And not being able to also realise you would end up playing with 10 men for the majority of the game after var overlooked a blatant penalty for Barnsley too just minutes before.
They're things you can't control though. None of us could believe that blatant incompetence(or something else). Playing tedic though was something we could control. I remember my daughter asking why duff would think he could win the game picking him. My answer was to wait while he was subbed. As for the original thread, Collins should have been back in on immediately being passed fit. No question at all.
And remember Lee Gregory was involved in both incidents. Our pen not given and Phillips getting sent off. There just had to be something 'amiss' that day, with how badly the officials handled it. Ohh, and let me say the word allegedly here ehh, lol.
Isted started well with us, but he made a series of near post errors before the Wembley final. I was surprised and disappointed that Collins was not reinstated after the first couple of those. In fact, I thought Collins should have been back in the side as soon as he was fit again.
Yeah I also felt sorry for Brad, as he was effectively 'dropped' by Duff. It was a difficult one, and I think the majority of fans were in favour of him returning. But Duff had a tough choice to make, and that's what coaches/managers are paid to do. I decided to accept and go along with his decision.
Yep it deemed a penalty to be not clear and obvious despite it being a penalty as he made contact with kitching yet despite both incidents being reviewed only one was upheld and one totally overlooked and the majority of people who witnessed it felt it was unfair on us. I accept the Phillips call but not the overlooking of the foul in the area against us which was brushed aside as not being clear and obvious even though it was.
It all came back again with the recent Kane penalty for England, given by Var. So what then if anything, was different in the two incidents ?. And Phillips meanwhile lunged in, although it was nowhere near as bad as it looked at first. But I agree it was reckless and he made it too easy for the ref to send him off. But what annoyed me again, is he looked like he just couldn't wait to get the red card out.
The reason I'm mentioning all this again btw, is to help suggest that Isted wasn't solely to blame, for our defeat that day!.
" He moved on loan to Barnsley in January 2023. On 24 June 2023, Isted agreed to join Charlton on a two-year deal. When his contract at Luton expires, at the end of June 2023. On 27 July 2024, Isted joined Burton on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. " This is what it says on Wiki, so it suggests that Charlton maybe wanted rid of him after all. He'd only been there for one, of his two year contract!. Hindsight is easy of course, but I wonder if he does regret the chance he had to stay with us.