[Football] Tonight's Officials/VAR Thread

[Hotchilidog]

I agree but RDZ really needs to take care of what is in his control
I do just shrug my shoulders because for me it’s not really worth getting the bollock ache over it
It’s gone on for years and won’t ever change eg Ron Challis

I think the standards have dropped by a huge amount and it is a problem now. My personal view is that VAR has now muddied the waters for the refs who now seem in two minds about who will be responsible for the final decision. Sometimes they will take responsibility sometimes they will leave it to VAR. Also VAR operators seem confused. If they are in the mood they will interfere to find a spurious reason to disallow a goal, sometimes they will back up the on-field ref when they have made howler to spare them the embarrassment of exposure. It's a confusing picture and PGMOL do not have a grip on it. Given that PGMOL are contracted entity I think they should be under pressure to raise standards rather than spend their time covering their backs.

I agree that RDZ has take responsibility for his choices last night, and should not escape scrutiny, but that does not excuse sub standard officiating which I beleive is now compromising the integrity of the competition.

 

[LamieRobertson]

I agree but RDZ really needs to take care of what is in his control
I do just shrug my shoulders because for me it’s not really worth getting the bollock ache over it
It’s gone on for years and won’t ever change eg Ron Challis

You may want to just shrug your shoulders ..but perhaps allow others a say which was obvious too many

 

[DavidRyder]

Annoying that, had the Foden slip, sorry tackle, been in the box, VAR would have ruled it out. Well, you’d like to think so

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

I think they do a quick mental assessment, and if the attack looks likely to come to something, they'll let it play out, in case it ends in a goal. If it is not immediately threatening they will flag it at the time.

Given that we don't ever look like scoring ATM, they were probably right to just stick the flag up and save wasting everyone's time.

Probably, but the Welbeck one was the worse of the lot. He was running into space, we probably wouldn't have scored but it's the kind of run where the play should be left to develop and the lino stuck his flag up far too quickly.

 

[ROSM]

I have missed the last 5 albion games (4 because of holiday and last night due to back issues)

It's allowed me to see our games through the eyes of tv for some and maybe more dispassionately

From an officials perspective I do have some sympathy with forest but they're going about it awfully..wolves have a lot of dignity as to how they've been. But the genie is out of the bottle.

Var was sold as making sure big decisions were right. However it's led to changes in the rules to accommodate technology (handball and offside are now driven by what tech says rather than common sense) . Instead of accuracy its delivered confusion. It's changed the capability of refs assts who now, i would contend, couldnt run the line in a game without it. It makes people like John Brookes the centre of attention and Jared Gillett get opportunities because of how he once handled a var situation in the A league which went viral.

Instead of perfection we now have blandness and I found myself agreeing with Mark Goldbridge last night.

 

[Swimboy64]

You may want to just shrug your shoulders ..but perhaps allow others a say which was obvious too many

I didn’t think anything I said is suggesting that others are not entitled to their opinion
about the officials
Funny old world

 

[Swimboy64]

I think the standards have dropped by a huge amount and it is a problem now. My personal view is that VAR has now muddied the waters for the refs who now seem in two minds about who will be responsible for the final decision. Sometimes they will take responsibility sometimes they will leave it to VAR. Also VAR operators seem confused. If they are in the mood they will interfere to find a spurious reason to disallow a goal, sometimes they will back up the on-field ref when they have made howler to spare them the embarrassment of exposure. It's a confusing picture and PGMOL do not have a grip on it. Given that PGMOL are contracted entity I think they should be under pressure to raise standards rather than spend their time covering their backs.

I agree that RDZ has take responsibility for his choices last night, and should not escape scrutiny, but that does not excuse sub standard officiating which I beleive is now compromising the integrity of the competition.

I completely agree

 

[CHAPPERS]

Annoying that, had the Foden slip, sorry tackle, been in the box, VAR would have ruled it out. Well, you’d like to think so

That little rat was actually asking for a penalty after he slipped over which is possibly the slimiest thing I've seen in football.

 

[ROSM]

That little rat was actually asking for a penalty after he slipped over which is possibly the slimiest thing I've seen in football.

And you've seen Adama Traore's arms after they've been liberally lubricated with baby oil

 

[LamieRobertson]

I didn’t think anything I said is suggesting that others are not entitled to their opinion
about the officials
Funny old world

You seem to be objecting even if not directly saying so….yes it is a funny old world

 

[Del of Albion]

Annoying that, had the Foden slip, sorry tackle, been in the box, VAR would have ruled it out. Well, you’d like to think so

When a goal is scored VAR checks to see if there was a clear and obvious error on the part of the ref. Surly the slip given as a free kick is a clear and obvious error? Only one kick was taken so no run of play to confuse issues.

 

[Paddington Gal]

I watched on TV. Foden slipped & fell (not dived) & got a free kick. & commentator thought both gross & Pedro were pens, & if ref had given they wouldn't be overruled. Shame they couldn't overrule the non free kick.

This 100%. A free kick is not something VAR gets involved in.
If the referee had given a penalty though (Foden's outstretched arms were appealing for a penalty) VAR would have been called upon. It wouldn't have been given, then surely even the free kick wouldn't have been given. What would have been given? Drop ball?

 

[Beanstalk]

It's quite funny reading this thread and seeing people decide that because we were second best (to the best team in the world) that the referee and his team are therefore not worth discussing.

We were second best last night, I think you'd be fooling yourself if you thought we would outplay City.

Gillett and his team were also absolutely dreadful last night. It was a shame because it would've been a much better game (that City would've won anyway) if he hadn't been so shit, and it would've been a much less frustrating evening. Both of those things can be true and happen at the same time.

I really don't mind losing to teams like City, they're on a different planet. What I hate is that, instead of watching two positive sides try to play great football, I have to see an incompetent official once again insert themselves into the centre of my viewing, it's gratingly boring to be a part of, and recently becoming a bit of an expectation (referees are not corrupt obviously and I'm not crying conspiracy theory at all, they are just not anywhere near as good at their jobs as the league demands they need to be). It's boring, and when you've just gone through your first European campaign and seen (AEK at home aside) a number of incredibly competent refs doing their job to a high standard, you've got to ask what the problem is in this country.

 

[HeaviestTed]

Do the refs/var rewatch the matches and learn from them or do they just go “oh well match over, I’m done”?

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Less VAR not more please

But the points he make are correct.

It's a farce it's used for something and not others.

Either go all in, or bin it

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

But the points he make are correct.

It's a farce it's used for something and not others.

Either go all in, or bin it

They might be correct, but i'd have been home after midnight had the fellas ideas been implemented

 

[Colonel Mustard]

all the media and punditry class start clutching their pearls whenever anyone suggests corruption, but what else is anyone supposed to think at this point?

What you think instead is simple — incompetence and human error. If you want to suggest corruption, go ahead, but you’d better have some evidence if you want to be taken seriously. And a good lawyer too if you’re in a position of authority and are alleging corruption.

 

[Beanstalk]

Do the refs/var rewatch the matches and learn from them or do they just go “oh well match over, I’m done”?

If you're interested in the life of a Premier League referee, this is a good read.

"When I arrived, England was on an exercise bike in the gym upstairs, Marriner was deadlifting and Michael Oliver was doing dumbbell curls. One by one, they disappeared to a side room for body composition assessments, before making their way to the lobby of the onsite hotel for some leisure time. The mood was relaxed, the officials drinking tea, chatting, playing table tennis and pool. Some scheduled a mental resilience session with Paul Russell, the psychologist; others used the time to do 90-minute match reviews with Martin Atkinson, dissecting key incidents on their laptops."

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

What you think instead is simple — incompetence and human error. If you want to suggest corruption, go ahead, but you’d better have some evidence if you want to be taken seriously. And a good lawyer too if you’re in a position of authority and are alleging corruption.

It's not corruption. The ref is not making decisions, because he's been bribed or for some other personal gain. To suggest otherwise, as you say, is a massive allegation which one would need to back up with solid evidence.

What I do believe is that some clubs, the big 6, get a much greater number of tight refereeing decisions go their way than the other clubs. Why? Because referees are under huge pressure. If Gillett had made a wrong decision in our favour, which cost City the points and cost them their lead in the title race, that decision would have been all over the front and back pages. It would have created a slew on online conspiracy theories, radio phone in's would have been going crazy, pundits would have been calling for him to be demoted and most importantly, Guardiola would be giving him both barrels in the post match interviews.

So Gillet didn't do that. He knew that if the decisions he made cost Brighton 11th instead of 10th, little would be made of it. De Zerbi would have been largely philosphical and the pundits would barely even mention it. This is what transpired. He gave everything he possibly could to Man City and they went off with the points (which as it turned out, they would have done anyway).

Importantly, I find it unlikely that Gillet decided this on a conscious level. All of us every day make a thousand decisions, which make our lives easier don't we? It's just human nature? We don't even bother to think about them or analyse them.

Also importantly, Gillet isn't alone. Every other ref does the same.

But what this does do, is foster a sense of grievance from the other clubs. It stretches the lead of very good teams like City and Arsenal and hides the ineptitude of very ordinary teams like Man Utd and Chelsea. But it's this sense of grievance which is leading to the "checking club badge" memes and leads to words like corruption being used. It's not accurate. It's a howl of despair. It's being made precisely because it damages the PL brand and to some, maybe me included, that is the only way that we might ever see some awareness raised of what is going on. Because the weakness of the officiating and the bias being shown every single week is absolutely not right and is utterly corrosive to the health of our game

 

[Seagull58]

Never a hand ball. Arm was in a natural position.

The lower arm below the elbow was sticking out at right angles to the body. I t may have felt natural to the player but it was outside the silhouette and, therefore, a penalty.