Uh yes. VAR IS the idiots that are using it. You don't think some computer decides, do you?
It's an ASSISTANT REFEREE with a video screen. So, I repeat - VAR must go.
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It's an ASSISTANT REFEREE with a video screen. So, I repeat - VAR must go.
They've very intentionally tried to convince people that the line-drawing is somehow computerized.
The whole thing is a study in human psychology, and a pretty damning one.
Literally zero ever, and the whole enterprise depends on being able to characterize the opposition as having this mouth-breathing troglodyte attitude about it.
It's exasperating seeing this from people who should be smarter than that.
And then back to obvious offsides not being given and getting angry about that.
Until they sort out these blurred images where they are trying to get decisions down to millimetres, it is all a load of bollox. They are just guessing whether a blurred defenders knee is in front of an attackers blurred foot.
But the fundamental thing for me is where and when they freeze the frame. When they see the ball moves it is already far too late and probably 15 frames behind.
But the fundamental thing for me is where and when they freeze the frame. When they see the ball moves it is already far too late and probably 15 frames behind.
Absolutely - I'd rather have a moan about an incorrect offside decision, made by a human being in a fraction of a second, than accept that someoene's left knee hair is in advance of someone else's bruise on his arse, when they're 20 metres apart and are being judged by 20pt bitmap lines worthy of Photoshop 4 in 1996, being drawn by Mike Dean (who doesn't want to be there anyway) and his Mates.
Right, if the tech gets to the point that it can be instantaneous and inarguable like goal line tech, we're having a totally different conversation. The impact on the spectacle of the game must be zero. That is an absolute non-negotiable precondition.
Not only does that require greater technological power though, there are theoretical issues there much more challenging than "all of the ball over all of the line" when we're talking about offside.
What they were up to with the semi-auto offsides at the World Cup was an interesting advance in that regard, but nowhere near what would be required, and it was a farce they deployed that at the apex of the sport.
Perhaps I've misunderstood you, but "all of the ball" or "which body-part" etc. are simple non-issues.... However set, as long as they are universally adhered to, then it doesn't matter.
Body parts aren't as sharply delineated as goal lines, nor is the concept of "the moment the ball is played".
When we're talking about inches, this stuff matters.
Getting this right would almost certainly necessitate living with a pretty healthy fudge factor, which to be clear I would be fine with.
It's all doomed to failure if you don't start anchored to the commitment that any impact on the spectacle of the game is unacceptable.
At some point; close is close enough. The tech just feels way behind the curve......
30 seconds stoppage here and there doesn't bother me tbh.... It's the taking 5 minutes to decide if something is "clear and obv" or not that's shit and utterly contradictory.
Team of refs and assistants all from same country I think
People thought refs were shit pre var now they think they are Bent because it's more agrevious when obvious ones are missed even on video.
It was always going to be that way
I was thinking the same.
If we go way back… before technology there was just the ref. The watching of the game was overtaking the refs to get a 100% correct game.
We all recall Pedro Mendes - how embarrassing, the officials missed a clear goal that TV could easily highlight in slow-motion. Then we also recall Frank Lampard scoring a non-goal against Germany in the World Cup (football’s most watched tournament)… fast-forward and even worse - in two separate games, Chelsea were granted goals against Tottenham in which nobody saw the ball cross the line. Referees made such bad decisions that you could imagine it was corrupt. Including the moronic response from Lampard, “Well, I think I’m owed one from…”
Tottenham used to show replays of highlights of home games at half-time and got in trouble for showing a Ronaldo dive for a penalty. Whereas SKY TV could show referees’ failure… they didn’t want clubs showing the same failures and mistakes mid-game.
So, after all of this, it took ages to get goal-line technology.
Then came VAR and the rise of “celebrity refs”. Who remembers Clattenburg at one clash with Man U where Clattenburg played advantage to Tottenham for a handball by Nani, only to allow the same offender, Nani to score a goal? Well, there, Clattenburg either interpreted the laws of the game so poorly he should not have been allowed to ref Sunday League OR he deliberately/selectively applied the law of the game.
This is the same Clattenburg that refereed the, “Battle of the Bridge” and thought he could jump on a bandwagon by claiming he refereed the game in such a manner to allow himself to be absolved of blame, should Tottenham’s title bid fail. That any of our remaining fixtures result in a non-win would result in Leicester winning the League OR Leicester winning another game would win the League was by-the-by. He claimed - after the fact - that he deliberately mis-refereed that game.
Now we have another referee piping up that he did something like this but with VAR. Is he telling us he was a weak ref OR trying to discredit VAR OR just trying to stay relevant? Who knows? Who cares? Shut up about how you refereed the game.
We can all go back and referee games. We can all cry injustice. Hell, we could re-referee the England World Cup games versus Argentina and rule out Maradona’s goal or Peter Crouch’s for pulling the hair of a Trinidad defender.
But especially, can referees just do a sodding competent job in Tottenham games so that we don’t get to hear them bleat 2 years later that they did something wrong that did us a favour!
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