VAR has become the absolute star of the Premier League. Goal involvements, drama, endless debate. No players can claim such fame, such attention, such coverage. I fully expect all football news sites to eventually have a 'VAR' section, where the latest developments are covered breathlessly, 'Favourite VAR moments' are counted down, and VAR highlights are shown on a loop. Eventually VAR will become so all-encompassing that we send it out in a space mission, so that any alien species it encounters might drink in it's very real benefits. We will broadcast a beam of pure VAR from NASA headquarters, acting as a beacon of hope and goodness in a universe full of blinking stars.
VAR was created for broadcasters as no-one in the game really wanted it did they?
As a result they get more to talk about...and strangely when they are not playing each other the Top Six teams still seem to get all the decisions going their way to me. (This may just be an easily disproved personal opinion...)
The top 6 are in the top 6 because they score more goals and spend more time attacking. Some of the smaller teams will rightly moan if one decision costs them the game but wouldn't care so much if they were already 3-0 up.
VAR (the non-automated stuff) is at least twice as a subjective not less subjective.
When you see the penalties given for shirt pulls (on Hartland just now against Chelsea), if we'd had it when Bayo played it would have been dozens each week. Of course none of them were, nor was it today.
Like when people wonder why say Liverpool or City get more pens than other teams, yet ignore that they spend a high percentage of the game attacking, with tricky fast technical players.
There's no way the whole process hasn't got refs worried, confused and full of self doubt. There used to be a fair bit of evening out and refs were rated on the overall performance in the game or season with the occasional big decision blown up in the press, now every time they give any decision they know 6 people are sat in a room watching it primed to tell the world they got it wrong and to potentially stop the game for 5-10 minutes of general confusion followed by managers and ex pro meltdowns, 2 days of trial by TV and possible demotion.
What doesn't help is that they don't have a voice. Yes, Howard Webb does his TV show once a month to go through some hand-picked scenarios to explain why they have got it right and the process going on behind it. However, I think that show would be better if they got some of the front line referees on it to go through their thought process and why they did what they did.
Before VAR, referee's on the Prem had a confidence about them. Whether it was because they knew they were in control or the pressure on them to perform wasn't as great, but I think they were more respected than they are now. VAR has given them a weakness and without sharing the conversations at real time or being more transparent about the decision making, no one knows or understands some of the decisions that are being made.
@StrongestTeam you aren't wrong about the threat of demotion. This threat is ingrained in referees since they get to Level 4 status (clubs at Flackwell Health and Risborough Rangers level) that. At this level if a referee is in the bottom 5% nationally, they will be removed from the list. This means that if they have a few bad assessments, from potentially old-school assessors who haven't refereed for over 20 yrs telling them incorrect things, they can be removed from the list. This continues all the way up to the Prem and that fear culture is ever present when it comes to February / March time (that is the cut off point for grassroot assessments). The PGMOL officials are all on a year rolling contract, if they don't perform to a level, they don't get their contract renewed. They will be demoted to Championship level where it's more cut-throat before being cast off into the rest of the EFL. Yes, they will still referee in the EFL, but they aren't there on a Full-time, paid basis.
So...I was watching highlights of a Premier League game recently, and there was a VAR incident/controversy, as is the wont of every game now.
What suddenly struck me, is that in a video of only so many minutes of highlights (eight minutes, perhaps?) they played the ENTIRETY of the wait for the VAR decision. So perhaps a quarter of the "highlights" was VAR itself.
I know I am probably just slow on the uptake, but this was the point it really hit me that VAR is now officially part of the entertainment. Now I will go punch myself in the face.
But at least after the wait once the entirely correct decisions have been made with no room for error there is no need for any post match discussion by pundits.
Comments
I can't see where anyone has said this, so one more thought:
Big six teams: "Our players have to play too much. Waaaah, waaaaah!"
Also, Liverpool: "We want to replay this game and put another 100 minutes on players' legs."
Presume we can close this thread now?
ROFLMAO
No, there will be another incident for us to talk about by Monday!
I read this and hoped I'd missed the news where they've scrapped it, alas it's not on the BBC sport pages so I can still only dream.
Has something new happened?
no, just that surely there is no longer a debate as to its merits?
VAR has become the absolute star of the Premier League. Goal involvements, drama, endless debate. No players can claim such fame, such attention, such coverage. I fully expect all football news sites to eventually have a 'VAR' section, where the latest developments are covered breathlessly, 'Favourite VAR moments' are counted down, and VAR highlights are shown on a loop. Eventually VAR will become so all-encompassing that we send it out in a space mission, so that any alien species it encounters might drink in it's very real benefits. We will broadcast a beam of pure VAR from NASA headquarters, acting as a beacon of hope and goodness in a universe full of blinking stars.
That, or bin it.
Oh god, it's gonna be option A isn't it.
I can already see Lineker, Shearer & Richards doing one of their Top 10 VAR moments/f**k ups.
Send a copy of this thread to the PL. I'm sure they'll see that VAR is a 'clear and obvious' error.
VAR was created for broadcasters as no-one in the game really wanted it did they?
As a result they get more to talk about...and strangely when they are not playing each other the Top Six teams still seem to get all the decisions going their way to me. (This may just be an easily disproved personal opinion...)
Two part answer:
The top 6 are in the top 6 because they score more goals and spend more time attacking. Some of the smaller teams will rightly moan if one decision costs them the game but wouldn't care so much if they were already 3-0 up.
VAR (the non-automated stuff) is at least twice as a subjective not less subjective.
When you see the penalties given for shirt pulls (on Hartland just now against Chelsea), if we'd had it when Bayo played it would have been dozens each week. Of course none of them were, nor was it today.
One of those largely held, but lazy opinions.
Like when people wonder why say Liverpool or City get more pens than other teams, yet ignore that they spend a high percentage of the game attacking, with tricky fast technical players.
I am nothing if not lazy @Malone
Eze's yellow card yesterday was bizarre. I swear refereeing was of a better standard before VAR.
They never seem to be given in our matches…furious shirt pulling and arms around bodies at corners from both teams
Of course, if Sam Vokes breathes on a defender it is another story!
There's no way the whole process hasn't got refs worried, confused and full of self doubt. There used to be a fair bit of evening out and refs were rated on the overall performance in the game or season with the occasional big decision blown up in the press, now every time they give any decision they know 6 people are sat in a room watching it primed to tell the world they got it wrong and to potentially stop the game for 5-10 minutes of general confusion followed by managers and ex pro meltdowns, 2 days of trial by TV and possible demotion.
Thanks to the posters who downvoted the very thought that I am at all lazy. My self esteem is boosted.
Said exactly that yesterday while watching.
What doesn't help is that they don't have a voice. Yes, Howard Webb does his TV show once a month to go through some hand-picked scenarios to explain why they have got it right and the process going on behind it. However, I think that show would be better if they got some of the front line referees on it to go through their thought process and why they did what they did.
Before VAR, referee's on the Prem had a confidence about them. Whether it was because they knew they were in control or the pressure on them to perform wasn't as great, but I think they were more respected than they are now. VAR has given them a weakness and without sharing the conversations at real time or being more transparent about the decision making, no one knows or understands some of the decisions that are being made.
@StrongestTeam you aren't wrong about the threat of demotion. This threat is ingrained in referees since they get to Level 4 status (clubs at Flackwell Health and Risborough Rangers level) that. At this level if a referee is in the bottom 5% nationally, they will be removed from the list. This means that if they have a few bad assessments, from potentially old-school assessors who haven't refereed for over 20 yrs telling them incorrect things, they can be removed from the list. This continues all the way up to the Prem and that fear culture is ever present when it comes to February / March time (that is the cut off point for grassroot assessments). The PGMOL officials are all on a year rolling contract, if they don't perform to a level, they don't get their contract renewed. They will be demoted to Championship level where it's more cut-throat before being cast off into the rest of the EFL. Yes, they will still referee in the EFL, but they aren't there on a Full-time, paid basis.
So...I was watching highlights of a Premier League game recently, and there was a VAR incident/controversy, as is the wont of every game now.
What suddenly struck me, is that in a video of only so many minutes of highlights (eight minutes, perhaps?) they played the ENTIRETY of the wait for the VAR decision. So perhaps a quarter of the "highlights" was VAR itself.
I know I am probably just slow on the uptake, but this was the point it really hit me that VAR is now officially part of the entertainment. Now I will go punch myself in the face.
But at least after the wait once the entirely correct decisions have been made with no room for error there is no need for any post match discussion by pundits.