[Football] The Apology

[Triggaaar]

PGMOL apologises that however hard they tried, they couldn't find a way to rule out Dunks goal, sorry Tottenham.

He clearly pushed the ball with his head - should've been a straight red.

 

[Triggaaar]

Yes, you're right. What about the others? By not mentioning them, Howard Webb is by default telling us he thinks they were valid decisions.
By issuing an apology for only the one poor decision, he lessens the blame on VAR and PGMOL.

The club should make a formal complaint about each of them

 

[birthofanorange]

From what I can collect together:

Aston Villa 2
West Ham 1
Newcastle United 1
Arsenal 2
Nottingham Forest 1
Manchester United 1
Brighton 3
Wolves 1

...and they're just the ones that have been officially issued. I expect there's quite a few more that should have been given.
That's a minimum 12 so far this season, which does beg the question of how are there so many major errors occurring, despite the supposed benefit that VAR provides?
As Dunk rightly said - "What's the point?"
As for the apology, they can go and do one, as far as I'm concerned - meaningless platitudes, where what's need is actual steps taken to stop this happening time and time again.

 

[Icy Gull]

There is a simple and quick solution even though it won’t change the decision. Whoever is in charge of VAR in situations where apologies have to be made for blatant errors should be sacked for gross incompetence and never allowed anywhere near VAR again. That would concentrate minds.

 

[WhingForPresident]

Not sure how you can say it’s been forgotten seeing as the opening post is the BBC and Sky are reporting the apology

Reporting the apology, not the incidents. Then none of it will ever be mentioned again after today. They've put it out this morning to bury it under today's games and, undoubtedly, refereeing mistakes.

 

[DJ NOBO]

If PGMOL apologies three times in a season to any one club , that club should be awarded a bonus point

 

[Stato]

Interesting about the Villa game, not heard that before - so 3 apologies we've received this year. Wankers.

Good to see the club are chasing the other decisions.

It's four. Villa, Palace, Liverpool and Tottenham. Empty words and no improvement.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

In line with the consensus on here that the non award of the Mitoma penalty was the biggest howler.

 

[Bakero]

 

[Seagull58]

Apologised for one error, no mention of least one more stonewall penalty, or two very dubious decisions disallowing us goals. Then there was the early handball by Spurs that has not really been picked up on much. Combined with previous apologies this really is beginning to stink. Probably not a concious anti Brighton campaign but it highlights a possible serious bias towards the so called elite.

It appears as a club we are asking questions but others also need to grasp the nettle as this needs to be stopped. It has almost certainly ruled out any possibility of CL next season, costing us tens of millions of pounds, but may also hasten the exit of some of our superstars. Guess who will most likely pick those players up? Our PL rivals of course. Lose, lose, lose.

Pre VAR we had the odd human error, I for one could live with that, but this shower of shit needs to stop now.

On the contrary, I think in yesterday's match it was obviously a concerted attempt to influence the match in Tottenham's favour. The questions that needs to be answered are who is giving the officials the instructions and why?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

How about fck off PGMOL, their pathetic apology doesn’t help us at all. Just more of the same old shite…..

It's utterly bizarre that us in the cheap seats can easily call it right in real time, but these so-called professional referees with all the slo-mo camera angles at their disposal still somehow manage to call it wrong or pass the buck back to the man on the spot. What gives?

 

[Soton Seagull]

At some point a club has to go public and say it has lost confidence in VAR and that it should be put in a cupboard somewhere for a bit whilst the grown ups figure how to use it properly.

Why not us?

Using yesterday as the prefect casing point. Simply say it is with regret that we have to publicly withdraw our support for the use of VAR in the current way it is utilised.

Cricket and Rugby have similar systems with minimal controversy. We all accept some judgement calls need to be made, but this is getting beyond a joke and ruining the enjoyment and integrity of the game.

 

[US Seagull]

The fourth official must have seen who was involved. I actually feel for Stellini because he purposely kept out of it.

True, but isn't keeping out of it the very definition of "failure to control your coaching staff"?

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Agreed.

I've said it elsewhere, but I can forgive Attwell, or any ref for that matter, even though he was perfectly-placed. A one-off take on something at live-speed being played out by world-class athletes who are trying to con you at all the time. Of course, referees will get it wrong on occasion.

...which is why VAR is there.

So, with the benefit of replays and multiple angles - not that they were really needed in this instance - let's hear the explanation as to why the VAR official didn't intervene.

Bozza that's proper rubbish he was 5 yards away from Dunk when he had his shirt pulled by both hands. There was no one in-between him and Dunk. That didn't need VAR that needed someone who can ref the game properly. I would love to sit him down show him the clip and asked how the f*** did you not see that as a penalty. Then kick hard in the nuts and walk out.

 

[5Ways Gull]

If PGMOL are accepting responsibility for not awarding yesterday's penalty (1 point dropped) having already admitted culpability for the Palace debacle (2 points), not sure re the Villa one but we lost the game by the odd goal, so could have got a draw (1 point) and we miss out on a level of european qualification by 4 points, can we sue them?

I'm sure there is some convoluted legalese somewhere that stops us, but it doesn't seem right that an organisation can f*ck up this badly so often and not face some form of ramifications.

 

[Baldseagull]

Suggest that 3 guys sit in on VAR, in 3 separate locations, and all 3 have to make the same decision for VAR to rule, any difference of opinion sends the on pitch ref to the monitor.
This way the on pitch ref knows that at least one colleague disagrees with him, maybe 2, but not all 3, so should be swayed less to change his decision by peer pressure, and make a fair judgement, and if all 3 VAR agree, we should get the right decision.
Suggest that all conversations between match officials are recorded, and recordings be available for clubs where decisions seem to be at odds with reality.

 

[origigull]

The apology is pretty pointless. We need to know the thought process and discussion that went on around the decision not to give the Mitoma penalty. With so many angles and opportunities to view the incident how could they not see the tread on his foot? Without an explanation you have query whether they do feel pressure to favour the big clubs and do they ultimately have to accept there is unconscious bias

This. BHA should ask for the transcripts of the conversations between ref and VAR for all the decisions that went against us and THEN publish it. Its like a top secret agenda and only PGMOL are privy to the contents. Not that its likely to happen.

 

[oldboyroy]

They can stick their apology up their arse is my view

 

[willalbion]

Are we the club that has received the most apologies? Is there anywhere that has been keeping track?

Yes, we are.

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

Apologising for one incident out of several is pathetic. It's like if punched, kicked and head butted my wife then crawled back the next day apologising for the kick.

The thought process behind the apology is to offer the bare minimum in the hope of containing the situation. They state no plan to improve because they have no intention to improve.

They can take it and stick it up their back sides as far as im concerned. This should be nowhere near enough to satisfy the club.