Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

The problem is the FA appear toothless to actually do anything about these awful decisions.
Occasionally a ref is told to take a week off but how does that right the wrong?
Football is run by very unsophisticated people who see a problem repeatedly occur but don't have the ability to correct it.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

The problem is the FA appear toothless to actually do anything about these awful decisions.
Occasionally a ref is told to take a week off but how does that right the wrong?
Football is run by very unsophisticated people who see a problem repeatedly occur but don't have the ability to correct it.

I think the thing needs scrapping myself Reg, if it completely eliminated all controversial decisions from the game then  yeah given the money at stake you could probably make an argument for it but it hasnt, the controversy is still there, just in a different form. As far as I can see all VAR has done is take the spontaneity out of the game and wind people up even more.

[kazza]

The problem is the FA appear toothless to actually do anything about these awful decisions.
Occasionally a ref is told to take a week off but how does that right the wrong?
Football is run by very unsophisticated people who see a problem repeatedly occur but don't have the ability to correct it.

I think the thing needs scrapping myself Reg, if it completely eliminated all controversial decisions from the game then  yeah given the money at stake you could probably make an argument for it but it hasnt, the controversy is still there, just in a different form. As far as I can see all VAR has done is take the spontaneity out of the game and wind people up even more.

Absolutely. The thought of a tool that will help referees see what they missed is a brilliant idea and an easy sell to fans that have grown up complaining at referees. Our complaints were that it will slow the game down but I think most would have been happy with zero officiating mistakes which is what we all wanted and thought we were getting. As it happens the decisions (or lack of them) that have been made have shaken the confidence in the whole system, people now are happy to return to individual human error mistakes the refs used to make regularly because at least it was in keeping with the match.

I think it’s all about accountability, when refs made mistakes the fans would react, the refs had nowhere to hide. Fans would boo and call him a w@nker, it was raw but it was real. Now it is sterilized by “big brother” far from the action by one individual that doesn’t seem to have any accountability. He makes poor decisions that change the course of matches, we are forced to accept it, sky whitewashes it even though it is news and then you get ex referees still paid by the FA “explaining” why which just confuses more. People always complained about officiating but now it just seems more cynical.

[devaney]

Is it any wonder that a lot of people accuse football of being corrupt. That penalty decision was perhaps one of the most disgraceful things I have ever seen in football. I have not heard one single person except the most deluded Man City supporter suggest that it wasn’t a penalty. Even Micah Richards  agreed that it was a penalty and he is City through and through. Chris Kavanagh who was the VAR referee lives 5 miles from the Etihad and there is a strong suggestion that his brother is a Manchester City season ticket holder. For him to suggest that there was insufficient evidence to over ride the referees decision was absolute nonsense. It was a blatant handball. Bad enough that the incredibly incompetent Paul Tierney who is from Wigan was incapable of giving the penalty but for VAR not to take the appropriate action literally stinks. THIS NEEDS INVESTIGATING.

I totally agree that VAR simply isn’t working and should be scrapped. Do we really want offside positions forensically examined to the very last millimetre. Why don’t the same rules apply to offside decisions? The linesman should raise his flag immediately he thinks there is an offside offence and VAR should determine whether the linesman made a clear and obvious mistake. The process is floored.

[Reg]

Interesting comments Gents. What we're saying is that we need a VAR post mortem but as it exists it's doing more harm than good, it's referred to too often and is taking away responsibility and accountability from referees on the field; and that the FA for whatever reason seem unwilling to reappraise the system and make the significant changes required to make it function according to it's brief. It's a shame this discussion isn't in the VAR Discussion thread!

For me, the majority of the problem is the failure of the VAR official to make the right call. The on-field ref's job hasn't changed. It's the lack of logic coming from the official hundreds of miles away at Stockley that is causing the system to fail, so: either the VAR official has to be at the stadium and physically watching the game to appreciate the style and tempo of the game, or you have to have more professional VAR officials.

Once again I say that the problem is far deeper than just VAR, football referees are far inferior to rugby referees in all aspects of control, respect and transparency so to some extent you're trying to put a fire out by hosing down the wrong part of the tree.

[Reg]

Premier League referees are being let down by Mike Riley who is unfit to lead PGMOL
Officials should be held to account but they are hopelessly overworked and mis-managed

KEITH HACKETT 1 March 2022 • Daily Telegraph.

There are some Premier League referees who earn more than the Prime Minister so it is absolutely right that they are held to account.

The decision from Chris Kavanagh, the Var official, not to give Everton a penalty against Manchester City was a basic error. I could not believe it when the Premier League initially tried to justify it.

It was right that Mike Riley has finally apologised but the whole thing has been a total mess. He should have held his hands up on Sunday and gone to see Frank Lampard right away.

But I have some sympathy for Kavanagh. We’re flogging our referees to death. Kavanagh was officiating in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, in the game between Slavia Prague and Fenerbahce. And it was hardly a quiet night in the office - he gave five yellow cards.

I know people will say he was only sitting down in front of the monitor at Stockley Park. But that’s not the point. He would have flown home on Friday, then taken another flight to Heathrow for the game on the Saturday. It’s mentally draining and he should have been given a rest.

Instead, he was selected for the game, put in the firing line and has now been publicly harangued for his mistake by Riley, his boss. Ultimately, Kavanagh is carrying the can for the real error - which was Riley appointing him to the game in the first place.

But Riley and the PGMOL do not seem to have learned their lessons. I’d have stood Kavanagh down, given him some time to reflect and work with the referee coaches. Instead, he is back in the middle in the game between Leicester and Burnley on Tuesday. What good does that do him?

Human beings make errors. A centre forward who keeps missing the back of the net gets dropped. It isn't about punishing a referee, it’s about giving them appropriate operational advice. I did it all the time.

When I had incidents like this, I’d take a pro-active approach. I’d be on the phone to managers, I’d visit the training ground. I remember David Moyes being unhappy with Marouane Fellaini getting so many yellow cards. I went to see him, we had a frank discussion. We didn’t agree on everything, I stood by my decisions, but by the end Moyes had a greater understanding of how I operated as boss of the referees.

I don’t think this is happening now. The communication under Mike Riley is very poor. He’s a bad manager of referees and he should no longer be in charge.

[kazza]

But I have some sympathy for Kavanagh. We’re flogging our referees to death. Kavanagh was officiating in the Europa Conference League on Thursday, in the game between Slavia Prague and Fenerbahce. And it was hardly a quiet night in the office - he gave five yellow cards.

I know people will say he was only sitting down in front of the monitor at Stockley Park. But that’s not the point. He would have flown home on Friday, then taken another flight to Heathrow for the game on the Saturday. It’s mentally draining and he should have been given a rest.

This guy says he was tired (bless), Gallagher on sky says he concentrated on the wrong tv angle ( ) . If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck it’s probably a fecking duck.

[Reg]

I don't think a duck would have made such a basic mistake!

[red till i die!!]

It's totally corrupt and no amount of tinkering is going to magically fix it either.  There can be absolutely no excuse  offered that justifies Rodri getting away with that handball other than cheating.  Bottom line is that this stuff should not be happening and especially given the technology they have at their disposal.  Everyone and their dog could see it but somehow a qualified match official couldn't  . 

Getting done by a referees mistake was bad enough but this is far worse. There is more than one person in that box as well which makes it laughable that they are still getting it wrong.

[red till i die!!]

He was tired      are people seriously swallowing that ***** ?.

[devaney]

Kavanagh lives 5 miles from the Etihad. His brother is a City season ticket holder allegedly. Tierney lives in Wigan. As the Americans would say “YOU DO THE MATH”

[UvS xR4GEx]

Wasn't Kavanagh and Tierney the duo that robbed us vs Spurs with not sending Kane off?

[kazza]

Ruben Diaz looks to miss the next 4-6 weeks through injury, could be a key moment.

[redshade]

Kind of getting fed up monitoring every City match now. They face Palace away this evening, if only they lose.

[Reg]

The run in for LFC and City, IMHO no one club has got an easier set of fixtures.

LFC:Wed 16th March 20:15 Arsenal  A
Postponed Manchester United H
Sun 20th March 18:00 Nottingham Forest A
Sat 2nd April 12:30 Watford H
Sun 10th April 16:30 Manchester City A
Sat 16th April 15:00 Aston Villa A 
Sat 23rd April 15:00 Everton HSat
30th April 15:00 Newcastle United A
Sat 7th May 15:00 Tottenham Hotspur H
Sun 15th May 15:00 Southampton A
Sun 22nd May 16:00 Wolverhampton H

Man City:
Date To Be Confirmed Brighton H
Monday 14 March Crystal Palace A
Saturday 2 April Burnley A
Sunday 10 April Liverpool H
Saturday 16 April Wolves A
Saturday 23 April Watford H
Saturday 30 April Leeds A
Saturday 7 May Newcastle H
Sunday 15 May West Ham A
Sunday 22 May Aston Villa H