[Football] "It's not VAR, it's the people running it"

[Green Cross Code Man]

Problem is everywhere else it seems to be working reasonably well.

It’s the shockingly poor level of refereeing that’s the issue not the use of technology as such.

Had a quick look at Google. This doesn't appear to be the case. Just searched a few European leagues and there are similar issues.

For example:

https://www.intothecalderon.com/202...ke-morata-joao-felix-soto-grado-tomas-renones

 

[Hugo Rune]

"It's not VAR, it's the people running it"

I’m fully expecting a massive whoopsie from the VAR officials today. Oddly though, I think it’s going to go for us rather than against us.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I too would be happy to see it binned. The minuses outweigh the plusses imo

Happy to go back to feeling cheated by a bad decision not happy to be cheated after a VAR review

The wait to celebrate properly is a massive minus too

Have you watched any lower league TV on the box? No VAR. It is an absolute joke. Shocking decisions and no comeback. Like park football.

May as well call for a removal of speed cameras. Driving certainly used to be much more fun.

 

[Swansman]

Foreign referees in the European matches are clearly much better than the EPL refs.

Watch any discussion about La Liga, Serie A, Eredivisie, whatever, and people will say "why are the refs so shit in our country?".

Sure, the quality is a bit higher in the EL/CL - that it what happens when you accumulate the best of the entire continent. Similarly, the PL would be a worse league if there was only the best English players rather than the best players from all over the world. Yet this doesn't prevent people from throwing shit at the refs in the EL/CL either. After pretty much any lost game, the fans of the losing side will complain about how shite the ref was.

 

[Icy Gull]

Have you watched any lower league TV on the box? No VAR. It is an absolute joke. Shocking decisions and no comeback. Like park football.

May as well call for a removal of speed cameras. Driving certainly used to be much more fun.

Here’s a thing……I have spent most of my football watching life in the lower leagues and it all evened itself up over a season normally.

I hate VAR and the two decisions yesterday looked almost corrupt.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

I am still quite pro VAR because it works well in other countries, but don't understand why the people using it appear so utterly clueless. Sometimes it is like these people are doing their best to have it removed when it really should be a force for the good by now.

How the hell yesterday's two blatant goals were disallowed after VAR influence is beyond me. I am sorry but I feel the real problem is the lack of accountability of the people making the decisions. Pay the refs to ref full time and make them come out and explain their decisions post-match, and that includes the people controlling VAR. I'm quite sure accountability will reduce this nonsense

Like you, I am largely pro VAR but it is the inconsistencies that do my head it. So far this season, they have largely been letting things go reasonably successfully - as evidenced to us at the man Utd game - but then yesterday they seemed to meddle in absolutely everything. It's like they change their minds week on week on what to get to involved with and what the rules are. No wonder fans and managers get frustrated with it.

If the conversations were heard and decisions explained that would also help but that will never happen. As it is, no one will ever know how that West Ham decision was arrived at and Ray Charles will once again be on VAR. As for the rules next week? I'm sure someone will spin the wheel of fortune in Stockley Park and we will either get traffic warden VAR or blind VAR but have no idea which one we are getting in advance. The implementation of this is a future case study in how not to do something.

 

[keaton]

Have you watched any lower league TV on the box? No VAR. It is an absolute joke. Shocking decisions and no comeback. Like park football.

May as well call for a removal of speed cameras. Driving certainly used to be much more fun.

I watch a lot of lower League and non league. I wouldn't say there's more bad decisions at that level at all, and there far less pissy annoying decisions

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

What exactly do you think the technology is? Other than cameras around the ground providing different views, the only other 'technology' is the lines for offside and they are pretty much consistently correct, albeit annoying. There's no 'technology' deciding penalties and red cards.

As for the point, we need to improve the referees, simple as that. That's down to the PGMOL.

That’s the point I’m trying to make to you. I don’t think there is any technology involved other than some bloke watching the tele. They could ring me for all the good it would do. Bearing all off that in mind and with me agreeing we need to improve refereeing my conclusion is get rid of VAR as it brings nothing to the table.

 

[Swansman]

Have you watched any lower league TV on the box? No VAR. It is an absolute joke. Shocking decisions and no comeback. Like park football.

May as well call for a removal of speed cameras. Driving certainly used to be much more fun.

I watch plenty of lower league football and the "lack" of VAR really isn't a problem. I also watched PL before they introduced VAR and thought it was good entertainment that has in no shape or form been improved with the introduction of some bloke sitting and measuring whether there was a hair or two offside.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Here’s a thing……I have spent most of my football watching life in the lower leagues and it all evened itself up over a season normally.

I hate VAR and the two decisions yesterday looked almost corrupt.

Hating VAR is simply irrational.

And 'it all working out over a season' is simply unacceptable.

You think that Maradonna's hand of god evened itself out?

 

[dazzer6666]

For me there is nothing wrong with the ref going to have a look if the VAR and the ref have different opinions, I agree it’s important that doesn’t automatically mean use the VAR decision. If it’s close or contentious then the original decision should stand, similar to cricket.

Exactly……’umpires call’ (essentially what ‘clear and obvious error’ should mean). This worked in the case of the penalty, but didn’t in the case of the West Ham goal.

 

[Swansman]

Hating VAR is simply irrational.

And 'it all working out over a season' is simply unacceptable.

You think that Maradonna's hand of god evened itself out?

Kinda. Watch the England vs Argentina quarter-final from 1966...

If it is "unacceptable", how did you watch this sport for like 50 years before VAR was introduced?

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Problem is everywhere else it seems to be working reasonably well.

It’s the shockingly poor level of refereeing that’s the issue not the use of technology as such.

Lots of likes for this post but nobody has asked to see the evidence for VAR working better abroad…they have just accepted the assertion.

 

[Icy Gull]

Hating VAR is simply irrational.

And 'it all working out over a season' is simply unacceptable.

You think that Maradonna's hand of god evened itself out?

I have never claimed to be rational

Maybe you enjoy having to wait a few minutes to celebrate a goal..I don’t

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I watch plenty of lower league football and the "lack" of VAR really isn't a problem. I also watched PL before they introduced VAR and thought it was good entertainment that has in no shape or form been improved with the introduction of some bloke sitting and measuring whether there was a hair or two offside.

Well I think the OP has shot himself in the foot. VAR is here to stay. Its operation should be improved. Anyone advocating its removal has lost any argument before it has started. It absolutely will not be removed. Even Deep Purple's blind man, standing on a hill, very still, should be able to see that.

Anyway....better get a wriggle on or I'll miss the kick off - 90 mile drive....

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

seems the inconsistancy on offside cant be resolved. iirc we tried having linesmen keeping flag down until there's goal (or something), that was confusing and made them a bit redundant. thats Villa goal wasnt a VAR problem, the offside rule itself was the problem there, make for ambigous calls a linesman has got to try and judge. get the rule back to a simpler form and dont use VAR there, save it for the "obvious" errors it was intended to address.

Not the rule but the assistant was the problem he just wasn't close to being offside. Shocking decision.

 

[Icy Gull]

Well I think the OP has shot himself in the foot. VAR is here to stay. Its operation should be improved. Anyone advocating its removal has lost any argument before it has started. It absolutely will not be removed. Even Deep Purple's blind man, standing on a hill, very still, should be able to see that.

Anyway....better get a wriggle on or I'll miss the kick off - 90 mile drive....

In fairness I think the OP was quoting Alan Shearer in the thread title.

However I agree with the OP and no it won’t happen. Does that make it something we can’t discuss?

 

[Iggle Piggle]

You get the refs you deserve. With refs at lower levels being attacked, abused, sworn at, intimidated and thoroughly undermined, and even refs at the top level having to suffer abuse from managers and players, you cannot be surprised if the standard drops as the pool of young and then experienced referees declines. It will not get better unless there is root and branch change, but that won't happen (in football our society sadly)

You've reminded me that my weekly routine of booking a ref for the U13s, them pulling out on a Sunday morning and me reffing the game and getting pelters from the side lines is about to begin. Bell cheeses like Ted Lasso at Leeds are responsible for this admitting that his act of being annoyed at every decision is designed to influence the ref. This then gets repeated by wannabe Klopp coaches all over the football pyramid. The FA need to issue proper punishment. People like myself are very close to jacking it in. I've got better things to do in my spare time.

 

[Swansman]

Well I think the OP has shot himself in the foot. VAR is here to stay. Its operation should be improved. Anyone advocating its removal has lost any argument before it has started. It absolutely will not be removed. Even Deep Purple's blind man, standing on a hill, very still, should be able to see that.

Anyway....better get a wriggle on or I'll miss the kick off - 90 mile drive....

I'm also sure it won't be removed but that doesn't change my opinion that it should be removed.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

This.

As Shearer said last night, it isn't the VAR. So why is the OP advocating removal of VAR?

It's a bit like saying because the police banged up the wrong people for the Guildford pub bombing we should relax the laws about terrorism.

Edit: that was a provisional analogy. Luckily I can have a think about it and change it later.