VAR...now demanded by some

The most amazing thing with VAR is the messing around with milimetres deciding if a goal is offside but they dont give 10 penalties a game when a players shirt is being tugged at corners and freekicks which are clear when watching on TV. Bin it as its use is totally inconsistant like refereeing and other than offsides is still down to a persons interpretation at the time.

I am not against the principles of VAR but the way it is being applied in football is making the case for not having it. The principle of it was to resolve any clear (and in some case obvious) mistakes made by the referee. In that sense it would have been fundamental in the Newport/ Morecombe game as there was some clear and obvious mistakes made by the ref.

Comments about football being free flowing and so VAR cannot work is not a valid argument. Rugby uses the TMO with some fundamental differences. Primarily the ref is in charge and will refer things to the TMO and the ref will make the decision. The TMO can bring something to the attention of the ref but this is then reviewed quickly and the ref makes the final call.

If you need to draw lines to determine if there is a clear and obvious mistake then it is clearly not an obvious mistake. In Rugby the TMO is not used often and there are no lines drawn so does not add significantly to the game. It does not make it foolproof but would have cleared some dubious decisions in the L2 playoff final.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Talking about VAR what about the ref ?

He was suspended for taking the micky out of a disabled person and before you know it he has got a Wembley game.

Granted it was only Morecambe v Newport but there must have been a few refs not happy that he got the job.


PS. Might have to go back in hospital again legs lungs are filling up with fluid again.

Echo what others have said Pete. Hope you are ok. Keeping fighting it mate.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Talking about VAR what about the ref ?

He was suspended for taking the micky out of a disabled person and before you know it he has got a Wembley game.

Granted it was only Morecambe v Newport but there must have been a few refs not happy that he got the job.


PS. Might have to go back in hospital again legs lungs are filling up with fluid again.

Sorry to hear that Pete. Hope everything goes ok for you.

It’s interesting isn’t it? Other countries have VAR and whilst there were teething problems initially, it’s just become part of their top flight game.

Is this another case of arrogance from our leagues not being prepared to go and speak with others, observe how they use it and take the positives? Italian football is bent, we all know that yet VAR has still seemingly worked, granted, there have been some instances that it wasn’t used to its fullest, the Turin derby a year or so a go springs to mind. Again, this wasn’t necessarily VARs issue, more the authorities and their Juve mafia...

We just can’t stop tinkering with it and trying to appease the TV market rather than the actual people genuinely watching or taking part. Take the cup final, had the Chelsea goal stood, nobody would’ve complained or cryarsed.

Is it just a case of us refusing to engage with successes elsewhere and just ploughing on through.

Let’s face it, until the referees stamped their feet en mass their own bosses were telling them not to use the pitch side screens...

The whole thing is a farce in my opinion and detracts from the real reason we watch football but I guess when the vast majority don’t actually watch football for real it just adds to the spectacle of a televised sport...

Clear and Obvious, most of it is neither.

Might get x crosses for this, but we watch the game from about 30 foot up, not directly as the ref sees it, or even the players.

Now the first one wasn't a penalty IMO the 2nd one was, but only after they showed the replay,Who would have given then when it happened! A clear punch in the head shown in slow mo

As for offsides the screen rate of the broadcast is to slow to show the actual play, as for drawing a line, nonsense as most of the time the ball won't have been kicked or it's already gone.

Yes refs do make huge mistakes, alas I can only mostly spot the howlers on a replay normally shown from 30ft up in slow mo

I don't think we'll ever achieve a 100% success rate in decision-making.

I'm not criticising the effort to achieve that level — we all want more correct decisions in our game — but for all the skill in the game, there's also luck.

Luck is part and parcel of any sport. You could have a game brilliantly refereed by the official on the pitch and VAR, but one team benefits from an outrageous piece of fortune to undeservedly win the match 1-0.

It's easier to blame a person than blame luck. The referee may have failed to send off Bristol Rovers' keeper in that 2015 play-off final. Ultimately, that's just another form of bad luck — through a poor individual decision. Rovers fans may say they 'got lucky' from that decision.

I think we could debate this until the cows come home but for me, as someone who enjoys watching live football from the stands, I can accept bad decisions, bad luck, etc. Nothing is (or should be) guaranteed. Sport is meant to be on a knife-edge; that's what makes it so enthralling.

I remember a coach who used to say to us, before every match: "Take the referee out of the equation." In other words, if we were 1-0 up, control our destiny and look to score again, and be protected from a refereeing error.