That penalty

That commentator yesterday (Mike Parry?) was absolutely adamant it wasn't a penalty. He even overstepped his professional boundaries by calling referee Phillips a "buffoon." At the time it sounded like someone close to Parry saw it as a penalty because he was quick to climb down and suggest he would apologise if he was proved wrong.


After the match, it was no surprise that Parky honed in on the penalty having cost us a point and even City's manager Paul Tisdale described it as "debatable." I saw it on the news round-up late last night and have to say that the view from down the pitch, the same as the ref's, albeit he was much closer to the action, made it look like a dead cert to me.


This morning, however, you get a view from behind the goal and it looks very much like Llera gets the sole of his boot on it although with so little force that the ball doesn't get sufficient pace to make it obvious. Jamie Cureton is already in full dive mode, so I can see how it was given. Take a look.


http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk298/pct333/Season%2020102011/?action=view&current=ExetervCharlton040910137.mp4


Bottom-line for me is that if you are left fuming about a last gasp penalty, you probably didn't deserve anything more than a point at best. If we are good enough to be beating sides like Exeter we have to take the game to them. If you don't, then draws and defeats are all you can expect. Parky's confident we are good enough, so I expect to see us having a go. We rode our luck at Orient  and the counter attacking was good enough to earn the win but we have looked conservative in the extreme at Huddersfield and Exeter.


Our away support is a bone of contention with our fans right now, but how can you complain that more people should be travelling when our ambition appears to be to hang on for as long as possible. If we were piling pressure on sides at home and beating the majority comfortably, you can argue that points away from home are all that's required, but I fear we aren't yet playing with full confidence at the Valley and we need a settled side before there's any chance of it. Expect more changes next week as we continue to "gel."


Johnnie Jackson was signed as a second choice left back to Kelly Youga and has played pretty well in every game so far this season, so I don't understand why Matt Fry played yesterday, especially with Jackson as a sub? The midfield pairing of Semedo and McCormack isn't holding the middle and it's affecting our forward play and inviting pressure. I'm not sure Semedo and Racon or Racon and McCormack are the answer either so maybe we have to try something else. Kyel Reid disappears in the second-half of games a la Lloyd Sam, so he should be changed for fresh legs when this happens. Only once we have sorted the midfield out can we start to look at what we've acquired upfront, although I have to say that Pawel Abbott has been worryingly quiet in league matches so far.