I can't make any defence of Jake Wright. I like him as a player, and he seems an engaging character off the field, but there can be no defence of his inability to stay on the pitch, or at least not get booked, within minutes of coming on. It's no defence to say that he gets in the opposition's faces and may sometimes go too far. There are plenty of players who manage to wind up the opposition without getting booked and/or sent off regularly. He let his team down and someone needs to get a grip on him (best, of course, if he can do it himself).
I was also dispirited by our tactics. This unproductive and desperately predictable passing across the field all the time played into Stratford's hands. Fair play to them, they came with a plan but we made it so easy for them to get behind the ball and in position whilst we passed it about getting absolutely nowhere. Sitting where I do, there seemed to be no urging from the dugout to move it around quicker. The glimmer of hope was Preston. The moment he got the ball the play immediately speeded up and we looked dangerous. Everything else was far too slow. And why do central defenders pass the ball to someone being closely marked when they have acres of room to push forward? When the other Jake Wright started moving forward more in the second half it unsettled Stratford and opened up space (think what players like Alan Hansen used to do). But not often enough, needless to say.
I'm probably in a minority who didn't think the ref had a bad game. If I understood him from my position, he told Elliott that the 'goal' was disallowed because it went through the Boston player's legs who was presumably offside. If that was the case, then he was right to disallow it.
Anyway, let's hope they can put on a decent performance tomorrow evening. UTP!