20 Aug 2023 09:17:26
Regarding the clear and obvious issue, I feel the interpretation of when to implement it is incorrect. It seems currently that var is using it in a way like ‘I can understand why the ref has given such a decision’. That is a nonsense. It’s not there to provide justification for why the man in the middle may have come to his conclusion. It is there to objectively see whether the decision made is clearly and obviously wrong.

Last weekend wolves were denied a pen in what was clearly an obviously an error in not giving one. Yesterday on review, it was clearly and obviously not a red card. The only one thing that could constitute a red was height, but this could be mitigated in the context of it being a bouncing ball.

Last night we see Gordon make two challenges that are both likely to endanger a player more and yet var deem one a yellow and one nothing. It simply means we are not using var to implement rules, simply to protect referee mistakes.

Cheers.

1.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 10:36:00
VAR is a great tool.

Unfortunately it will always be let down by the tools in charge of it.

2.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 10:48:03
I think the referees make so many errors that we’ve had to raise the bar. It’s gone from “clear and obvious error” to “this guy might be on ketamine”.

{Ed025's Note - love it Thomas..

3.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 10:56:56
Absolutely Wassa. If it’s used to help abide the rules and come to the correct decision then perfect. If it’s used to provide justification for incorrect decisions in a ‘oh well I can see why he may have come to that conclusion’ way, then absolute waste of time. The way it’s currently used, you could consistently make the wrong call and the actual rules of the game won’t be enforced. Ridiculous.

Cheers.

4.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 11:29:01
The problem Greggers is that so many of the decisions are subjective.

So that leaves it in the hands of the a group who for too long have been more concerned about giving the impression the onfield decisions are right rather than reach the actual right decision.

The irony is we all understand that refs will make wrong decisions and given the speed of the current game that is inevitable. We would care less about those initial mistakes if they rectified them.

5.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 11:41:52
For non medicos people! Ketamine causes dissociative anaesthesia! That was absolutely brilliant!

6.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 12:35:32
Dead right Wassa.

7.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 13:16:41
I completely agree Wassa. I understand onfield decisions can be made in error. Yesterday the ref clearly made his decision based on the reaction of the player on the receiving end. He didn’t make his call until he thought the player was badly injured (good play-acting) . You are right, that is where var can come in and help. Although many decisions are subjective, there are things that help to make it more objective. For example, what constitutes a red card in a tackle? Excessive force, endangering an opponent, leading with studs, straight leg, out of control, two-footed, high, reckless, intent. Out of 9 stipulations to make a red, you can maybe argue 1. Based on that, it is easy for var to say there is not enough for a red. But like you say, they are not implementing it properly.

Cheers.

8.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 19:07:18
I agree VAR is a mess but I think that is down to how it’s implemented and used by the officials and how we as fans think it is/ should be implemented. I remember watching a programme before it’s first season where the ref in charge of it outlined how it would work with clear and obvious. The ref tells the var what he has seen and if what the ref has seen tally’s with what the VAR see they don’t intervene, even if they disagree with his decision. So for example, yesterdays ref says Mac went for a tackle and caught the opposing player on the shin- red card. The VAR looks at the image and says yes that’s what happened, even if he doesn’t think it’s a red they don’t then intervene. I kind of understand that, in the sense it’s only the on field ref making those decisions then- however there needs to be something for when the var (and don’t they have an assistant? ) both think the on field official has got it wrong- even when he describes the incident correctly. Would there be any harm in all red cards being reviewed again on the screen, or having a supremo ref in the VAR studio signing off on all straight red cards, after all if they go to appeal and it’s recinded, surely there should be a way of doing that instantly so as not to affect the match in which it happens?

9.) 20 Aug 2023
20 Aug 2023 23:36:35
Well put, Waqqas.