Sheffield Wednesday(away)predictions

[Despair]

Just viewed the Akpan incident (albeit on my small mob screen ).
Well, can't be totally sure on arm or upper chest ball contact , so presuming ref had the same unclear view. He seems to have elected to cancel on a guess, not a fact.
As for the 'assault' as declared by Hackett ! WADR that's a bit of a joke.

My take on it is:
Akpan clearly was annoyed at it being chalked off, which is understandable (given the above).
In his frustration he ran to the ref to remonstrate and realised he was approaching too fast and instinctively put his hands up to midriff in order to try to cushion a unintended 'coming together'. Immediately his hands made contact he made the gesture with hands again 'in apology'.
The ref seems to have unnecessarily stepped/wobbled back intimating that there was force in the coming together, either in reaction to it as a defensive measure, or to elaborate it!
Only he knows the truth.
Given the circumstances, I think a decent ref would have first dispersed all the other players around and then taken him to task explaining his decision, whilst at the same time condemning his reaction, but then either letting it go, or giving him a yellow for dissent.
Of course the modern law states 'no contact' with referee, or it's a red. So in effect it's a easy send off to 'justify'.
Please note: I constantly rail against 'arrogant' modern professionals, but also many poor 'non thinking' refs.
In this instance I would like to think the ref in his report would have the temerity to describe the event as 'unfortunate' as opposed to 'aggressive', as is being bandied about.

[AucklandRover]

Just viewed the Akpan incident (albeit on my small mob screen ).
Well, can't be totally sure on arm or upper chest ball contact , so presuming ref had the same unclear view. He seems to have elected to cancel on a guess, not a fact.
As for the 'assault' as declared by Hackett ! WADR that's a bit of a joke.

My take on it is:
Akpan clearly was annoyed at it being chalked off, which is understandable (given the above).
In his frustration he ran to the ref to remonstrate and realised he was approaching too fast and instinctively put his hands up to midriff in order to try to cushion a unintended 'coming together'. Immediately his hands made contact he made the gesture with hands again 'in apology'.
The ref seems to have unnecessarily stepped/wobbled back intimating that there was force in the coming together, either in reaction to it as a defensive measure, or to elaborate it!
Only he knows the truth.
Given the circumstances, I think a decent ref would have first dispersed all the other players around and then taken him to task explaining his decision, whilst at the same time condemning his reaction, but then either letting it go, or giving him a yellow for dissent.
Of course the modern law states 'no contact' with referee, or it's a red. So in effect it's a easy send off to 'justify'.
Please note: I constantly rail against 'arrogant' modern professionals, but also many poor 'non thinking' refs.
In this instance I would like to think the ref in his report would have the temerity to describe the event as 'unfortunate' as opposed to 'aggressive', as is being bandied about.

Excellent summary, Despair. Just what I thought after watching the highlights.
Emotions are always high in those situations. I wonder if it would be a good idea to brief the captain to intervene as quickly as possible when these moments crop up, in order to keep players out of trouble. After all, how often do referees change their minds?

[AucklandRover]

Have you seen the goals which didn't stand aucks?
I can understand the emnes goal as it was so fast its hard to make the decision but akpans goal to disallow that is ridiculous
nowhere near a handball and to make the decision yourself without consulting the linesman is just unbelievable
then to thrust salt into the open cut let's send the player in question off which by the way is the correct decision but what about the fact you didn't send the Wednesday player off for a dangerous tackle on Gallagher?
The ref got it so wrong and its cost us dear.

Robin - as Despair said, the hand-ball decision is simply a guess. He can't possibly have had a clear view.
As for the goal-line incident, the least referees should do in those situations is to consult the assistant more carefully.
Without goal-line technology, however, the judgement is very difficult unless the official is right in line - as from a corner.
As you say, these were very expensive errors for Rovers - especially if we get relegated by one point!
The Man. Utd. game can only be seen as light relief. At least I'll be able to watch a whole match.

[Despair]

Hate to say this Aucks, but I'm struggling to think of a more 'innocuous' match .
That's not being negative or critical, but for me it matters not a jot what happens in that game (in the grand scheme of things). It will neither prove or solve anything.