Ref Watch

[Bozzie]

Good point. How many times has the referee been told to check the monitor then not reversed his original decision? I can't think of a single one. Even the commentators know and tell us the decision is going to be overturned.

So is the referee actually making the decision, or is he carrying out an instruction? It wouldn't surprise me if Riley has told them, for the good of their career, to reverse their original decision whenever they are told to consult the monitor. And these decisions are actually being made by those in the VAR room. It again raises the question of the role of the mysterious Match Commanders.

The rationale behind that is that, in theory, VAR only sends the referee to review an incident because they've identified something that the referee hasn't seen. So the Arsenal penalty would presumably have gone something like: VAR: "There was a shirt pull, did you see it?" REF: "No" VAR: "Maybe review it on the monitor then" Ref goes and sees it, reverses his decision and gives penalty which, you could argue, is VAR working exactly as it should.
That doesn't explain what VAR could possibly have seen in the Jota incident yesterday which is why VAR and PGMOL need to become entirely transparent and fans should have an official explanation of the decision making process.

 

[TonyColemansbagofapples]

For what it's worth, I reckon Spurs were badly treated at Chelsea because united need lots of assistance to reach top four. Expect to see West Ham, Spurs and Arsenal receive a few dodgy ones

 

[Bozzie]

Fuckinhel you need to read other clubs Forums mate, They don't just think we get the odd decision. We in fact run PIGMOL. Even influence them over other games to benefit us. Am not joking either. Corrupt oil owners corrupting Officials.

Look if we can afford to 'buy' UEFA, the Premier League and CAS, Riley and his band of cheapskate old bastards at PGMOL will be small change for the Sheik.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

The PL are responsible for employing PiGMOL ( if I understand correctly ) , and would also like the PL be be competitive . I don't recall any such issues from them when the rags were dominant and winning it regularly.

That to my mind introduces a conflict of interest and the oppoertunity to influence the way that PiGMOL operates . A truly independent organisation to manage the referees and VAR would at least be a level of " influence " removed from the PL and its running of the league.

Also who is the nameles Individual known as the Match Commander and what is his/her remit in the VAR process?

And the transparency of the supporters being able to hear the conversations between the referee and VAR operative would be a massive help for fans, but possibly unpalatable to both PL and PiGMOL because they could be held to account for their
" questionable" decisions.

But as pigs can't fly, probably none of the above will happen !

 

[The Light Was Yellow Sir]

Allow me to put a case forward for the penalty.
The fact that Jota lost control of the ball is irrelevant. If a player loses control of the ball in the area but gets clattered by an opponent including the goalie then it's a still a foul and therefore a penalty.
So then the question arises did he 'buy' the foul by moving into the keeper. I think he did but players do this all the time both outside and inside the box and get rewarded for it.
So on that basis the penalty decision could be justified.

Let’s say that you’re right, your final sentence sums up entirely why VAR should not have got involved.

 

[Chris in London]

Yes, but what I am saying is it was the correct decision. We seem to get screwed with decisions that are no brainers that are not given. Examples being Milner not sent off at Anfield, the non-penalty on Foden last season and many, many others.
I really am trying my best not to get too wound up by the corruption in this league but hardly a week goes by where we are on the arse end of a bad decision or dippers / united benefit

I completely agree, the decisions we get are the ones there's not really much to argue about. The only genuine 50/50 call we have had in our favour I can think of was the Odergaard penalty shout in the Arsenal game.

 

[chaddblue]

Ref watch with Dermot Gallagher about to start on sky sports. This should be interesting

 

[Chris in London]

The rationale behind that is that, in theory, VAR only sends the referee to review an incident because they've identified something that the referee hasn't seen. So the Arsenal penalty would presumably have gone something like: VAR: "There was a shirt pull, did you see it?" REF: "No" VAR: "Maybe review it on the monitor then" Ref goes and sees it, reverses his decision and gives penalty which, you could argue, is VAR working exactly as it should.
That doesn't explain what VAR could possibly have seen in the Jota incident yesterday which is why VAR and PGMOL need to become entirely transparent and fans should have an official explanation of the decision making process.

Likewise the decision to disallow the equaliser against the rags (Villa?) for a foul on Cavani that the referee had seen and said 'no foul'?

 

[Bozzie]

Ref watch with Dermot Gallagher about to start on sky sports. This should be interesting

It was interesting because Gallagher has pretty much confirmed what we all suspected, that VAR has influenced the decision making and therefore the result of the game. To their credit, Sue Smith and Stephen Warnock have agreed and called both decisions (Liverpool's second goal and the penalty) as incorrect.

 

[Colin Bells Boots]

It was interesting because Gallagher has pretty much confirmed what we all suspected, that VAR has influenced the decision making and therefore the result of the game. To their credit, Sue Smith and Stephen Warnock have agreed and called both decisions (Liverpool's second goal and the penalty) as incorrect.

Wow that is totally unexpected.