Following today’s goalless draw at Notts County, here are some views on the game from the Magpies’ manager Kevin Nolan and a selection of their fans.
“I just thought the whole team of them (officials) were really, really poor,” Nolan told the Nottingham Post, having been sent to the stands by referee Ben Toner.
“If he gives a penalty and we go 1-0 up, that gets the crowd going,” he said.
“It’s a different game and Wycombe have to change their game-plan. It makes the game a lot better.”
“For him to send me off for debating it was laughable and I told him that. It’s the first time I’ve ever been sent to the stands as a manager.”
“It was laughable, he sent me off for waving my arms.”
“When the penalty wasn’t given, all I heard the fourth official say was that ‘he has to go the stands.”
“I think he was looking for a bit of a name for himself because he sent Kevin Nolan to the stands.That’s how I’ve seen it because he was very arrogant all day,” said the County boss.
On the match itself, Nolan told his club’s official website: “We certainly got a response from last weekend.”
“We had the better chances but Wycombe came with a game plan which worked really well.”
“We could have put them under a bit more pressure. I thought we could have done a lot more in possession, and in the final third.”
“We’re disappointed but this point could go a long way come the end of the season.”
“Wycombe are the best team away from home in the league for a reason and you saw that today. They don’t give you an inch,” he said.
The County fans also concentrated on the ‘penalties’ they felt they deserved.
The following extracts are taken from Notts County Mad, One Football Forum, and the Nottingham Post.
The_Viking_Magpie wrote:
“Wow! simply wow! Anti Football 0 Anti Football 0. Referee awful for both sides, lost it from the off, no wonder both sides tried to con him throughout when they weren’t fouling. Big lad should have won it for Wycombe with two great chances near the end, Notts should have had a penalty.”
Optipez wrote:
“Very scrappy match, overall a better point for Wycombe than for us. We should have had a penalty and Shola missed a very good chance. Nolan needs to get a grip on himself. He’s the first to complain about unprofessional behaviour, so he really should lead by example. Ref gave free kicks for anyone who went down and seemed to be leading a one man campaign to make it a non contact sport.”
Soccerman2 wrote:
“Yet again an awful referee not giving stonewall penalties. Is there any wonder Nolan goes ballistic, they work all week only to be robbed of three points.”
Albertsboy83 wrote:
“Well, it was only a matter of time before Kevin Nolan got sent to the stands. I`ve watched him a few times and thought calm down or the ref will have you! The man has fire and passion, it`s a shame some of his players don`t have the same attributes.”
freemuzzy wrote:
“I find Nolan`s repeated blame of officials to be extremely grating now. However, today he was right. The man in the middle decided early on this was going to be all about him and seemed to get all the big calls wrong.”
Bohinen wrote:
“We can’t keep blaming the ref. Notts only had 5 shots, they had 8.”
BigFatPie wrote:
“The penalty shouts are a bit of a red herring. Yep the first one was, but Shola was looking for the second one. Stead had a decent shout for a push right at the end as well. But we were never really good enough around their box. They look looked more likely to sneak it second half.”
SircharlieP wrote:
“What a bunch of spoilers Wycombe were, more than happy to keep breaking the game up with fake injuries and niggly tackles.”
tarquinbeech wrote:
“There was a lot of play-acting going on from both sides. Scrappy game with both sides more frightened of losing. Only two decent chances for us, plus a point-blank header from the Beast that was saved superbly by Collin.”
mds wrote:
“I quite enjoyed it for a 0 0. Hit the post twice, two good penalty shouts, two great saves, one from each keeper, the villain of the piece stalking the pitch, whistle in gob. You’d think their fans would keep quiet about being nicknamed the ‘chair boys’ not sing about it.”
navypie wrote:
“I thought a draw was a fair result and to be honest, they looked the most likely scorers towards the end. One last point, the Wycombe fans. Thought they were magnificent today, came in numbers and never stopped singing. Got on my lad`s nerves though!”
scousepie wrote:
“Today was scrappy – no quality from either side and the ref managed to get both sets of fans on his back. 9 yellow cards says it all. Let`s hope the FA look at the game properly. Professional football deserves professional referees.”
Next Game: Wycombe v Grimsby – Monday 2nd April – 3.00pm
