Standard of Refereeing

[andyh]

The calls the ref got wrong last night were incredible.
It wasnt just the number of mistakes, it was the magnitude of them.

I think VAR has massively diluted the quality of referees and their ability to do the job without their hand being held.

[WassallVillain]

The calls the ref got wrong last night were incredible.
It wasnt just the number of mistakes, it was the magnitude of them.

I think VAR has massively diluted the quality of referees and their ability to do the job without their hand being held.

Only the EPL ref’s. European and international football seems to get along fine with VAR. I’ve not seen too many controversies in our recent euro ventures but it’s multiple incidents per game in the EPL and with interminable time delays.

[Gareth]

And yet again the focus will be VAR or not VAR and again not one journalist will call out Howard Webb for the fact that the referees are not improving and VAR is not improving.  When Riley was in charge they’d be on his back every week…now Webb who was perceived as a better ref is in charge he gets off scott free, just a scripted show with personality vacuum Owen every few months.

[andyh]

And yet again the focus will be VAR or not VAR and again not one journalist will call out Howard Webb for the fact that the referees are not improving and VAR is not improving.  When Riley was in charge they’d be on his back every week…now Webb who was perceived as a better ref is in charge he gets off scott free, just a scripted show with personality vacuum Owen every few months.

Absolutely, and the point I was trying to make above.

[AV82EC]

This is the key point, as was proved yesterday, refereeing is not easy we all get that, but the level of incompetence on show yesterday was staggering. Would VAR have made a difference, probably? But we all know the issues with VAR as well. PGMOL is a shit show from top to bottom.

[HolteL4]

The ref shouldn't have needed VAR last night the mistakes weren't 50:50 they were clear and obvious

[Somniloquism]

The non-penalty decision was the only clear and obvious decision that was purely down to the ref's incompetence, and I still wonder IF he would have been so eager to call it handball if he through Digne was in the box, but I haven't really watched the highlights to see how deliberate the handball was, although some on here have questioned it. Offsides run at about 90% called correctly whilst the Digne challenge is about 90% called yellow.

[Lucky Eddie]

Every professional footballer should have to a referee course in order to be paid to play the game.

[Ian.]

Maybe in the Cup and VAR is not being used they need to use Referees that are not using VAR normally. It seemed like last night the ref and linesmen were useless without it and their skills have been watered down.

They were really poor last night.

[garyellis]

Maybe in the Cup and VAR is not being used they need to use Referees that are not using VAR normally. It seemed like last night the ref and linesmen were useless without it and their skills have been watered down.

They were really poor last night.

That has been my main point Ian about how VAR has been used.
Which seems to be far wider than its original intention.
It’s basically deskilled the officials.
I guess the question is why has this not happened in other European leagues?

[CT Villan]

The scary thought is this is as good as it gets !

These are supposedly the best refs we have, supported by a large 'professional' organization and they are still unable to provide the level of performance demanded by the modern game. They are under increasing scrutiny because of the leaps in technology available to almost everyone and there comes a time when even at their best, it isn't good enough. Maybe we have hit this ceiling...and the answer isn't necessarily more autonomous technology. Can you imagine games reffed by ai, with minimal human input ?

[paul_e]

Blaming VAR lets the refs and more specifically PGMOL off the hook for their both awful lack of basic ability and the clear acceptance of the basic errors that come with with it.

The entire structure needs to be torn up and replaced because it isn't making them better at their job, it isn't making fans more trusting of them and it isn't producing any sort of consistency.

Refs make mistakes, they're human and will have their own biases, misunderstandings and sometimes just won't have a good view, I think everyone would accept that if we didn't have VAR then back up those mistakes and then have PGMOL back up those mistakes by pretending that the laws cover for it, before quietly changing the law to stop it happening again. Be honest about your flaws and stop trying to hide them and there would be a lot more trust.