Coppell happy to replay Watford game

Steve Coppell has agreed to the idea of a replay of the 'Ghost Goal' match on Saturday. He told the official club website:

If the authorities decide a replay is the correct thing to do then I've got no objections whatsoever.

He went on to say that he felt bad for Watford and wants to make amends. This sounds like common sense and I hope it's looked at seriously as an option by the Football League. Whilst I don't think it's fair that we should be criticised for not doing something else in the heat of the moment on Saturday, I do feel this is as fair a solution as is possible now, and as the controversy grows this would put paid to the crazy notion that the Royals are somehow as culpable as the officials for the whole sorry mess.

That Watford 'goal': should we have 'played fair'?

There has been some suggestion that we should have allowed Watford to score after the travesty of the first Reading goal, to even things up and allow the game to carry on in a spirit of fair play. John Ashdown at The Guardian thinks so, and he opines that by not doing this we have somehow contributed to the pervasive atmosphere within football of poor sportsmanship and a disregard for fair play:

Why should football abandon all ideas of fair play and sportsmanship? It's an abdication of responsibility. That opening goal wrecked the game, giving it a strange otherworldly feel. It's not only the officials who should feel embarrassed about it.

I think he's got it wrong here: the simple fact is that unfortunately football abandoned these principles some time ago. Only in rare individual cases is such sportsmanship shown, and almost always when nothing is at stake. Take for example the sending off of Chris Iwelumo at Preston on Saturday, the defender Sean St. Ledger has supported the Wolves striker in his bid to have the red card rescinded, stating the lack of any intention on Iwelumo's part to injure him, and he believed that it was an accidental collision. Such fair play between professionals is nice to see, but it's unlikely that St. Ledger would have protested vigorously for a penalty against him had he committed a blatant foul that had been overlooked by the referee in the last minute of the game with the scores level (erm, if you see what I mean!). I find it amusing that when the ball is returned to the opposition after someone has 'sportingly' put the ball out to allow for treatment to an injured opponent there is a spontaneous round of applause. Of course you should give the ball back, it wouldn't be any other way in almost every other sport! That's because people at football matches are not use to seeing such acts of sportsmanship; players now appear to be hard-wired to indulge in petty acts of gamesmanship, such as delaying and gaining a few yards for free kicks and throw-ins, 'simulation', winding up the opposition and supporters, and so on. It's become second nature.

Now I'm not suggesting that we should just accept things the way they are, but right now that is the way they are, and it requires a seismic shift in attitudes to get to a position where the two captains on Saturday would have had a quick chat and then Watford would have been allowed to trundle up and score. That is what should have happened in an ideal world, but I am not sure we should be criticised for not making that happen.

UFO lands to help Royals salvage a point at Watford

In a game characterised by one of the strangest 'goals' you are ever likely to see, Reading managed to scrape a point at Watford as the indifferent away form continued. The overall performance will inevitably be overshadowed by the incident in the 14th minute which led Hornet's boss Adi Boothroyd to be sent to the stands and later describe it as 'like a UFO landing'. Noel Hunt attempted to hook the ball back into play from about two yards wide of the goal and it appeared to have crossed the dead ball line, everyone on the pitch and in the crowd believed the ref and assistant had decided on a goal kick to Watford. Astonishingly, and two everyone's bemusement, the assistant spoke to the referee and a goal to Reading was awarded. It's almost inconceivable that this could ever be given as a goal, and is worth seeing again just to believe it actually happened. There was some suggestion afterwards that we should have allowed Watford to equalise, such was the injustice of the scoreline, but as Steve Coppell said, it's not for players to right the wrongs of officials.  There's a bit more here to explain further the whole affair.

Anyway, we conceded two in the second half and looked to be heading for another defeat when after good work down the left from Stephen Hunt, Shane Long was clearly brought down in the box. I wonder if the ref was tempted to ignore the incident after realising his earlier mistake, but Hunt Senior sent the keeper the wrong way and we had our first away point since the opening weekend of the season. 

Let's be honest, we would have lost without a bizarre decision that will surely haunt the ref and his assistant for years to come. Once again we're unable to replicate our red hot home form, and with a trip to Molineux the next stop on our travels, it's a concern.