Premier League clubs to vote on scrapping VAR

[IslandExile]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c4n1ndlknk1o

Ok so there's a small increase in the percentage of correct decisions - and it is only small - but that's not worth all the waiting, the end to spontaneity of celebrations.

When VAR gets it wrong, there's more bitterness than when a lino errs when making a difficult marginal call.

VAR, like everything else the rich clubs do, is killing football. Get rid.

[Bris Vegas]

I get the impression they want to keep the semi automated offside calls.
 

But scrap all the human decision calls.

Doesn’t that just say more about the standard of officiating?

I can’t wait until we scrap VAR and then see the outcry when nobody gets a penalty at the Kop end and Man Utd are awarded soft penalties.

 

[alexxxxx]

I just think it's poorly used.

Screen should never be used - advice should come directly from the AVAR and shouldn't be used to reref games.

VAR seems to work well in world cup and other tournaments it just seems to be a premier league issue. 

"Clear and obvious error" has been adjusted to "Clear (on replay when slowed down by 10x) and obvious (when zoomed in and replayed 10x) error"

As much as people hate tight offside calls I actually think this is the best thing about VAR.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Throw it in the bin.

It's a game, accept the referee's decision.

Mistakes happen, live with them.

Every player on your team will make a mistake.........

Wrong decisions don't ruin football, whining about wrong decisions ruins football.

 

For saying all that, it's going to be amusing watching forest vote to keep var.

Edited May 16 by RadioactiveWaste

[Crewton]

4 minutes ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

accept the referee's decision.

Ha ha ha.... for a minute there, I thought you were serious 😅😉

 

[Ram-Alf]

4 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

But scrap all the human decision calls.

Doesn’t that just say more about the standard of officiating?

It gives the official a get out of jail free card, Wrong call...VAR takes over, The Stockley Park operator is with his mate and they don't get the abuse the official would.

Ref says VAR taken over and I've been "over ruled" very rarely do refs overturn VAR, The standard of officials has got worse since VAR came to the fore...imo.

Goaline Tech I'm for...everything else...leave it to the man/woman in the middle 👍

Last night Man Utd Vs Newcastle Anthony Gordon has his heel scraped in the penalty area...no pen and no VAR, Sky showed a close up of his sock...a gaping hole and stud marks on his Achilles...these incidents have been given by VAR but with it being Old Trafford...they bottled it 🙄 

[TimRam]

Also have a fan vote. I can imagine the result:-

Keep it.............0%

Get rid..............100%

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

Refs and linos generally do a pretty good job. If they were given a bit more respect by pundits VAR would never have been introduced. Its the cheating players that cause most of the penalty controversies, the offsides are usually very marginal. Hand ball is now farsical. It used to be quite simple, if the hand plays the ball its handball. If the ball plays the hand it isn't. Scrap VAR and pundits for goodness sake!

[Alty_Ram]

I think this comment from a Wolves fan on HYS summarises my thoughts on VAR very well, and note that application of technology any feeling of being victimised has not gone away - just ask our friends down the A52.

"As a Wolves fan, I’m probably a bit biased because we’ve been repeatedly robbed and mystified by VAR decisions or lack of them this year, it’s been ridiculous. But the key issues for me are the ability to truly celebrate a goal, the time it takes and the experience in the stadium. It might be OK for arm chair fans watching repeats over and again and the the commentary telling you what’s happening, but when your in the crowd your often clueless to what incident or player they are even looking at and then 5 mins later you get a decision that your mate texts you is wrong anyway, something has to change, it’s a farce!"

I really hadn't fully considered how bad it might be in a stadium as I have only watched VAR games on TV. I guess you may well be completely in the dark about what is being checked. His points are centred around the matchday experience as much as VAR's fallibility and I think that is telling.

I wouldn't rule it out for all time, but I think it needs a re-think as to the technology and how it is applied and in what situations.

[Alty_Ram]

1 hour ago, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

Refs and linos generally do a pretty good job. If they were given a bit more respect by pundits VAR would never have been introduced. Its the cheating players that cause most of the penalty controversies, the offsides are usually very marginal. Hand ball is now farsical. It used to be quite simple, if the hand plays the ball its handball. If the ball plays the hand it isn't. Scrap VAR and pundits for goodness sake!

I think that the rules that they have made re stuff like handball then necessitates having to put something else like this in place to adjudicate it because you'd need the reactions of a housefly to tell for sure. Also, is the arm in a 'natural position' is just such a subjective decision and has such huge grey areas. A ball smashed against someone's upper arm from a short distance away is just not handball in my opinion.

[Srg]

It won’t get scrapped. Only matchgoing fans hate it, far too many global armchair supporters are in favour.

Football is far too subjective for it to ever truly work. Even cricket has an in-built system which errs towards the on-field umpire. 

Unless it’s automated like goal line technology, it needs completely binning. 

[Alty_Ram]

This seems to be the crux of Wolves' arguments against VAR:

1) Impact on goal celebrations and the spontaneous passion that makes football special.

2) Frustration and confusion inside stadiums due to lengthy VAR checks and poor communication.

3) A more hostile atmosphere with protests, booing of Premier League anthem and chants against VAR.

4) Overreach of VAR's original purpose to correct clear and obvious mistakes, now overanalysing subjective decisions and compromising the game's fluidity and integrity.

5) Diminished accountability of on-field officials, due to safety net of VAR, leading to an erosion of authority on the pitch.

6) Continued errors despite VAR, with supporters unable to accept human error after multiple views and replays, damaging confidence in officiating standards.

7) Disruption of the Premier League's fast pace with lengthy VAR checks and more added time, causing matches to run excessively long.

8 )Constant discourse about VAR decisions often overshadowing the match itself, and tarnishing the reputation of the league.

9) Erosion of trust and reputation, with VAR fuelling completely nonsensical allegations of corruption.

 

Can't argue with too much of that personally.

Edited May 16 by Alty_Ram

[Ram-Alf]

10 minutes ago, Srg said:

It won’t get scrapped. Only matchgoing fans hate it, far too many global armchair supporters are in favour.

Where has this info come from 🤷‍♂️

[ilkleyram]

6 hours ago, Crewton said:

Ha ha ha.... for a minute there, I thought you were serious 😅😉

 

It wasn't so long ago that the referees' decisions - most of them, generally (ie not all), however bad - were accepted by the players who largely got on with the game.  If you watch the footage from the 60's, 70's and 80's then you can clearly see the differences in the game between then and now and that's one of the most obvious ones, at a time when officials were amateur, mostly pretty unfit (compared to the players) and certainly unprepared in comparison to today.  Some of the refs we got in Europe were properly incompetent lardy arses

There's no logical reason why we can't go back to nearer those days if we (football) really wanted to - it's an attitude that needs to change nothing more.  It'll be interesting to see how the 'captains only' rule goes down in the Euros or whether it becomes yet another initiative that lasts 5 games before it's too tricky to enforce

[Ian Buxton's Bat]

I'd keep it but bring in the cricket approach of 1 or 2 reviews per team per half, with the captain having 10 seconds to appeal - if you 'burn' your reviews you lose them and then it's on-field ref alone......but if you are correct, you retain your reviews.

For this to work you'd need that absolute clarity on things like handball, which of course is currently part of the problem.

You could even have 'ref's call' like you have 'umpire's call' in cricket with the benefit of the doubt going to the on-field ref if something is a bit borderline.

In cricket, the teams now blame themselves for bad reviews rather than the umpires getting abuse.

But for next season, for any team that votes to keep VAR, I would deduct 2 points each time they moan about it in post match interviews. Those who vote to bin it have a free hit.

I'd also bring in retrospective 5 game bans for anyone found to have gone down feigning a head injury when there was no head contact......whoever does that can do it at their leisure after the game and enjoy themselves.

[Srg]

32 minutes ago, Ram-Alf said:

Where has this info come from 🤷‍♂️

Take one look on somewhere like r/soccer and you have to scroll past hundreds of posts with 5k+ upvotes in support of VAR.

[TimRam]

1 hour ago, Srg said:

It won’t get scrapped. Only matchgoing fans hate it, far too many global armchair supporters are in favour.

Football is far too subjective for it to ever truly work. Even cricket has an in-built system which errs towards the on-field umpire. 

Unless it’s automated like goal line technology, it needs completely binning. 

None I know are in favour specially with live games.

[RadioactiveWaste]

Is anyone else convinced VAR was pushed for by the gambling industry far more than clubs or fans? Just a thought.

 

[Tamworthram]

4 hours ago, ilkleyram said:

It wasn't so long ago that the referees' decisions - most of them, generally (ie not all), however bad - were accepted by the players who largely got on with the game.  If you watch the footage from the 60's, 70's and 80's then you can clearly see the differences in the game between then and now and that's one of the most obvious ones, at a time when officials were amateur, mostly pretty unfit (compared to the players) and certainly unprepared in comparison to today.  Some of the refs we got in Europe were properly incompetent lardy arses

There's no logical reason why we can't go back to nearer those days if we (football) really wanted to - it's an attitude that needs to change nothing more.  It'll be interesting to see how the 'captains only' rule goes down in the Euros or whether it becomes yet another initiative that lasts 5 games before it's too tricky to enforce

I like your optimism but I can't imagine for one moment the day when players or managers will simply accept the officials decisions. 

[Dimmu]

Have to agree, scrap it.

It's already more expensive to buy the refs when there are four of them, never mind a VAR room full of officials as well.