VAR Discussion Thread | 2024/25

[Dialog]

VAR has been successful most weekends since it's introduction.

I am not sure how much you remember but VAR in its first season was a nightmare especially to us, CITY. It looked like it was designed to stop us. I was forever cursing and frustrated at the B.S calls that were thrown at us!

 

[kaz7]

I think this season has been a massive improvement in VAR. Getting involved in far less than it has in previous seasons and in general far less fucking around with matches cause of VAR.

it looks like a positive change , i am going by what pigmol have done in the past and i think they will change it several times in one season though

 

[BlueHammer85]

Talk sport last night they were interviewing ex Leeds player Beckford. Commentator said “you’re playing in the best league in the world. Better than the Prem.”
“Really? Why do you say that?”
“Because the fans and players can celebrate every goal just like they should do - going wild and not wondering if it’s going to be ruled out by VAR. VAR has ruined the moment when you score and go mental. And that’s the whole reason we go to the game isn’t it?”
So a 100% poll against VAR from Talk Sport.

Yet fans still go pretty mental every time a goal is scored, I was in the home end at Spurs v West Ham and every time the ball hit the net fans were going wild around me.
Now, my anecdotal evidence doesn't speak for everyone and I've every sympathy and understand that the instant gratification for a goal nowadays is slightly hampered - For me its worth the price if we're getting a fairer outcome for others it's not.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I am not sure how much you remember but VAR in its first season was a nightmare especially to us, CITY. It looked like it was designed to stop us. I was forever cursing and frustrated at the B.S calls that were thrown at us!

Yes first couple years for VAR was always going to be a minefield and it highlighted to me just how hard it was for officials to call, was always going to take a good few years to implement changes and improve - it always will.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Dont talk shite now

Was you pleased VAR was in place to award Citys goal at the weekend or would you preferred to leave it to the officials?

 

[kaz7]

I am not sure how much you remember but VAR in its first season was a nightmare especially to us, CITY. It looked like it was designed to stop us. I was forever cursing and frustrated at the B.S calls that were thrown at us!

What mark doesnt understand is how we have crashed into the cartel and they have tried a few things to put us back in our box , the first couple of years they used var to knobble us , we were guinea pigs for var and they went to great lengths to var check everything with all the lines to disallow goals , the stand out games being that game against the dippers when taa handballed it , arm out stretched but olivar let the game play on and they went up the other end and scored an offside goal , we have only just got a pen at the swamp in a decade or so despite young and his disgusting assault on sergio which had him out for months for instant , i think he was booked for diving !

Rant over

The offside goal at the swamp last year , i could go on forever . Finally they gave us a fucking goal

 

[kaz7]

Was you pleased VAR was in place to award Citys goal at the weekend or would you preferred to leave it to the officials?

It has given us something finally , taken five years of ruling loads out and checking every inch of , in particular sterlings goals , you can get the bunting out if you want , you dont understand what the cartel do to try and stop us . The red shirt plus your seedy club and spurs , now proven in the case we brought against the prem , that there are unfair rules to stop us and the above clubs gave evidence on the prems behalf

You are not in our shoes so bog off

 

[Dialog]

Yes first couple years for VAR was always going to be a minefield and it highlighted to me just how hard it was for officials to call, was always going to take a good few years to implement changes and improve - it always will.

I get that, in the early years, it would have been a minefield. When it came to CITY, we were deliberately targeted, and VAR was the tool used to try to stop us. The calls felt too personal. Most decisions went against us—it was daylight robbery!

 

[halfcenturyup]

Yes first couple years for VAR was always going to be a minefield and it highlighted to me just how hard it was for officials to call, was always going to take a good few years to implement changes and improve - it always will.

No. It was a minefield because it was incompetently planned and introduced. I don't know what you do for a living but critical systems should be stress-tested before being implemented. As far as I can see they weren't tested at all. You are accepting incompetence as normal.

 

[halfcenturyup]

Was you pleased VAR was in place to award Citys goal at the weekend or would you preferred to leave it to the officials?

I think we were all amazed that the referee had rejected VAR's judgement to rule the goal out. It's that good that no-one had any idea what was going on. Did anyone actually know the goal had been ruled out on-field and the referee was checking whether to overrule it?

And, in any case, you don't know what the referee was thinking now he has the VAR safety net. I can't believe he saw Bernardo interfering with the goalkeeper (because he wasn't) and, as far as I could see, no-one was appealing for it at the beginning. Maybe he thought disallow it and let VAR sort it out. Wrong choice. If he didn't see it (and he couldn't have) he shouldn't have cancelled it in the first place.

What made this decision so controversial was the fact it was a last minute winner which naturally sent both sets of fans and coaching staff over the edge, a complete lack of clarity over what the on-field decision and the VAR review was about and, finally therefore, a complete mystery as to what the referee was doing at the screen.

Everyone who wanted City to win had been delirious when the goal was scored, then infuriated at the length of time being taken to "check" it, then disconsolate when the referee went to the monitor to check the goal (we know what that means), then delirious again when the referee (we thought) had ignored VAR and still given the goal.

Everyone who wanted City not to win, went through the opposite emotions at all the same stages. Guaranteed emotional over-reactions.

You may think it's a win for VAR. I saw it as a completely unnecessary emotional distraction. Imho, the referee should have allowed the goal if he didn't see anything, VAR would have checked it in the background. Done and dusted. Less fuss, less drama, less controversy.

 

[BlueHammer85]

It has given us something finally , taken five years of ruling loads out and checking every inch of , in particular sterlings goals , you can get the bunting out if you want , you dont understand what the cartel do to try and stop us

But wasn't it easier for the ''cartel'' to prevent you and stop you prior VAR when officials can just disallow goals and give penalty decisions against you with no recourse ?

As backed up by many, pre VAR Man Utd were getting farcical penalty decisions and other decisions their way on a weekly basis - do you not think you were more screwed over prior VAR?

 

[BlueHammer85]

No. It was a minefield because it was incompetently planned and introduced. I don't know what you do for a living but critical systems should be stress-tested before being implemented. As far as I can see they weren't tested at all. You are accepting incompetence as normal.

It was already implemented in other leagues before the PL, so the PL wasn't the ones to bring it in.
However, i did argue at the time they should have focused on one specific part of VAR and implement it more slowly - ie: for the first season have VAR just for offsides, the following season bring it in for red card decisions etc etc, i think that would have worked better. However, it was always going to take a bit of time, unfortunately fans don't allow that- practically every set of clubs felt VAR was against them, West Ham i think had the most decisions against us with VAR, everyone around me screaming and crying corruption every time it happened, Saw that most of my fellow fans just loved to vent anger rather than be rational.
still, with time, its more accepted by our fans and the bed wetters have calmed down now with all the conspiracy nonsense.

 

[halfcenturyup]

Still, with time, its more accepted by our fansand the bed wetters have calmed down now with all the conspiracy nonsense.

I haven't :)

 

[kaz7]

But wasn't it easier for the ''cartel'' to prevent you and stop you prior VAR when officials can just disallow goals and give penalty decisions against you with no recourse ?

As backed up by many, pre VAR Man Utd were getting farcical penalty decisions and other decisions their way on a weekly basis - do you not think you were more screwed over prior VAR?

They still get many pens , like wise the dippers are the same , var hasnt made much difference , we need to take on pigmol to get the truth about the red shirts getting more favourable
decisions , a lot of it at the start was the hold the piss can had over the officials , one of the assistant refs was my brothers best mate and he talked about the pressure they felt at the swamp , he put huge pressure on them

I hope one day we take on pigmol or when pep writes a book after he has left i reckon he will let rip

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

They still get many pens , like wise the dippers are the same , var hasnt made much difference , we need to take on pigmol to get the truth about the red shirts getting more favourable
decisions , a lot of it at the start was the hold the piss can had over the officials , one of the assistant refs was my brothers best mate and he talked about the pressure they felt at the swamp , he put huge pressure on them

I hope one day we take on pigmol or when pep writes a book after he has left i reckon he will let rip

This week's "not enough contact" will be next week's "there's contact...". Same with the often trotted out "applying common sense" or "by the letter of the law".

It was not, is not, and will never be a level playing field with the PiGMOL in charge.

 

[Phil1]

Mark really, really likes VAR doesn’t he!! Haha!
Imagine caring so much you have to post every single time someone says they’re not a fan!

 

[spider blue]

It was already implemented in other leagues before the PL, so the PL wasn't the ones to bring it in.
However, i did argue at the time they should have focused on one specific part of VAR and implement it more slowly - ie: for the first season have VAR just for offsides, the following season bring it in for red card decisions etc etc, i think that would have worked better. However, it was always going to take a bit of time, unfortunately fans don't allow that- practically every set of clubs felt VAR was against them, West Ham i think had the most decisions against us with VAR, everyone around me screaming and crying corruption every time it happened, Saw that most of my fellow fans just loved to vent anger rather than be rational.
still, with time, its more accepted by our fans and the bed wetters have calmed down now with all the conspiracy nonsense.

Christ,how righteous do you come across.

 

[BlueHammer85]

They still get many pens , like wise the dippers are the same , var hasnt made much difference , we need to take on pigmol to get the truth about the red shirts getting more favourable
decisions , a lot of it at the start was the hold the piss can had over the officials , one of the assistant refs was my brothers best mate and he talked about the pressure they felt at the swamp , he put huge pressure on them

I hope one day we take on pigmol or when pep writes a book after he has left i reckon he will let rip

Or you are just hard wired to think the ''cartel'' are anti man city and pro Man Utd and Liverpool and you will never ever change your stance.

I personally felt Man Utd got many favorable decisions prior VAR on a far more regular basis , I also felt so many players dived with zero contact and were awarded penalties , notably Salah. I don't want to go back to those days. I am acceptance of the odd controversy when the vast majority of decisions are now reviewed and analyzed fairly and leads to the correct outcome.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Mark really, really likes VAR doesn’t he!! Haha!
Imagine caring so much you have to post every single time someone says they’re not a fan!

I'd rather keep it, but if we scrapped it and fans can accept the outcome without crying, moaning and calling conspiracy to the officials outcome then I'd be more than happy to see it gone.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Christ,how right you come across.

thankyou sir.