Just reading-up on the referee yesterday. Did the management do any research pre-game into him? They should have. His wickipedia entry states "he has established a reputation for consistent game management, as well as actively discouraging time-wasting". We went to Villa with a deliberate tactic to slow down the pace of the game as much as possible to try to keep the crowd quiet. He already warned Gayle for taking too long to move over to take a long throw. Gayle himself was running around involved in a lot of battles all over the pitch, just what you don't want a player on a yellow card to be up to. We should have been smarter, that first yellow card was avoidable. From them on our best player who we are hugely dependent on was on a tightrope. Any mistake and his SEASON was over, not just the second leg. The Villa players and bench were alive and trying to get him sent off. We had a warning when one of theirs was play acting near the bench to get him sent off and the referee played on. Still we did nothing. No reaction.
Bearing in mind our game anyway was to run the clock down rather than attack. We could have substituted him and saved him for Tuesday. In the grand scheme of things it would not have made much difference.
Instead we bring on Murphy (usual non-league standard of performance, complete disaster) and then Morrison. Morrison with a chance to put a cross in, makes a complete mess of it and puts it way too close to the keeper. Gayle follows through and the rest is history.
Back to Scott - "Scott played football at youth as a goalkeeper for Abingdon Town F.C. in the lower leagues. A long-term back injury was a persistent problem; fearing permanent damage, he retired from competitive football at the age of 27".
So the referee was a goalkeeper who retired with a back problem. There is Gayle clattering into the Villa keeper who in turn performs a circus act to pretend to be more injured than he was, being alive to the need to get Gayle sent off. Just like Grealish taking advantage of dopey Gibbs going to ground for the penalty. Our management and players are as thick as anything - the naivety is incredible. Contrast with Villa, making the most of every opportunity to twist decisions in their favour.
The decisions going against us wasn't just bad luck, it was a lack of preparation, bad decision making and failure to react to what was going on during the match. Had we been a bit more street smart it would have been avoided.