I quite like living in your head but it is a bit crowded now and there are a number of familiar faces. We have just put together an escape committee so watch this space
Pity he didnât speak up when Kovacic wasnât sent off against them the other week.
Said he didnât care. Because they won.
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The way I see this going⌠the more voices starting to question both the VAR and poor calibre of the refereeing in these games, whomever those voices may belong to, will highlight that the crucial importance of officiating, goes way beyond the capabilities, and thinking acumen, of a certain Howard Webb. Bringing more and more pressure on the PGMOL, through this ever increasing chorus of voices, is probably the only way that change/s, for the good of the game, will be brought aboutâŚ
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What has happened about the review of PGMOL officials doing a foreigner in the Middle East?
I think we have to be a lot more nuanced than just raising up any complaint as worthy of attention and in the interest of improving things. For the noise to have productive value it has to be credible, defensible arguments. For all the legitimate complaints about VAR far too much of the conversation focuses on either self-interested parties making bad faith arguments (EtH arguing the other week the offside line was not straight) or people who donât know the rules, or both. Airing those only dilutes the legitimate criticisms and has the effect of already making what we suffered against Spurs being filed away as just the stuff that every manager has to deal with.
I think its important for people to be conscious that the majority of people making noise about these issues do not care about seeing real improvements. They are doing it only to stoke discontent for the sake of chasing clout (one of the more well known twitter accounts focusing on VAR mistakes didnât even know that offside calls with a subjective element like the Maguire one from this weekend cannot be made by VAR and require pitchside monitor review to overturn), clicks or eyeballs. The conversation definitely needs to be had, but we all need to be a lot more discerning of what issues we raise otherwise the complaints very quickly lose credibility.
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There are some problems around how the laws are applied. We saw an incident yesterday where VVD was wrestled to the ground during a corner. That is a foul and should be a penalty but these are almost never given, to the point that when the rule is applied correctly it is seen as an injustice (and terms like âsoftâ penalty are used.)
The other thing is double yellow cards. In practice, players are given at least three shouts at a yellow with either the first offence being a warning or the ref actively letting a player off on a second yellow card offence.
If that is done consistently, I really donât have a problem with it, but it is when it is applied inconsistently and the second cardable offence does result in a sending off or the WWF manoeuvre in the box results in the penalty that the problems start. There is an injustice there but the officials have applied the law precisely as written so there canât be any justifiable complaint.
Itâs that consistency that is the key and it would help if the officials are a bit more open about how they are applying the rules. I also think they need to be actively monitored for potential bias as well. I know that when these analyses are done they always show up discrepancies. Itâs not only in England, either. This survey came out earlier this year from Italy:
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Dermot Gallagher said the âholdingâ incident with Virgil was a foul, therefore a penalty, but then goes on to excuse the referee and VAR, by saying âwe see that sort of challenge every weekâ. Of course you will see it every week, if referees refuse to do anything about it.
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Itâs a penalty, but what are we refs supposed to do armed with only a whistle and the near god like authority to decide if it should be given?
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But you do if you want Shitty to win everythingâŚ
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I think we both have chatted about this before and I am gobsmacked that the refereeing fraternity donât put a stop to these fouls for holding. Whether it is the rugby tackle on Virg or a pull of the shirt, it is a deliberate act, not mistimed, not accidental but a pre meditated act.
Yes at the beginning there would be a lot of pens, but players would soon get the message and then would then have to learn to defend and challenge for the ball properly.
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Wasnât there an attempt a few years ago to start giving pens but it was abandoned after a few weeks? I have a vague recollectionâŚyes I know.
Was it Skrtl or Lovren who was really good at getting away with it?
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MNF looking at Newcastle goal.
No mention of the possible Handball by Joelinton again.
Skrtel,
Yes and I think it was just Atkinson applying the rules to the letter of the law, gave a few deserved pens and then they deserted it, I am at loss why
If implemented it would make the game an even bigger spectacle whether it would result in more goals is moot as I think defenders would become better rather than cheating to gain an advantage
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Ex-Sky Sports anchor Richard Keys says two pundits were ordered NOT to criticise referees
Richard Keys has claimed that two pundits received calls from a high-ranking Premier League official to ask them not to criticise officials.
The former Sky Sports anchor, who now leads beIN Sportsâ coverage, has suggested that rival broadcasters are being censored when it comes to their analysis of refereeing mistakes. Keys has ripped into the PGMOL and claimed that the batch of officials are âno longer fit for purposeâ.
âHere we are again. Every f****** week. It simply isnât good enough,â he wrote in his weekly blog.
âIt canât go on. I repeat what I said recently - our current crop of match officials arenât fit for purpose. Theyâre hopeless. And theyâre ruining the best league in the world.â
His comments come after another week of controversial decisions in the Premier League. The most high-profile of which came during Arsenalâs defeat at Newcastle. Anthony Gordon scored the only goal of the game, with the strike only allowed after a lengthy VAR check.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta branded the decision a âdisgraceâ in his post-match comments, with the club subsequently backing up his rant. And Keys believes the Spaniard was well within his rights to hit out following what he labelled as âone of the biggest injustices of the seasonâ.
He went on to suggest that while he and partner Andy Gray were able to speak freely on the topic, pundits elsewhere are not afforded the same luxury. Keys added: âIâm in the luxurious position of being able to say what I think about the falling standards of officialdom in our top league - but imagine taking a call from a high ranking PL broadcast official reminding you who pays your wages. Scary.
âIt happened to two people that I know recently. The message was clear âstop criticising the refsâ. What sort of world are we living in when people who run the game also want to steer the narrative?â
Sky pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher took umbrage with Artetaâs - and Arsenalâs - comments in the wake of the defeat in Tyneside, with the former labelling the clubâs statement as dangerous.
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The trouble is that Arsenalâs statement looks very bad faith. When the VAR fuck up happened in the Spurs game, they werenât just silent - they were openly dismissive of our anger.
To kick off now, with menacingly worded statements and stuff, after one subjective decision, and not even a particularly egregious one, is really quite lamentable. Especially as they were very, very lucky Havertz wasnât sent off.
Refereeing is a shitshow at the minute. We all know that. But this is starting to take the mood of a pile on now, and one where the objective is not better refereeing, but a competitive advantage/preferential treatment. Clubs are kicking off about the kind of subjective 50/50 decisions that have always been something you sometimes get and sometimes donât.
The best thing that could happen now is that everyone agrees to shut the fuck up about the referees from this point. Just leave it now. Weâre are the point now, with clubs press releasing their list of refereeing grievances after every defeat, that the argument starts being undermined.
But at the end of the season there needs to be some kind of summit organised where clubs and PGMOL can come together and work out together how they want games to be refereed.
Standard of refeering and not VAR is the issue
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I didnât realise that. What did Arsenal say? Was it Arteta?
On the Arsenal one, ball out not conclusive, offside unsure not seen it, push on Gabriel is the only one they can argue about and for me it is a foul two hands in the back, a clear push. Fuck what the pundit ex players say as if it happened to them they would be ropable.
I learned as a young 18 year old player, I gave away a penalty as the captain of a team in a South Yorkshire cup final, reason, a push, their player was backing in I put 2 hands up to stop him, btw we were nowhere near the ball and the ref gave a penalty. I learned my lesson after that never went up for a ball with 2 hands in players back.
The moral to the story as that at lower levels we are penalised, however in the PL and league they get away with it, a push is a push simple
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The Spurs manager has changed his tune over VAR since they played us.
Fat cunt.
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