Var

[Welwyn Pilgrim]

Because players integrity has hit an all time low, diving, feigning injuries to get opponents sent off for example then unfortunately I fear it's here to stay. The World Cup will, in my opinion, highlight how bad VAR is. Can you imagine not having an controversial decisions to discuss on here after 5pm on a Saturday?? ..

 

[mervyn]

I have always been a strong supporter of VAR, but so far i’m very disappointed. I’d expected it to be used in the same way as NFL games, where an off-field team immediately reviews the play, within seconds of the ref making the screen sign. The answer is always communicated pretty quickly. Last night’s nonsense of the ref running to a replay screen and running it himself is ridiculous, and of course takes several minutes. I think it’s potentially a good system badly used.

 

[Willis88]

Didn't they stop goal line technology initially as "football should be the same at grassroots and international level", but bring in the more expensive and subjective VAR

No there is goal line technology. I actually like VAR. So controversial tonight it probably was the right decision but it was a very soft penalty. Then again Stones could have been sent off but wasn't so I suppose the decisions are evened out.

The same argument could be made about handball where if it is accidential is it still a penalty?

I know GL tech came in, but there was a delay for a year or so while one of the bodies were saying the rules at one level shouldn't be different to that at another. Whilst I accept VAR is inevitable I would prefer that the use is heavily limited to just vital things.

The next thing on the horizon will be every decision is checked and the ref might as well become a trained monkey for a VAR official sitting in a booth telling him what to say/do.

Football isn't a stop start sport like others so these delays ruin the game.

 

[Jimmytheoneo]

It's a f#cking farse. Anyone who thinks VAR is a good idea is a clueless f#cking clown. In the England match I've just watched the game get held up for 5 minutes only to see a correct decision reversed to a wrong decision. Staggering. Stick your VAR up your arse!

Language Timothy!

 

[Lev Yashin]

VAR is the future,in saying that it is going to be the ruination of our game.
Technology is for the new age money people to make even more sacks of money while destroying everything around them.
Down the road there will be breaks for commercials on every call.
It now takes 5-6 humans and 50 camera angles to get a decision wrong.
Just last week in MLS in the States a ref sent off a player after reviewing for over 5 minutes.
Result was 3 points lost after playing for 80 minutes short.
This decision was overturned on appeal because the opponent was the offender.
Total farce but the three points still lost.
GET RID OF VAR now before it is to late. :furious: :banghead:

 

[Jimmytheoneo]

The argument that it will slow the game down is not relevant IMO
Presently the time wasted with feigning injuries, taking free kicks and lining up free kicks, slows the game down considerably. I know extra time is added, but it still breaks up the flow f the game

Latest stats I have seen says the average premier league game show the ball actually being IN PLAY
for 43 mins!

VAR will happen I'm afraid, FIFA want it

 

[Old Gunner]

I don’t like VAR either but a constant barrage of criticism at officials from all levels has forced the introduction, that along with the amount of money in the elite levels.

If you don’t like VAR you must except all refereeing decisions without exception, no need for a thread like ‘rate the referee’ You know the one where if we win he’s brilliant if we lose he’s rubbish that one !!!!

It’s here, it will stay and it will get better but I can’t see how the flow of the game will not be disrupted, it’s called progress I suppose.

Blimey! A sensible post on VAR--I may need to sit down. VAR is here to stay but it needs to be applied sensibly and quickly. I have no doubt this will happen and that eventually football will do a better job than Rugby--also I would love to see the refs 'miked up' as in Rugby. The abuse of referees at all levels is a disgrace---how we have got to this situation God only knows, but the poor buggers in the middle need all the help they can get. Sometimes it is just anarchy.

 

[Neilio]

I dislike VAR - that moment of elation when you’ve scored and you glance to the linesman, he’s not flagged, and he runs back towards the halfway line. At that moment you know you’ve scored and nobody can take that from you.

Now? Not so much so. And it does kill the elation even ever so slightly. Of course, there will be times it works in our favour but if I had to choose I would ditch it.

Part of the fun of football is the human element. The mistakes made. The talking points on a Monday morning.

That said, VAR still gives us that when it should solve most decisions...

 

[Hores Everywhere]

Clubs, and therefore peoples livelihoods, are now so dependent on what happens on the pitch so I am generally in favour of any system that can correct obvious mistakes in key moments of a game. However, the way VAR's is being run at the moment is not what I was hoping for.

With the decision to use VAR being left to either the referee and/or some 4th official up in the stands, I believe the pressure will be on them to review more and more to avoid being pilloried for not reviewing. This in turn will lead to the game increasingly being stop start which is not what anybody wants. I think the decision to review should be left to the clubs, therefore leaving the referee to, well, referee and apply the laws of the game, good or badly .

If VAR is here to stay I would like to see a similar system that tennis and cricket uses and give each club a set number of reviews it can use e.g. one review per half, if review successful then they keep it, if not its gone and they cannot ask for any further reviews until the next half. This should reduce the number of interruptions during a game, takes the pressure of the officials and puts the onus on the club to get the review right and not waste it for when it really matters. This would still leave lots for debate after the game :stout:

 

[ChepstowGreen]

It's not been without its issues so far but I would far rather watch a VAR monitored game than one where glaring errors can be made by a referee and he/she is the only one to not have seen it.

Agree though it should only be used if the decision in question is very obviously wrong. We'll get there I'm sure. Hats off to the FA / FIFA for being open minded enough to bring it in.

 

[Argyle Since'68]

I dislike VAR intensely. However, it is technology, it is the way most major sports other than football ie cricket, rugby-both codes and tennis have gone one way or the other. If we have to have it in the game then send the review upstairs as cricket puts it, to someone at the ground, not miles away and take the decision away from the match referee who has requested it. A third party decision is fine if that is neutral enough. Let the crowd know what is being decided and they will be happ-ier!
However, fear for the World Cup this summer! Can you imagine the situation : certain country in South America is 1-nil up against England with two minutes to go.......English centre forward is brought down in the box.....penalty....maybe....cue mass crowd around the inexperienced referee who has been allocated the game because it is the World Cup.....VAR says it is a penalty. Scenes of mass chaos ensue. VAR hasn't been developed enough yet and as for the 5th and 6th officials, don't get me started on that one!
D.Inosaur
but willing to be persuaded otherwise ! :stir:

 

[esmer]

We mustn't forget VAR is a work in progress and certainly needs improvement but I'm coming round to the idea.You either accept that the referee is an integral part of the game and accept their decisions without murmur or give them help from technology. The likes of Alan Shearer lambastes VAR and the very next week will crucify a referee for making a decision he disagrees with after he (Shearer) has seen the incident ten times from all angles in slow motion. You can't have it both ways

 

[r4h4al]

I dislike VAR intensely. However, it is technology, it is the way most major sports other than football ie cricket, rugby-both codes and tennis have gone one way or the other. If we have to have it in the game then send the review upstairs as cricket puts it, to someone at the ground, not miles away and take the decision away from the match referee who has requested it. A third party decision is fine if that is neutral enough. Let the crowd know what is being decided and they will be happ-ier!
However, fear for the World Cup this summer! Can you imagine the situation : certain country in South America is 1-nil up against England with two minutes to go.......English centre forward is brought down in the box.....penalty....maybe....cue mass crowd around the inexperienced referee who has been allocated the game because it is the World Cup.....VAR says it is a penalty. Scenes of mass chaos ensue. VAR hasn't been developed enough yet and as for the 5th and 6th officials, don't get me started on that one!
D.Inosaur
but willing to be persuaded otherwise ! :stir:

Well that's basically what happened in the England Italy game.

 

[r4h4al]

We mustn't forget VAR is a work in progress and certainly needs improvement but I'm coming round to the idea.You either accept that the referee is an integral part of the game and accept their decisions without murmur or give them help from technology. The likes of Alan Shearer lambastes VAR and the very next week will crucify a referee for making a decision he disagrees with after he (Shearer) has seen the incident ten times from all angles in slow motion. You can't have it both ways

He did make an excellent point on his Twitter that Var should only be used in clear errors therefore it shouldn't have been a penalty and England should have won the game...

 

[esmer]

We mustn't forget VAR is a work in progress and certainly needs improvement but I'm coming round to the idea.You either accept that the referee is an integral part of the game and accept their decisions without murmur or give them help from technology. The likes of Alan Shearer lambastes VAR and the very next week will crucify a referee for making a decision he disagrees with after he (Shearer) has seen the incident ten times from all angles in slow motion. You can't have it both ways

He did make an excellent point on his Twitter that Var should only be used in clear errors therefore it shouldn't have been a penalty and England should have won the game...

It's not necessarily for errors, it's more when the referee doesn't have a clear enough view of the incident or wants a another look at it to help him make his decision. On Tuesday the referee was understandably unsure of what happened so he consulted the VAR and decided , quite rightly in my opinion, that it was a penalty. You may disagree with him but at least the referee had a good look at it and made an informed decision.