The Championship 2020-21

There is nothing wrong with VAR in terms of the the technology, it’s just the ability to replay video. The issue is stupid rules and incompetent officials using the technology. If a referee can make stupid, illogical decisions in a live game they can make stupid illogical decisions reviewing footage. Some of the handball decisions are farcical as are some of the offsides when someone’s arm is slightly off but their feet are further back than the defender - but these are not the fault of VAR, these are the current rules, which are wrong, but has nothing to do with VAR.

 

Spooky. For some reason I dreamt she'd died!

 

Not from my view but no problems. I can’t start worrying about other teams. One team is enough at the moment

 

Perish the thought,she has a points deduction for Swansea a and public boiling for The Banjo Player to deal with!

 

I am not sure they would have Samba just launches himself towards Gray and wasn't really in control.

 

The Australians have implemented it really well, the refs conversation is broadcast and they use the monitor a lot. It doesn’t take away from the game.

 

Absolutely agree! Before the introduction of VAR there was a lot of talk about being consistent but surely the key is allowing a ref to use his common sense. Very few situations are exactly the same and apart from the facts (often debateable in themselves), there are subjective things like the context of the game, what has happened building up to an incident, the force of a tackle, a player's intent, the individual players and so on.

 

Thanks for putting me right on that one!

 

If anything is bringing the game into disrepute it is the chronic cheating that is completely overlooked in the game. VAR can only help so much.

The main thing wrong with var is the lack of transparency. Pgmol think they are protecting refs by making their conversations private but it just makes people hate the system and the refs more.

Put the replay on the big screens. Let us hear their conversations.

It would likely make the refs more human, whilst also would allow people to hear the ridiculous dissent allowed by refs from players.

Maybe simplify the offside rule to just include the feet. That will make offside calls much easier to judge (if it doesn’t seriously impact the ability of linemen).

Cracking down further on diving and surrounding the ref would also make refs lives easier.

Only the captain should be able to approach the ref. If the player audibly disagrees with a refs decision, it’s a warning then a yellow. If they do anything in an aggressive manner, including approaching or crowding the ref, then everyone gets a yellow.

There should also be a team who seek to identify people going down too easily (this includes players who have been touched without enough force to knock them down, those that grab their head when touched in the chest etc), with retrospective bans gives to repeat/ serious offenders.

But the lawmakers are cowards, and will continue to tweak the rules without serious change.

 

Let's be clear.

The only thing worse than no video replays for refs is having VAR.

 

I totally agree with you. After so long away from going to Watford I'm giving serious consideration if I'll go back as a STH. The game is riddled with cheating now and it has become normalised. It even got to the stage on Saturday that Lineker and his chums on MOTD were taking the pi5s out of the hysterical screaming from players - https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/1368352056835272713 - which stemmed from this - https://twitter.com/1904Irrelevants/status/1368487155253846022 - the physio wasn't required despite him screaming more than my wife did whilst pushing a 7lb human out of her lady bits.

The Swansea lad on Saturday chucked himself to the ground to con the ref and cost Boro a goal, the lad on Tuesday did it to win a penalty at Stoke, Sarr did it against Preston, Lerma last weekend...it is a totally normal part of the game now. I'm 36 but feel slightly old fashioned in that I preferred the older version of the game when it was a tougher game and a game of skill whereas now it is about who can cheat the best but with no consequence. The Championship is still a far more entertaining league to be in than the Premier League but both are getting worse and worse.

Football was better when it was more drama than theatre.

 

They also had the stricter 'respect' campaign where players were instantly booked for berating an official. It went well for a few games until Rooney screamed 'facking winker' in the face of a lino at Vicarage Rd, the ref bottled booking him and the campaign died on it's backside at that very second.

 

Championships a funny league, no VAR and a lot more gets waved on by the ref. You could see Sarr and Pedro among others gradually realise what was a free kick is now permitted. Partly thats a problem, you have to scream and appeal for a free kick or the ref plays on. It doubles the chamce of cheating, bournemouth kick Pedro but he doesnt roll about screaming, no yellow card, maybe no free kick. Pedro clips Lerma, rolling, screaming and crying ensues and a yellow card comes out.

 

I'm not sure I totally agree with that. For a few years now players have hidden behind the excuse "I have to exaggerate the fall/scream it or the ref won't give it", but that is an excuse. Sometimes they scream and fall at the merest touch, not to 'highlight the foul' but to make it look like a foul and con the ref.

I'm in no way defending the referees in this country because I think they are abysmal, but what doesn't help them is the relentless cheating nature of the game and fanbases being prepared to look for any excuse to defend their own players.

 

I agree with this, and have done for 3/4 years. Referees often do and quite rightly get berated for incompetence or being fooled. But I would suggest that they do not often make bad decisions on purpose. Yet relatively little is done about players who purposely cheat, and for me that is much worse because not only does it often succeed, but referees can no longer believe what they see, and that makes their decision making so difficult on occasions. If a player goes down after a challenge, it used to be a question if there a deliberate or reckless foul. But these days, he first has to decide whether the player fell over or dived. I think that the FA should draw a line in the sand and tell players that if they are seen to clearly cheat, then they will be suspended. It must be clear and without dispute, but there should be a concerted effort to wipe this cheating out of our game.

 

I fear cheating is too ingrained in the game now and the Premier League are too scared of losing the big boys to do anything about it.

If we lived in a VAR free world would you rather;

A - In an FA cup final a Watford player dives to win a penalty which is converted and we win 1-0
B - In an FA cup final, no Watford player dives and the game is clean but finishes 0-0 and Watford lose on penalties

 

B

 

Good suggestions, Miked. Another option would be to steal from cricket and allow each team to ask for two VARs per half. Otherwise, only the ref to call for it when the onfield officials aren't sure.

 

Thanks. My feeling is you will be in the minority.

*Edited - I think you'll be in the minority and most would take the dive and the win.

 

Good question. If the culture remains unchanged, then A. If it's cleaned up, B.

I'd like Watford to be on the good side of normal, but not absolutely Boy Scout if nobody else is.

 

The big sea-change came when ‘intent’ was taken out of the definition of a foul. In the days when the ref did not have to give a foul for contact if he thought there had been a genuine effort to play the ball by the ‘offender’ there was much less scope for the insane number of fouls that are now given. All the crap about ‘well he felt the touch so was entitled to go to ground’ was redundant. Banning the tackle from behind, when you could only ever touch the ball after wiping out the opponent, was a correct step, but the way it has led to more & more anti-contact legislation is killing the game & plays right into the hands of the orchestrated cheat academies many clubs seem to be.

 

Personally don't think I'd care much about Gary Lineker's disapproving tweet while I'm bollock-arse naked in the pond after 10 bottles of San Miguel

 

The biggest problem IMO is that ref's don't give fouls now anymore, unless players make a meal out of it. You quite often see players like Mane stay on their feet and the foul isn't given, whereas Salah goes down at the slightest contact and normally gets the decision.

 

They do give fouls. The biggest problem is they get conned. I turned on the TV last night, within 60 seconds Moura took a dive and Cahill got booked. Nobody bats an eyelid.

Ref sees that back and next time Moura goes down he doesn't give a kick because he knows Moura has conned him previously, people then complain players have to exaggerate the fall to get a free kick. Vicious cycle caused by players.

Players are responsible for making life harder for an already inept group of referees.

 

I'd disagree, it seems to me like referees give fouls far too often, particularly if it's somewhere uncontentious, even for the most minor of contact. It is spoiling the game rotten.

 

I agree with you. One of my footballing pet peeves is when defenders under pressure fall over and 99% of the time get given a FK for no reason.

My point was more that diving has been encouraged by refs who didn't punish fouls where players don't make a meal out of it.

 

We used to have some of the best refs in the world, as was shown in old World Cups. Now we have no top-level refs.

I suspect we can blame the abysmal behaviour of Sunday League players for discouraging people from taking up reffing, which means there's a smaller pool of talent to rise up into the pro game.