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just thought i would get this off my chest before the F A in there wisdom come up with a result It was not us that postponed the game at days notice Both Tranmere and Gillingham have only won one game at 5 nil and that was against Bolton What ever the outcome someone will be upset i only hope it’s not us RTID
Ipswich, Tranmere and Gillingham all scored 5-0 over Bolton which is unfair. Rochdale also had a 3 goal advantage and Wycombe 2 which all benefits their goal difference.
The chances are the EFL will make us still play the game and we will face the best team Bolton can put out.
Even if Bolton get a 3 point deduction, that will benefit every club in the league, including those that ALREADY benefited from a significant goal difference.
We have drawn the short straw and I don't see that the EFL will address it. We can only hope we still beat Bolton and we score enough points over the season that the goal difference would not adversely impact us.
At the MTO meeting Gavin said that we have commented to the EFL and he expected a response soon. That was a week ago since he said it, so all we can do is wait and see what happens. Personally, I don't think Bolton and Bury should have been allowed to start the season. They have both messed us all up and no-one will be happy. Even teams who have not faced Bolton's children will feel they have lost out. And the table is corrupted by the number of games played.
If my memory serves me correctly, I think Gavin Baldwin said at MTO that he had requested the 3 points for a forfeited match. Also as an alternative, he had suggested that we could play the same youth team that would have been available had the match gone ahead.
This is the second match Bolton have refused to play, but they seem to be getting away with it.
I agree with SilverTop that Ipswich, Tranmere and Gillingham have had an unfair advantage. The EFL is likely to fudge the issue and force our match to be played at a later date.
In all fairness, I don't see how Rovers can NOT be awarded the 3 points, as Bolton took it on themselves to postpone the match without previously informing the league, having already played their previous matches under similar conditions (i.e. playing what was essentially their 'youth' team). They also went on to play their next match the following week, as far as I remember... So what reasonable excuse can they have for not hosting the Rovers fixture ?
Technically Bolton were right to cancel the game, because they EFL rules state that young players should not be expected to play more than once a week. So Sat, Tue, Sat was not possible with the only players they could field.
The issue was that they should have made the decision sooner and notified the EFL and Doncaster via proper channels.
The delay by the EFL is what is annoying most fans. I don't think there is a fair solution, but 3 points to Doncaster and a 5 points goal difference increase is highly unlikely. Life is never that fair (to us).
We all agree what should happen but I think we all agree that it’s not going to happen what the outcome will be is anybody guess RTID