[Football] Large majority of UK fans oppose continued use of VAR......

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Look pal, watch some fkn CL games where you’ll see ref/VAR effortless near perfection. Rarely controversies.

#furiuouswithyou

I suspect that a lack of personal investment might be factoring into your judgement of CL referees.
Which isn't to say they're not better, just that I don't think there's a golden level of referee where controversy disappears from the game.
If we're knocked out of the Europa due to a penalty given after the ball's absolutely nailed at somebody's arm from 5yds away I don't think many people will be flying the flag for European refereeing standards being much higher than ours.

 

[zefarelly]

One man’s ‘clear and obvious’ is another man’s ‘not a chance in hell the ref got that wrong.’

OOOHHHH NO IT'S NOT



Oh, maybe it is. . . .

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

VAR is not wrong... it's the people that use VAR, the same people, by the way who controlled matches, and received our ire before VAR came along.

It has also highlighted how anachronistic and plain stupid the rules of the game are which is surely a food thing.

Bad workmen always blame the tools.

VAR is here for good, get on the bus or get left behind.

 

[Weststander]

I suspect that a lack of personal investment might be factoring into your judgement of CL referees.
Which isn't to say they're not better, just that I don't think there's a golden level of referee where controversy disappears from the game.
If we're knocked out of the Europa due to a penalty given after the ball's absolutely nailed at somebody's arm from 5yds away I don't think many people will be flying the flag for European refereeing standards being much higher than ours.

I’ve watched CL games for years and do always have a strong preference.

So impressed with the officiating and VAR. The example that springs to mind is Atletico Madrid home games where 68,000, Simeone and his players are trying to get visiting players sent off almost from the off. The officials refuse to play ball.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

I’ve watched CL games for years and do always have a strong preference.

So impressed with the officiating and VAR. The example that springs to mind is Atletico Madrid home games where 68,000, Simeone and his players are trying to get visiting players sent off almost from the off. The officials refuse to play ball.

I used to watch a decent amount of European football.
I don't disagree that the referees are better in general (at the moment at least), but I do think that the moment a decision goes against us that might not normally be given in the Premier League (or English football more generally) people will be absolutely-off-their-tits-angry.
Of course, if one of those decisions goes the other way most of us will all be applauding the European refs as oh so much better than ours.
There's a world of difference between "having a strong preference" and "actually supporting one of the teams involved".

 

[Weststander]

I used to watch a decent amount of European football.
I don't disagree that the referees are better in general (at the moment at least), but I do think that the moment a decision goes against us that might not normally be given in the Premier League (or English football more generally) people will be absolutely-off-their-tits-angry.
Of course, if one of those decisions goes the other way most of us will all be applauding the European refs as oh so much better than ours.
There's a world of difference between "having a strong preference" and "actually supporting one of the teams involved".

Or to compare like for like, I’ll have the same bias/non-bias of Sheffield Utd v Burnley, as Napoli v Inter.

My nature is simply for fairness, no avoidable injustices.

International (bar the inevitable one clown per WC) and CL officials always impress me, compared to most PL/Championship officials. Effortlessly conducting the game, firm, correct.

TS and R5 have interviewed experts such as Brassel and Honigstein on the subject many a time. They say VAR officials simply make correct decisions, hence no Monday postmortems and fury.

 

[Giraffe]

Been against it from the start. I will remain against forever even if they got every single decision right. It has taken away the glory and passion of enjoying a goal scored. Not always but a lot of the time. Scandalous.

 

[Easy 10]

Is there anything new to say on this ? Its sucked the life out of goal celebrations, made offsides into a tedious millimetred forensic goonfest, and made the handball law so inconsistent, indecipherable and inconsistent as to be rendered a complete and utter lottery. As many, many predicted at the outset, this "clear and obvious" bobbins was just the thin end of one gigantic thick wedge. And so it came to pass.

You wanted it. You got it. And now we're STUCK with it. Well done.

 

[dsr-burnley]

Three things they need to do with VAR.

1. Go back to the old offside rule where level was onside, and judge it by eye from a photo, not by drawing lines. The new rule is designed to disallow goals where they would once have been legal, to slow down the celebrations of goals, and to force the linesmen to delay flagging because their job has been made literally impossible. None of the benefits outweigh those disadvantages.

2. Explain to all refs, live and VAR, that tripping someone and touching someone who flings himself down, are not the same thing. If I wander the streets of Brighton and feel someone touch me so I throw myself in front of a passing tram, my next of kin can't sue you for tripping me. I have not been tripped. It should be the same in football.

3. Go back to what the handball rule was before they changed it several dozen times in the last few years. Not a single one of those changes has improved things.

The problem with the lawmakers, both VAR and general, is that they have such an overweening sense of their own genius that they think they can write a new set of rules better than anyone else has ever done before. So 150 years of experience in making the laws as they were when they started, is completely ignored in favour of doing it "our way". For example, this stupid rule they have made in the last couple of years and altered at least once, about an offside attacker being played onside if a defender deliberately plays the ball. This was the old offside rule "played on" until the early seventies when it was scrapped because people realised it was rubbish. If the lawmakers had had an ounce of humility they would have realised this and not been stupid enough to bring it in.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Eh.

 

[nickjhs]

VAR is essentially for people who know that lemons are 30p each at Tesco and so go to their local one and measure them all, complaining that the smaller ones should only by 28p and then life would be much better, as opposed to people who just buy the lemon so they have something nice to put into their gin and tonic.

Whilst I appreciate the humour, I fundamentally disagree. As much as I do not like the current implementation of VAR I really want it to stay. As has been said many times the majority of VAR supporters want it for bad decisions not incorrect decisions ie ones made because the on pitch officials don't have VR helmets with instant freeze frame and rulers. Video review came into a variety of sports for a bloody good reason, football needs to look at how it has been implemented successfully elsewhere. Personally I would give each side 2 failed calls the same as tennis and cricket, waste them and they are gone.

 

[drew]

Three things they need to do with VAR.

1. Go back to the old offside rule where level was onside, and judge it by eye from a photo, not by drawing lines. The new rule is designed to disallow goals where they would once have been legal, to slow down the celebrations of goals, and to force the linesmen to delay flagging because their job has been made literally impossible. None of the benefits outweigh those disadvantages.

2. Explain to all refs, live and VAR, that tripping someone and touching someone who flings himself down, are not the same thing. If I wander the streets of Brighton and feel someone touch me so I throw myself in front of a passing tram, my next of kin can't sue you for tripping me. I have not been tripped. It should be the same in football.

3. Go back to what the handball rule was before they changed it several dozen times in the last few years. Not a single one of those changes has improved things.

The problem with the lawmakers, both VAR and general, is that they have such an overweening sense of their own genius that they think they can write a new set of rules better than anyone else has ever done before. So 150 years of experience in making the laws as they were when they started, is completely ignored in favour of doing it "our way". For example, this stupid rule they have made in the last couple of years and altered at least once, about an offside attacker being played onside if a defender deliberately plays the ball. This was the old offside rule "played on" until the early seventies when it was scrapped because people realised it was rubbish. If the lawmakers had had an ounce of humility they would have realised this and not been stupid enough to bring it in.

Isn't level onside already??

 

[dsr-burnley]

Isn't level onside already??

With VAR, you can't be level in practice. The margin of error of the technology is at least a foot, but they still take a guess at who is a few inches forward.

 

[BadFish]

Do we have stats about the number of decisions right/wrong before and after VAR?

Surely this is the data they should be basing their decision on rather than fans opinions. We are f***ing riddled with biases and are not to be trusted.

 

[Justice]

We seem to assume European refs have it sussed and this season we are going to find out, can wait.

 

[keaton]

I watched a lot of Championship football on TV last season and much of it was embarrassing. Yes, it was spontaneous. When Boris Becker f***ed a waitress in a restaurant toilet and get her up the duff it was spontaneous. Doubtless it was exciting, too. However...

In what way was it embarrassing? I watch a lot of FL on TV and non league in person and never noticed any issues with the lack of VAR.
I'd argue there are more embarrassing decisions in the PL with VAR than in the a championship,I certainly can't remember many howlers in the championship which is what it's there for

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Isn't level onside already??

Yes.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

As an aside, the Frau knows a 15 year old lad who is training to be a ref. This seems quite young. Is this normal?

 

[Van Cleef]

We should get to hear the reasoning behind the decisions, at least for tv viewers. It works really well in Rugby, when even if you personally don't agree, you at least are aware of the ref/ tmos thought process. This won't help the poor sods in the ground however. The fa seem to be scared of this for some reason?

 

[drew]

With VAR, you can't be level in practice. The margin of error of the technology is at least a foot, but they still take a guess at who is a few inches forward.

Sorry, don't agree with that. The margin of error is not a 12 inches by any stretch of the imagination. Besides, you're backtracking because the law is you're not offside if you're level and you obviously thought that wasn't the case!!!