VAR did prove Roger East was right over the Penalty call, it could have been a lot worse if that had gone the wrong way.
There was still the lottery of the GK guessing the right direction. The shot was in the right place but lacked pace or conviction.
Well, mostly it's because the handball rule as it stands needs changing.Take the Doucoure handball last year, which almost certainly would have been overturned had VAR been in place (or if the refs spotted it initially). But under the letter of the law, it's highly questionable as to whether it constituted deliberate handball...while the ball traveled a long distance, he was moving his head down in a failed attempt to head it, and his hand did not move in a way toward the ball that wasn't consistent with his running motion. He just fluffed his header and got supremely lucky, probably because he had half an eye on the huge man in green charging at him. It was blatant, but it probably wasn't deliberate. Yet everyone here would agree that the goal should have been overturned, and it absolutely should have been, because the law itself is the problem; if enforced to the letter, virtually every handball would be deemed incidental. Hence, there's effectively a tacit agreement to ignore the actual rule in favour of a more stringent version, and the only time the actual rule gets brought up is when one's team is penalized for handball.
Under the current wording of Law 12 the goal should have stood, under the current interpretation of the Rule, by the Premier League, it was disallowed, there is a need of clarity on the intention of the Rule, but at the moment it is down to how the individual authorities determine how they understand it. We are disgruntled because the majority of decisions are going against us and all have been critical at a time when we are in a bad way and are making things worse. So we protest that we aren't getting a fair deal in a very hostile environment, I think we have that right to express our opinion?.
I have a lot of sympathy for what you’re saying, but I foresee huge implications if the law were changed. If the ultimate logical change were to happen then all handballs would be penalised, from deliberate, premeditated movements to completely accidental brushes. In that situation the nature of football would then change, as attackers would give up trying to work moves through crowded penalty areas in favour of simply kicking the ball towards the nearest defender’s arm. I’m not saying the law shouldn’t be changed, but it certainly shouldn’t rule out accidental handball completely. The real problem is consistency. Different refs have different ideas about “accidental”, and the worst of them vary their own tolerance throughout matches. That’s what needs to be addressed rather than the laws of the game.
There is a need for clarity on the intention of the rule, absolutely. But every team's fans believe that the majority of decisions are going against them. I don't really see any indication that the majority of decisions are actually going against us; the call against Redmond was consistent with the way that the handball rule has been interpreted for many, many years, and the only genuinely bad call against us was the disallowed goal by Austin.
What I'd aim for is a change to the rule that brings it closer to agreement with the way that the rule is already interpreted. Basically, if the handball is avoidable (so, not ball-to-hand), and it provides an advantage to the team committing the handball, it's an offense.
VAR was used to clarify the intent, there was no intent, so it didn't do its job correctly, not VARs fault, but the individuals using it getting it wrong, that's how I saw this one, but take in to consideration, that I am highly biased.
Especially when we can all look forward to a thrashing from Man Utd on Saturday. Although I actually expect them to thrash us one nil.
But again, intentional handball is about as common as alien abductions. Turning it into a controversy because the law was interpreted in the fashion that it has been interpreted for a good 40 years is a bit silly; no ref (or fan, for that matter) judges handball that narrowly. No one complained bitterly when we got a penalty awarded when Bissaka handled the ball in the Palace match...something that was absolutely awardable under the general interpretation of the law, but was absolutely unintentional.
Exactly, the decisions aren't being made on it being deliberate, they are being made on an opinion about whether it affected the outcome, that isn't what the current Rule says.
Go back to the game thread for the Palace match and find me all the Saints fans frothing that we were awarded a penalty for what was not a deliberate handball. Fans are forever strict textualists when doing so favours their team, and open to a much more liberal interpretation when it goes against them.
