Fan Letters: "Trying to clear up the mystery of Pride Park!"

01/28/2025 01:00 AM

RR reader James has a theory as to why Wilson Isidor's goal was disallowed, and there are also thoughts on Saturday's draw with Plymouth. Got something to say? Email us: RokerReport@yahoo.co.uk

Dear Roker Report,

I have a friend who's a referee, which means he gets access to more insight and reports than the great unwashed generally do.

According to the official report, the goal was disallowed by the linesman on the other side of the field and not the fourth official — the fourth official isn't allowed to get involved in on-field decisions.

If you watch one of the wide camera replays, after Wilson Isidor scores, you can actually see the other linesman talking with his hand to his earpiece, which does suggest that he's communicating with the referee, so it could well be that the decision has actually been taken by the on-field team.

However, it begs the question as to whether the linesmen in the other half of the field is in a position to call a player offside, as he wouldn't have had a good view of the positions of the key players.

Whilst it's not the conspiracy theory many have been mooting, it does suggest an element of incompetence or unprofessionalism, as I've never known the opposite linesman to adjudicate on a play that does not technically fall into his remit.

Just thought I'd let you know — it's the old adage about 'the banality of evil', unfortunately.

James R

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, James. Thank you for your letter and for the information you've provided about 'the goal that never was' against Derby.

Ordinarily, I'd say that I hope such an incident doesn't happen again, but as we've seen time and time again with EFL officials, their capacity for rank ineptitude can't be downplayed and I fully expect more howlers to occur between now and the end of the season.

Let's hope they're not too costly.

Dear Roker Report,

Still fourth. Still one win off the automatic promotion points. Still unbeaten at home in the league. Still thirteen points above the playoff threshold and still playing lovely football at times.

Yes, Anthony Patterson had an off day.

Yes, we should be beating teams like Plymouth. Yes, Régis Le Bris got it wrong by starting and maintaining a defensive formation. Yes, we can bounce back at Middlesbrough and yes, there'll be matchups (like last night's game between Leeds and Burnley) where both teams can't win.

Yes, we can go up. In Reggie we trust — Keep the faith.

Kev Ramsay

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Kev. Thank you for getting in touch.

I fully agree that even taking into account Saturday's stumble against Plymouth, the picture remains extremely positive and we're in a good position to continue to challenge for the top two.

Saturday proved once again that in this most unusually open of Championship campaigns, any side can take points off any other side on any given day — even though some of the issues we encountered that ultimately led to the draw were self-inflicted.

Middlesbrough will be a tricky game but we certainly have the ability to go to the Riverside and win, and for me, we need to target three points next week if we're to keep up the pressure on the teams around us.

Dear Roker Report,

I think after Saturday, Régis Le Bris has got to hold his hands up and accept he got things totally wrong from start to finish, team selection and subs.

Let's hope lessons learnt and move forward.

John Burnhope

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, John. Thank you for your letter.

Of the many things that didn't go to plan on Saturday, the selection of Salis Abdul Samed in midfield was the real puzzler for me and when the game was finished, it was safe to say that his inclusion hadn't worked as we all hoped.

He's clearly a talented player with the capacity to carry out a defensive midfield role effectively, but this wasn't the game in which to start him. I also felt that Enzo Le Fée being deployed on the wing was a mistake, and that the late-game substitutes from Le Bris were overly negative.

As you say, let's hope he's learned something from a difficult afternoon and that it serves as a useful exercise for the games to come.

Dear Roker Report,

On entering the Stadium of Light on Saturday, like many fans, I was expecting three points but also had reservations.

On hearing the team, I was surprised at some selections but felt we had enough to beat Plymouth.

Half time came and we could all see that we needed to change it. Patrick Roberts has had a good season but recently he's flattered to deceive, and failed to deliver.

With both Chris Rigg and Eliezer Mayenda on the bench, two subs at half time, with younger legs to get at them should've been order of the day, but instead it took us to go a goal down to kickstart our game.

We were chasing a game again but we're good at that, yet when we get in front the basics went out the window and fair play to Plymouth as they deserved a point, however frustrating the time of the last goal was.

Middlesbrough up next, who are in the playoff picture, but it's a very winnable game and it could be a dress rehearsal for the playoffs, so it would be nice to do the double over them.

Mark

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Mark. Thank you for you getting in touch.

I have to admit that even before the game kicked off on Saturday, I felt that the atmosphere inside the stadium was extremely edgy, with tension in the air on the concourses and a feeling of unease in the stands.

Personally, I fully expected it to be lively and positive, given how our league campaign has gone so far, so that came as a bit of a surprise.

As to the game itself, we simply didn't play with enough conviction.

The performance was too scrappy and it felt as though there was something of a mental block — which can sometimes happen when you play a team that you're expected to dispatch fairly comfortably.

Two smart goals got us into a winning position, but more slack defending was our downfall and it really needs to be looked at and addressed, because our margin for error in the promotion race was reduced as a result of the 2-2 draw.

Dear Roker Report,

I hope you're all well.

I've decided to write this letter due to comments attributed to Régis Le Bris after the Plymouth game, which basically put the blame for the debacle on the players.

From my perspective, Le Bris to blame, and here's why...

We were playing well with a lot of possession from the off, but Wilson Isidor was struggling up front on his own against four or five defenders.

I personally wanted the introduction of Eliezer Mayenda from about fifteen minutes and I definitely thought that it would happen at half time, but it eventually happened after Plymouth scored their first goal.

We then went 2-1 up, Isidor was taken off and we reverted back to the '4-5-1', as I call it.

I'm in my sixties and this 4-2-3-1 is a joke, as you have four defenders, five midfielders and one striker, hence 4-5-1.

I'd like to see us play an attacking 4-4-2 as neither of the two aforementioned strikers are lone strikers in my opinion, and they play better as a pair.

Just my opinion on the current state of the club we all love.

I'm sure that a lot of people would disagree with me and that's fine as we're all entitled to our own opinions, and I'd be interested in how others see our current situation.

John Kennedy

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, John. Thank you for your letter.

Personally, I thought we'd struck gold with the use of a 4-4-2 system and I was very surprised that we didn't stick with it for Saturday's game.

OK, it might not be the trendiest formation in football and to a point, it might've been forced on us due to injuries, but as you say, Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda were thriving as part of that system and were working extremely effectively together.

There's definitely something there that's worth persisting with, in my opinion.