VAR officials had four extra days of intense training before the start of the new season — so what on earth were they doing?
It looks like they learned nothing, given the level of controversy in the first round of Premier League games.
Howard Webb must take a more pro-active role in sorting the mess outGetty
GettyNew Man Utd keeper Andre Onana appears to clatter into Wolves striker Sasa Kalajdzic but no penalty was given even after VAR intervened[/caption]
Especially the embarrassment of failing to award a nailed-on penalty at Old Trafford.
PGMOL chief Howard Webb has to be more hands-on with this group of officials and ask: ‘Is this the best team I’ve got to restore English refereeing to the standard it once was?’
He has got to be leading the training and video sessions and must make sure his dressing room is producing on the shop floor.
Wolves should have been awarded a spot-kick when Andre Onana wiped out Sasa Kalajdzic at Old Trafford.
Watching it live, it was a clear penalty and referee Simon Hooper was looking straight at the incident.
Hooper at least had the fall-back option of VAR bailing him out — I wish that I’d had that in my time as a referee!
So when I saw Hooper running over to the touchline on Monday night, I assumed it was to view replays on a pitchside monitor before overturning his decision.
But, instead, he cautioned poor Wolves manager Gary O’Neil for remonstrating with the fourth official.
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I am all in favour of a clampdown on the abuse of officials from players, managers and coaches.
And I am not condoning the behaviour of O’Neil but sometimes we have to show a little bit of empathy.
It was a clear and obvious error, with O’Neil claiming elite referees manager Jon Moss later told him he “could not believe” the decision.
Webb has since made his stance clear by not selecting the officials involved in that incident for this weekend’s fixtures.
Other than referee Hooper, VAR Michael Salisbury and assistant VAR Richard West also paid the price.
Hooper’s performance was not good enough and his decisions left players confused, for example when Aaron Wan-Bissaka escaped a yellow card for a reckless tackle which was a clear caution.
His recognition of offences was not what it should be at that level and the Onana incident highlighted that.
It was not a 50-50 challenge, the ball had gone and Onana was very late on Austrian striker Kalajdzic.
But Hooper was not alone in making questionable decisions.
Getty Images – GettyMark Halsey can understand the frustration of fans, players and coaches after ‘several incidents’ already.[/caption]
There were two penalties from referee David Coote and VAR Wade Smith in Brighton’s 4-1 win over Luton which I thought were very harsh.
Joao Pedro converted one after going to ground with very little contact, with the Hatters extremely fortunate that Lewis Dunk was penalised for handball.
Dunk’s arm was behind him and appeared to be within his ‘natural silhouette’.
VAR Tony Harrington recommended a review for referee Robert Jones’ decision not to award a penalty when Son Heung-min was adjudged to have fouled Mathias Jensen in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Brentford.
However, it was NOT a clear and obvious error and Jones was looking straight at it.
So we had several incidents and you can understand the frustration of fans, players and coaches.
Most of this season’s new directives are aimed at increasing the amount of time the ball is in play.
But the way the games are being refereed seems a bit over the top and lacking understanding and empathy — the game is worse for that.
Refereeing is an art, not a science, and it’s about managing the game and players.
If referees are too focused on time-wasting, players will lose respect because they are not picking up the things they should.
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