when he was wheeled round to the players tunnel, that is perhaps testament to the work done by the medical staff (notably including Lee Williams) that had attended him, there was certainly great urgency when the incident first occurred, staff were sprinting round, taking relevant medical equipment, including, what I assume was a defibrillator. We did also see an ambulance coming away from the ground with its lights going about fifteen minutes after the game was abandoned (so, forty minutes after the game had stopped).
Incidentally, the guy was clearly well known to those sat near me, so, I assume that he is a regular Slough supporter, possibly known to some of the staff attending him.
Not sure why Martin says the players were taken off immediately, it was six or seven minutes after the game stopped that the players were taken off, although it was still another twenty minutes after the players had been taken off that the game was actually abandoned.
As for the game situation, at the time of the stoppage, Slough were definitely looking rattled, there was just a possibility that City could go on to get back level had the game not been stopped. For example, Slough's keeper had been booked for kicking the ball away, but was still intent on running down the clock, and they seemed to be far more disjoint than they had been first half. However, had the game resumed after the interruption, I imagine that the pause would have allowed Slough to regain their composure, adjust to City's change of strategy, and, with City's momentum halted, would have, most probably, gone on to see out the game.
So, I think it was absolutely right that the game was stopped when the guy collapsed, and remained paused until he had recovered sufficiently to be moved. However, I think that Jerry may have used his experience to have persuaded the referee that he needed to abandon the game, whether rightly or wrongly, and that will give the impression, again rightly or wrongly, that the match situation has influenced that.
Finally, it was notable that once the game had been abandoned, the Slough players came back out to acknowledge their fans, but there was absolutely no sign of the City players doing the same. Not sure what that says about the atmosphere in the two changing rooms.

An excellent summary Alan. You certainly had a better view than mine on the opposite side of the pitch. While I remember both sets of players going over to the touch line as with a drinks break in August, I’m surprised if it was as long as you suggest before they returned to the changing rooms but that’s neither here nor there. Also I think our players and staff did return to the pitch after the abandonment as it gave some locals the opportunity to shout abuse at Jerry Gill. 
I don’t think the episode has reflected well on our Club but obviously the main thing is that the emergency had a happy ending and there was no repeat of some distressing events at matches in recent years.

Are there 2 scenarios here:

1. Ref wants to play, City say no, match abandoned, likely sanction incoming, result stands or game conceded; or
2. Ref wants to play, but wants both sides to agree for some reason, City say no, match abandoned, no sanction, replay.

As has been said, the refs report will be the decider.

City first half defending was awful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlN0rvlrkPk&t=51s - "Big House" did well to keep the score at only four down.

Why all the complaints about Jerry possibly influencing the referee?
The referee made the decision in the end, and post Braintree all the comments were about us needing to be better at the dark arts.

end of the day it would have finished 4 4 or 4 5 to us. the slough manager needs too winde his neck in. if one of my mates fell on his head i'd be disgusted if the game carried on.

surely the ref had the balls to make his own decision about calling it off. we'd have drew 4 4 so i cant see us influencing the ref and if we did the ref should have stood his ground.

What rigmarole. Doesn't matter but I think I know who discreet roman is. He's a massive instigator. Quite like trying to figure out who people are on here.