‘If Plymouth go up this year, Brooks should get a medal’

Before we start, let’s get one thing straight. Most of the time, criticising referees isn’t big or clever. Those people you see at amateur games, or, worse still, kids’ football, screaming and bawling at the match official, are an embarrassment to themselves, their family and the game.

This, of course, isn’t helped by certain high-profile managers, and almost the entire football punditry profession, heaping criticism on the men and women in black, either to deflect criticism, protect their players, or just to get in the news that week.

It’s this constant stream of bile that has caused our game to be at the face of a cliff. That cliff is named VAR, and when VAR comes in and football is basically just a live-action video game, with stops and starts all over the place, we’ll have all this criticism of referees to blame. I’m just glad that our manager, while able to disagree with decisions, has the class not to pile in on officials.

Right then, onto last weekend’s trip to Plymouth. We deserved to win the game but the referee had an absolute shocker and should be ashamed of himself. The early free-kick curled home delightfully by Chris Lines 12 minutes in was just about the only decision to go our way, and it was an obvious one. And to think that delightful strike was our worst goal of the day, without being rude to Mr Lines; Ellis Harrison’s strength and coolness under pressure for the second was a joy to behold.

But it wasn’t to be; John Brooks, the match official, was making decisions as if he had other plans. (I’m not claiming any wrongdoing, of course, just an appallingly bad performance on his part). The first penalty, just after half time, was a dive. I can’t even be mad at the Plymouth player who did it – after all, has any team never had a diver? But Brooks had an unbroken view of it, ten yards away. If he can’t see that, he should take up a hobby on Saturdays. Brooks was let off by Sam Slocombe’s excellent low save to his left from Argyle’s Ruben Lameiras.

Of course, we were the architects of our own misfortune to some extent, as has been the case on the road this year. Ollie Clarke’s bullet header past Slocombe a minute or so after the penalty was actually quite impressive, but you don’t get points for scoring good own goals, sadly.

After that, the game was proper, heart-in-mouth, end of season stuff; edgy, with chances at both ends. And if we’d lost to one of the good chances Plymouth had, in particular Jamie Ness’ effort, then you hold your hands up and say “well played”.

But we didn’t. With almost no time left on the clock, Mr Brooks’ desperate need to be the centre of attention came out again. A Plymouth player jumps into Tom Lockyer, puts his head near Tom’s hand, and goes down, to coin an old phrase, as if he’d been shot. Plymouth scored from that, and took home three points that keep their play-off hopes alive but that result has possibly killed ours. If the Devon side go up this year, Brooks should get a medal.

What didn’t help was that club’s total and utter lack of class on the day, either.

From their manager with his pathetic and childish ear-cupping gesture to our travelling fans after a thoroughly undeserved win, to his unnecessary talking about signing one of our players at the final whistle, their social media accounts seemingly being run by a twelve-year-old with a sugar rush, and playing Zombie Nation as post-goal music (well, playing post-goal music at all really): for me, they’re an eminently dislikeable bunch

If we’re going to seek out positives, other than playing well enough not to lose to a side in form, it was great to see James Clarke starting. The former non-league man has had a long, long lay-off with injury, and although it was weird seeing him on the left of defence, he did a capable job. Oh, and Sam Slocombe had another good game between the sticks.

Onwards we trudge, to Peterborough, another side in the play-off mix. If we’re going to crash the party in May, no more slip-ups are allowed. They’re on a decent run, only one defeat in their last ten games in the league, but are drawing too many of them.

As with Plymouth, if we don’t make the play-offs it’s hard to see how a Rovers fan might want to see Peterborough go up; they’re hardly the neutral’s choice. A chairman who never, and I mean never, shuts up on social media, and their new manager. If you don’t know that story then google him.

On the field, it’s a case of if you stop Jack Marriott, you stop Peterborough. Top scorer in the division by a country mile, if Posh don’t get to the Championship this year then he may go without them. Sure, a few of his 23 League goals have been soft (all of the ones against our Keystone Cops defence back in August) but he’s stepped up from League Two and looks more at home in the third tier, where there is, at least in theory, less physical, long-ball football being played. On that score, Peterborough were a good fit for him, they like a passing game in that part of the world.

The boys will be pumped up by being victims to daylight robbery last week, so I fancy us for a point here.