Ohhh God...VAR

Now I have settled down from the euphoria ....

It has dawned on me it will be a VAR match.

Given our only exposure to it so far was the dismissal of Fox at Palace then I am naturally pessimistic about "experiencing" it again in this next round.

I hope the coaching staff / players do put some work/thought into playing under VAR conditions...some of the sneaky stuff they can get past an incompetent official at League level could easily be picked up by the VAR and prove costly.

Last night Amos handballed at the Pontoon end which under VAR would easily have been flagged up for instance.

From watching games with VAR and seeing my over 1.5 goal accumulators lose because of it, I'm assuming it will be 8-6 to Town but it officially ends up 0-0 after extra time.

VAR is the worst thing to ever happen to football. I don't buy the "it's just used badly" argument, that misses the point as I shall explain.

However well it is used, however competent the people using it are, however fool proof the tech is it will, always, ruin goals and moments.

An example is the Arsenal v Man U game a couple of weeks ago. Eddie Nkeitah scored a stoppage time winner for Arsenal, cue mass jubilation. In the context of the title race it was a huge moment but then you get the dreaded words "VAR check". Then, some egotistical prat at Stockley Park tried to find a reason, any he could, to disallow it, they checked for offside twice and after about 4 mins the goal was given. It ruined, or at the very least, dampened a potentially massive moment in Arsenal's season.

The game is about goals. Imagine if at Wrexham, after Waterfall headed that winner, we had a 3 minute check to see if Smith had fouled their defender in blocking the lad who was meant to block Waterfall. It's part of the game but they may have disallowed that. It would have completely changed the complexion of that moment for us, it would have been delayed and then the unbridled job wouldn't have been quite as great a feeling. In essence, defeating the very purpose of the game.

In this instance it's just unfair. I remember last season, they used VAR in the L1 and L2 playoff finals, and the managers arranged for officials to come to their training to show the players how it worked, what would now be a pen or handball with VAR vs what wouldn't be without it. Again, for one game, after 48 games without it, players had to change how they played. It's fundamentally altered football and not for the better.

I've not even gone into the ridiculous decisions they come up with, but that could be solved by competent officiating. The fact is ruins goals is insoluble.

If we’d have had VAR at Kenilworth Road we might not have had a replay this week as their penalty should have been overturned.

It's wrong that games at prem grounds use VAR in the cup but not used at any other game.. glad we don't have it in our league either can't stand it

Quoted from LH

If we’d have had VAR at Kenilworth Road we might not have had a replay this week as their penalty should have been overturned.

But we would have missed out on the other night, in that case. Plus a load more money.

However, probably would have been better for my heart rate and stress levels. It was crazy - we were 3-0 up and couldn't relax until the last few minutes of the game.

What a night as I don't normally see night games living down in Surrey.

Quoted from MarinerRob

But we would have missed out on the other night, in that case. Plus a load more money.

However, probably would have been better for my heart rate and stress levels. It was crazy - we were 3-0 up and couldn't relax until the last few minutes of the game.

What a night as I don't normally see night games living down in Surrey.

There was a defining moment in the game, on about 87 minutes, when one of their midfielders shanked a pass out of play for a throw-in, under no pressure whatsoever. You could see, in that moment, that they realised it was not going to be their night. They had given up.

3-nil up, 3 minutes of normal time left, against a team no longer trying, and I was still absolutely papping myself. The life of a Town fan, eh…

Quoted from Poojah

There was a defining moment in the game, on about 87 minutes, when one of their midfielders shanked a pass out of play for a throw-in, under no pressure whatsoever. You could see, in that moment, that they realised it was not going to be their night. They had given up.

3-nil up, 3 minutes of normal time left, against a team no longer trying, and I was still absolutely papping myself. The life of a Town fan, eh…

It's funny, I was totally relaxed second half, despite being penned back for virtually all of the half.

When the first went in, I thought we had scored too early but then we got the second and I thought it might be our night. Once the third went in, I felt like the game was ours providing we could get through the first 10-15 minutes of the second half. After that, I felt confident that they just wouldn't score the 3 goals required to force another 30 minutes.

Quoted from Mariner_09

VAR is the worst thing to ever happen to football. I don't buy the "it's just used badly" argument, that misses the point as I shall explain.

However well it is used, however competent the people using it are, however fool proof the tech is it will, always, ruin goals and moments.

An example is the Arsenal v Man U game a couple of weeks ago. Eddie Nkeitah scored a stoppage time winner for Arsenal, cue mass jubilation. In the context of the title race it was a huge moment but then you get the dreaded words "VAR check". Then, some egotistical prat at Stockley Park tried to find a reason, any he could, to disallow it, they checked for offside twice and after about 4 mins the goal was given. It ruined, or at the very least, dampened a potentially massive moment in Arsenal's season.

The game is about goals. Imagine if at Wrexham, after Waterfall headed that winner, we had a 3 minute check to see if Smith had fouled their defender in blocking the lad who was meant to block Waterfall. It's part of the game but they may have disallowed that. It would have completely changed the complexion of that moment for us, it would have been delayed and then the unbridled job wouldn't have been quite as great a feeling. In essence, defeating the very purpose of the game.

In this instance it's just unfair. I remember last season, they used VAR in the L1 and L2 playoff finals, and the managers arranged for officials to come to their training to show the players how it worked, what would now be a pen or handball with VAR vs what wouldn't be without it. Again, for one game, after 48 games without it, players had to change how they played. It's fundamentally altered football and not for the better.

I've not even gone into the ridiculous decisions they come up with, but that could be solved by competent officiating. The fact is ruins goals is insoluble.

I completely agree and I have argued similarly since VAR was introduced.

As your last paragraph alluded to the decisions are so contentious and margins and incidents so tight they are all disputed, which is why we had a referee in the first place. Yes we are fuming when a ref robs us but would much rather have that happen on the odd occasion that ruining more games than not. Even when they seemingly get it right you see an alternative angle a day or two later to cast doubts.

It has been a disaster.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

It's funny, I was totally relaxed second half, despite being penned back for virtually all of the half.

When the first went in, I thought we had scored too early but then we got the second and I thought it might be our night. Once the third went in, I felt like the game was ours providing we could get through the first 10-15 minutes of the second half. After that, I felt confident that they just wouldn't score the 3 goals required to force another 30 minutes.

So was I , we had it in the bag .