[Football] Article: How the Premier League can save the world from VAR

[The Tactician]

I won’t lie, I’m pretty proud of this piece.

Here’s my take, as a previous VAR enthusiast, on what the use of Video Technology is doing to football, and what the PL can do about it.

After seeing the insistence from under-pressure managers and some frustrated fans that with the stakes so high, our officials simply can’t afford honest mistakes, I have been a staunch defender of the new technology. But VAR doesn’t serve what football really is. It serves what it has now become.

Read HERE: https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/content.php?823-How-the-Premier-League-can-save-the-world-from-VAR

I hope you enjoy, let’s hear your thoughts.

 

[blockhseagull]

Couldn’t agree more ..... the quest for perfection can only be for the armchair fan.

We are only 3 games in and it’s already tarnishing the fan experience which with VAR will never and can never be the same again.

The elation of your team scoring will never ever be the same while football co exists with VAR, and for the football fan going to a game it’s a sad outcome.

 

[Dorset Seagull]

Nice article but unfortunately I don't think the Premier league have the balls to follow your line of thinking. Everything you say is correct but the genie is out of the bottle and I cant see it being put back in anytime soon. Tinkering around the edges is the best we are likely to see.

 

[pasty]

The most annoying aspect of VAR for me is that it appears officials are going to rely on VAR rather than their own instincts when it comes to goals.

For Dunks "goal" that was chalked off last week, Burn was so far offside, and stood right in front of the 'keeper so was undoubtedly interfering with play, I can't believe the linesman didn't flag. Ok, so the outcome would have been the same, but the euphoria of scoring would have disappeared after about 2 seconds rather than us all properly celebrating for a minute or so before VAR reared it's ugly head. Can't remember who, but I think someone posted the other day that goals are soon going to be celebrated like a penalty award. Not full on batshit mental, but "oh great, we might score here", and I think they're right.

As the OP says, it is completely and utterly taking all the enjoyment and raw emotion out of being a fan.

 

[pishhead]

The most glaring failure of VAR was the non award of a penalty when Bednarek attempted to catch the ball. Also the sense that whilst in the stadium we have absolutely no idea what is being checked and what isn't.

If the PL are insistent that VAR is here to stay then for me the supporters inside the stadium need to be kept more informed as to what is being checked.

 

[Ernest]

The VAR is for sit at home plastics , it is ruining the game for people actually there

 

[studio150]

https://news.sky.com/story/sky-views-dont-like-var-try-robot-referees-instead-11796481

Robot Referees ?

 

[loz]

VAR is the straw that broke the camels back for me, I wont be renewing my season ticket I have had for 30+ years next year ( I have said that before mind)

I have grown out of love for pro football over the last 5 or 6 years, obscene amount of money given to clubs which in turn goes straight down to greedy agents and players while the more honest lower league clubs go bust trying to keep up. ( I dont just mean top tier clubs even small village clubs are failing) Kick off times all over the place with no thought of fans that actually attend games.

I rarely watch or pay any interest to football apart from my team and VAR seems to have alienated me even further...in a word I think I have reached my mid 50s and I am quite frankly bored of Pro football.

 

[BBassic]

VAR is the straw that broke the camels back for me, I wont be renewing my season ticket

Me and my mate said similar last week.

I was pro VAR after the West Ham game but am less so now. Will be giving it until renewal time before I make my decision.

 

[RandyWanger]

Hopefully it'll even out and a few decisions will go our way. Until then, **** VAR

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I broadly agree with the OP's piece and a lot of what has been said in the posts. I don't mind the fact that the correct decisions are being made, but it's the length of time and the lack of explanation to the crowd that makes it appear so amateurish.

You can't have a go at the referee or assistants because they are not the ones making the call, so instead you just stand waiting for the dreaded judgement to come. Eventually. The PL should've sorted the system out before this full roll-out. Instead, this season is like a evaluation exercise of how to improve it or even whether to keep it next season.

The one thing I would say is that I don't think getting rid of it isn't a definitive solution to the problem, or an end to the argument that 'it hasn't worked, so you just have to deal with it'. There will still be contentious decisions that could've been clarified or 'righted' with VAR – clear decisions that go against teams and could cost them. Having said that, I don't know what the answer is, but having seen goal-line technology work SO well, maybe something similar could be used to decide on other big decisions?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

VAR is the straw that broke the camels back for me, I wont be renewing my season ticket I have had for 30+ years next year ( I have said that before mind)

I have grown out of love for pro football over the last 5 or 6 years, obscene amount of money given to clubs which in turn goes straight down to greedy agents and players while the more honest lower league clubs go bust trying to keep up. ( I dont just mean top tier clubs even small village clubs are failing) Kick off times all over the place with no thought of fans that actually attend games.

I rarely watch or pay any interest to football apart from my team and VAR seems to have alienated me even further...in a word I think I have reached my mid 50s and I am quite frankly bored of Pro football.

Agree with a lot of that too. I'm not there yet, but I think I might be moving in that direction...

 

[Gwylan]

VAR is the straw that broke the camels back for me, I wont be renewing my season ticket I have had for 30+ years next year

I'm thinking the same way.

However, even if every season ticket holder in the country did the same, it wouldn't have any effect. As Ernest says, VAR is all about the armchair fan - clubs don't need supporters in the ground to make money,

If every Sky subscriber cancelled his or her subscription, however, that would be a different matter - all hell would break loose.

 

[Justice]

You need independent VAR watchers and not the refs boys club deciding who they want to win the league this year and have a say in relegation, funny how us and City have been on the wrong end of VAR the most.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Me and my mate said similar last week.

I was pro VAR after the West Ham game but am less so now. Will be giving it until renewal time before I make my decision.

I am getting to the point where even a season ticket for the two of us is getting expensive. We meet mates at football which keeps us going more than the actual game.

I really enjoyed the game at Bristol even though we had two goals ruled out for offside, the good old fashioned way with a raised flag by the linesman. We cheered, then groaned, the Rovers fans jeered, as it should be.

 

[northstandsteve]

With all of the VAR decisions City & Albion have been involved with this season, could be a long game on Saturday.....2-1 to the Albion with a controversial VAR decision in our favour.!!!

 

[Sussex Nomad]

The VAR is for sit at home plastics , it is ruining the game for people actually there

It's actually ruining the game for sit at homes as well as those going. It has ruined my enjoyment of an armchair game.

 

[m20gull]

The VAR is for sit at home plastics , it is ruining the game for people actually there

It's certainly ruining it for me too.

 

[BBassic]

I am getting to the point where even a season ticket for the two of us is getting expensive. We meet mates at football which keeps us going more than the actual game.

I really enjoyed the game at Bristol even though we had two goals ruled out for offside, the good old fashioned way with a raised flag by the linesman. We cheered, then groaned, the Rovers fans jeered, as it should be.

Exactly this. I mainly go to the football to spend time with my ever ageing father and my friends. The football, whilst enjoyable, is a secondary concern most of the time. But when the football stops being fun, as it did last season for very different reasons, it suddenly becomes a bit of a mathematics problem for me - is it worth spending £500+ a year (not including beer and food) to spend time with my old man, who lives a £6 train journey away, if I'm not enjoying the football?

I had honestly forgotten about VAR until the West Ham game. I didn't go to Watford and, as I understand it, it wasn't used much anyway. So I plod along to the AMEX for West Ham with my Dad excited for a new style of football and we definitely get that. Then BAM!

VAR right up the backside.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

It beats me why clear-as-day decisions like our goal against Southampton have to be referred, anyone could see Burn on top of their keeper.
The offside rule needs ammending to encourage flowing play. I say there should be clear daylight between the offending attacker and the last outfield defender for it to be offside.
I guess that depends on FIFA though.