WestKentRam

Ah. Thank you 

The FA statement says Wildsmith was sent off on 2nd Sept for 'denying Bolton Wanderers a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by handling the ball' and they upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal by Derby and removed his one match ban.
The word handball is used in the statement, but not tackle.
What they haven't said was whether they overturned it as it was not a handball, or whether they still think it was a handball but not a goal scoring opportunity.
I imagine they didn't want to criticise the ref directly and publicly in the statement, so have made it deliberately ambiguous rather than saying he saw a handball when there was none.
 

The FA statement says Wildsmith was sent off on 2nd Sept for 'denying Bolton Wanderers a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by handling the ball' and they upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal by Derby and removed his one match ban.
The word handball is used in the statement, but not tackle.
What they haven't said was whether they overturned it as it was not a handball, or whether they still think it was a handball but not a goal scoring opportunity.
I imagine they didn't want to criticise the ref directly and publicly in the statement, so have made it deliberately ambiguous rather than saying he saw a handball when there was none.
 

The FA statement says Wildsmith was sent off on 2nd Sept for 'denying Bolton Wanderers a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by handling the ball' and they upheld a claim of wrongful dismissal by Derby and removed his one match ban.
The word handball is used in the statement, but not tackle.
What they haven't said was whether they overturned it as it was not a handball, or whether they still think it was a handball but not a goal scoring opportunity.
I imagine they didn't want to criticise the ref directly and publicly in the statement, so have made it deliberately ambiguous rather than saying he saw a handball when there was none.
 

My shirt will no longer be mildly creased. It was a comfortable fit when I bought it, but ……………….

“We calculate that only 1 every 64 crosses is directly translated into a goal. Is it worth trying? We conclude it is not.”
That’s us f#cked. 🤔

How many games have you seen where the team playing the better football have lost?
We all want to see great entertaining football,  but at the end of the day, it's all about getting the ball in the net and stopping the other team from doing the same.
We Scored the first goal and should have had a penalty before that even though Bolton were playing better than us, and without the refs dodgy decisions we could well have gone on to get 3 points.

The reason I keep the spreadsheet is for my own amusement.  And yes, probably foolishly, I tell people about it, such as Derby and non-Derby supporting friends and on this forum, in situations such as post the Bolton game, and can take and possibly enjoy the ridicule that sometimes ensues.
I would love to see a massive analysis of the whole season with a table after independently verified decisions (however that would be achieved) have been included, but I'm certainly in no position to do this! 
I accept that of course I am biased, and a Derby supporter keeping a list of key decisions that go for and against us each game, as they see it, carries no statistical weight. Still, at the end of the season when we have missed a vital league place by one point, I can look back and feel comfortable in my mind that maybe there were reasons for this other than those caused by the owner, manager, coaching staff, players, fans, EFL, the burden of history, or some other random factor that snatched certain glory from us.
The good thing about watching football is there is absolutely no requirement to be rational about it, or there to be only one view that must be taken on any subject.
'The EFL is out to get us'... Without opening that can of worms, it could be argued that the EFL were out to get us. Referees are employed indirectly by the EFL via the PGMOL, so it's not inconceivable that they may have unconscious bias in the decisions they make in order to keep the EFL happy, given the reviews of their performance and allocation of games that occur.
I am certainly not saying referees have made their mind up before a game to give certain decisions a certain way, but they are prone to bias as we all are, for a multitude of reasons. Home team bias has been documented in the giving of cards, calling of fouls and penalty decisions, and the addition of time at the end of a match.
Referees vary between themselves in the degree of home team bias, so perhaps not a complete surprise that we got key decisions given against us by the same referee when we played away at Plymouth last season and Bolton last weekend. Maybe he is more prone to home team bias, that is known to vary between referees, than other refs? Who knows? I've nothing against him and certainly wouldn't do his job. Doesn't stop me scratching my chin and wondering why decisions appeared to go against us on Saturday though.
Referees also analyse clubs and players in the lead up to a match. Perhaps not the best idea if they want to exclude bias.
Another form of bias that could be relevant to Derby is detailed in this article https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/mar/21/inside-world-premier-league-football-referees-pgmol-howard-webb-andre-marriner-darren-england
The ref admitted in the interview that he was so concerned about not being influenced by the home team in a CL match that he almost consciously gave decisions the other way, to the detriment of the team that he said should have had at least one penalty of the four good penalty shouts. Perhaps with Derby refs are trying too hard to seem that they aren't influenced by the bigger club, that they end up being influenced against us.
Yes, the red card stat is a small sample and time period, but all I can say is it could be given as some evidence that key game changing decisions have gone against us on the field in the recent past, as we've had two red cards overturned in the last year, but no club has done the same while playing against us for many years, as far as I am aware. Ok, Bradley Johnson stayed on the field in 2018 after the 'bite' incident in the game v Stoke, that we lost anyway. However a four game ban after this perhaps evened it out, but it does show that of course key decisions can be missed in our short term favour during a game, albeit 5 years ago! I'm sure there must be other examples like this...
 
 
 

No, never noticed this. You'll have to give me time as I've only been supporting Derby since the glory days of the 1970s, but I'm sure we'll get a decision going our way sooner or later.
In my 20/21 spreadsheet I had recorded that we gained 2 points on 16/2/21 as the ref incorrectly ruled out a goal for Wycombe for offside when it wasn't. We still were down 8-9 points by the end of the season though with other decisions that went against us.
We've had two red cards overturned on appeal in the last year. Wildsmith this week, and Cashin in Nov 22. My memory for games is horrendous, but I can't recall other clubs having had successful red card appeals in games involving us recently. Palace had an unsuccessful appeal for a red given to Milivojevic when they lost against us in the FA Cup in Jan 20.
 

As per other threads, I did this for the 20/21 season after getting the feeling prior to this, despite the cliche, it doesn't even itself out at the end of the season for us. I had us down 8-9 points for the 20/21 season overall. Of course it is open to my bias, but I only included game changing decisions and tried to link to media reports.
The other thing that has been pointed out to me, to be more accurate then I'd need to do this for all other clubs in the league as well to get an overall view of the alternative table at the end of the season. However, I've only a certain amount of time to devote/waste on this!
After the 20/21 season it became a bit depressing and I didn't keep a full record of critical decisions for and against us, but after last season when we had plenty against us I thought I'd do it again for this year.
I agree, the Bolton game is the only one so far this season that has had the outcome potentially affected, and it has gone in the first row in my spreadsheet for 23/24...

The problem is that football is a low scoring game of fine margins. We would need to win each game by 2 or 3 clear goals to allow for decisions to potentially go against us and to be able to overcome this.

Hmmm... interesting...
I'm not quite sad enough to analyse every game in the league in this way, but I agree it would give a more accurate picture of the overall standings if such contentious decisions could be included for all clubs.
The reason for doing it, apart from giving me something to rant about, is that the maxim that it all evens itself out by the end of the season appears to be nonsense if you support Derby and it does my head in when this is trotted out.
The last time I did it for a full season was 20/21 when we were 8-9 points worse off due to decisions such as we had against Bolton. After that, it just became a bit depressing, but after last season when the same feeling occurred, I thought I'd do it for a complete season once again now.
It's just a bit of fun as I was intrigued by Brentford having their Table of Justice, that I recall was one of the reasons Thomas Frank wasn't sacked after his initial terrible run when he started managing them, as their stats indicated they should be higher up the table than they actually were.

Hmmm... interesting...
I'm not quite sad enough to analyse every game in the league in this way, but I agree it would give a more accurate picture of the overall standings if such contentious decisions could be included for all clubs.
The reason for doing it, apart from giving me something to rant about, is that the maxim that it all evens itself out by the end of the season appears to be nonsense if you support Derby and it does my head in when this is trotted out.
The last time I did it for a full season was 20/21 when we were 8-9 points worse off due to decisions such as we had against Bolton. After that, it just became a bit depressing, but after last season when the same feeling occurred, I thought I'd do it for a complete season once again now.
It's just a bit of fun as I was intrigued by Brentford having their Table of Justice, that I recall was one of the reasons Thomas Frank wasn't sacked after his initial terrible run when he started managing them, as their stats indicated they should be higher up the table than they actually were.

Forum swear filter needs suspending so we can comment properly on decisions like this. 🤬

Interesting they have left it ambiguous.
So was it a handball or not? If not, then the ref and assistant obviously guessed or it was an optical illusion that the ball hit his hand that only video could clarify.
Or did the commission still think it was a handball, but not a goal scoring opportunity?
This sort of thing does cost teams promotion, as every season automatic or play off places are won or lost on margins of less than three points.
The game has gone on my Spreadsheet of Injustice to see how it 'evens itself out over the course of the season', that for us, strangely, never seems to be the case 🤬

Good to see Peterborough are now trying to do something about the state of the stadium.
The job advert says 'any cleaning or general maintenance experience would be beneficial' 😅
Just need to recruit some refreshment sellers and they may have the basics covered @angieram?

 

We arrived at the ground Main Stand in 22 degrees, full sunshine and NO refreshments open. Were told they would open at 2.55, an hour later.
I played merry hell with the stewards (who, to be fair  were just following instructions). There was a young lad at the front of the stand feeling faint, but no drinking water available. 
Anyway, I demanded they sorted it out immediately, told them it was illegal and I was reporting it to the papers. 
After about 20 minutes of harassing them they finally opened up. 
A ridiculous state of affairs and the sooner football starts treating away fans as paying customers, we might start behaving like them! 
 

Very enjoyable day out. When we went 1 nil down early doors I thought it was going to be a long afternoon. Should never have doubted the lads.
Peterborough's stadium sadly wins the award for the worst stadium I have been to. Cobwebs and bird poo on the antiquated seats. Matched by the poor human toilet and 'hospitality' facilities, and general feel and appearance of the place. Is no surprise that the stadium owners are in receivership and it has the air of no money being spent on it and not looked after. Makes me very grateful for what we have at Pride Park.

Very enjoyable day out. When we went 1 nil down early doors I thought it was going to be a long afternoon. Should never have doubted the lads.
Peterborough's stadium sadly wins the award for the worst stadium I have been to. Cobwebs and bird poo on the antiquated seats. Matched by the poor human toilet and 'hospitality' facilities, and general feel and appearance of the place. Is no surprise that the stadium owners are in receivership and it has the air of no money being spent on it and not looked after. Makes me very grateful for what we have at Pride Park.

Can you play The Last Post? 

Got to the game hugely early as per and milled around the player entrance to people watch a bit.
Was chatting with a Burton fan who hadn't managed to secure a ticket due to a bit of a hard luck story. While we were talking the Burton manager came out and personally game him a complimentary ticket so he could see the game. A very nice touch and have now developed a soft spot for the Brewers. Must toughen up.

Got to the game hugely early as per and milled around the player entrance to people watch a bit.
Was chatting with a Burton fan who hadn't managed to secure a ticket due to a bit of a hard luck story. While we were talking the Burton manager came out and personally game him a complimentary ticket so he could see the game. A very nice touch and have now developed a soft spot for the Brewers. Must toughen up.

Got to the game hugely early as per and milled around the player entrance to people watch a bit.
Was chatting with a Burton fan who hadn't managed to secure a ticket due to a bit of a hard luck story. While we were talking the Burton manager came out and personally game him a complimentary ticket so he could see the game. A very nice touch and have now developed a soft spot for the Brewers. Must toughen up.

Got to the game hugely early as per and milled around the player entrance to people watch a bit.
Was chatting with a Burton fan who hadn't managed to secure a ticket due to a bit of a hard luck story. While we were talking the Burton manager came out and personally game him a complimentary ticket so he could see the game. A very nice touch and have now developed a soft spot for the Brewers. Must toughen up.

Got to the game hugely early as per and milled around the player entrance to people watch a bit.
Was chatting with a Burton fan who hadn't managed to secure a ticket due to a bit of a hard luck story. While we were talking the Burton manager came out and personally game him a complimentary ticket so he could see the game. A very nice touch and have now developed a soft spot for the Brewers. Must toughen up.