The Grealish penalty being talked up on Sky , he put his leg in that position Keane and Richard's both acknowledged the fact then took the dive and the pair are loving it
For anyone that missed the Chelsea v West Ham highlights, here's how it started: Here's how it went: And here's how it finished:
It's all well and good, but it doesn't fundamentally change anything, does it? What good does an apology do for Brighton who were robbed of a good goal because VAR official is looking at the wrong player? What good is an apology when VAR officials are 'forgetting' to do their job when checking an offside (Lee Mason has previous for making dodgy VAR calls as well). Howard Webb can be as 'fuming' as he wants. However, when he's chief refereeing officer for the PGMOL, he is responsible for allowing this incompetence to carry on. Until larger reforms are made, we aren't going to see any impactful changes to the way games are officiated. John Brooks has been taken off VAR duty for a couple of matches due to the error in the Brighton-Palace match. Then he'll be reinstated next week and everything will go back to normal. What's the point?
It influences future decisions by the officials. They'll still be ****, but they'll be more careful in matches that involve some teams. Everyone else? Tough ****. Carry on being rubbish. To use an obvious, high-profile example, I'll offer up the Pedro Mendes ghost goal at Old Trafford. A blatant, glaring error that was uniquely poor. No punishment for those involved. Mark Clattenburg then went on to ref the same fixture a few years later. Played advantage on a Nani handball that Utd scored from: please log in to view this image He was then given the match later dubbed The Battle of the Bridge. Having been accused of racially abusing Jon Obi Mikel, he failed to discipline him properly. Asked Fergie for a character reference prior to it, in order to escape his charge. As I've been saying for ages, Bent. As. ****.
If you think people don't make honest mistakes in all works of life, particularly under time pressure then you must live on a different planet to me. VAR has corrected numerous errors made by the onfield officials at the cost of some made by the VAR. That's progress and it will never be perfect. They could make offside pretty automatic by putting transponders on the players and in the ball but it would still require some human intervention.
All refs are crap and make endless mistakes whoever is playing. And the technology is not being used properly, which compounds problems. And football has some badly thought out rules, particularly regarding tackles, offside and handball. Does anyone really know what’s acceptable or not for each of those categories? Is there an objective standard which can be applied consistently? (The answer to both questions is “no”) Who’s the ref for Scouser vs Scouser tonight btw?
Simon Hooper, who's from Swindon and supports his local team. John Brooks has been removed from VAR and replaced with Andre Marriner.
In some professions, making mistakes can have enormous ramifications. You wouldn’t say the same to a pilot, or a firefighter, or a doctor for being incompetent. These mistakes have a direct correlation on the fate of an institution. Also, our officials make too many mistakes yet face minimal consequences. In most other professions, people face legitimate consequences for their errors. If Arsenal lose out on the title by 2 points, the incident with Brentford will be seen as a defining moment. If Brighton don’t get European football by 2 points, the incident at Palace will be seen as a defining moment. I know it’s not exactly the same, but Aston Villa stayed up a few seasons back at the expense of another team (can’t remember who it was? Bournemouth?) because Hawk-Eye failed to work. Why couldn’t VAR have intervened then to let the referee know that the ball had crossed the line? Why was common sense not applied here? I agree with VAR in principle, and am not suggesting we totally scrap it. But changes have to be made because the standard of officiating and the way the rules are applied (or not applied) isn’t working.
Pickford basically running out of the way for the Pool goal It's crazy how bang average he is for club but seemingly great for country.
