Having watched a lot of Championship games this season ( no all including Burnley ) I have to say that the overall standard of refereeing has been diabolical
My only solution is to bring VAR into play from next season. Not saying it will correct every mistake but it will certainly take away the unlimited power that Championship referees and assistants clearly have Whatever they do there is no redress on them. No VAR assists officials who are corrupt or exceptionally useless. They are making this league a laughing stock

No thanks.

Whilst I don’t necessarily disagree or agree, which decisions would VAR have corrected tonight?

VAR won’t improve the standard of the referees.

Quite whether the poor decisions even themselves out over a season, I’m not sure. I would however, still rather accept that mistakes can and will be made, than having VAR.

We’ve seen plenty of debatable VAR outcomes ourselves to know that it’s not the answer to improving things.

Nope.

VAR has drastically reduced the standard of on field refereeing.

Championships games have their own version of VAR… some bloke in the refs ear telling him what to give as opposed to it being done “visibly” by everyone being told it’s being looked at.

VAR is a brilliant idea, but it’s been managed by imbeciles.

FCBurnley wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 11, 2025 11:37 pm

Having watched a lot of Championship games this season ( no all including Burnley ) I have to say that the overall standard of refereeing has been diabolical
My only solution is to bring VAR into play from next season. Not saying it will correct every mistake but it will certainly take away the unlimited power that Championship referees and assistants clearly have Whatever they do there is no redress on them. No VAR assists officials who are corrupt or exceptionally useless. They are making this league a laughing stock

NO NO NO
VAR is the worst thing in football

FCBurnley wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 11, 2025 11:37 pm

Having watched a lot of Championship games this season ( no all including Burnley ) I have to say that the overall standard of refereeing has been diabolical
My only solution is to bring VAR into play from next season. Not saying it will correct every mistake but it will certainly take away the unlimited power that Championship referees and assistants clearly have Whatever they do there is no redress on them. No VAR assists officials who are corrupt or exceptionally useless. They are making this league a laughing stock

I'd rather have a referee like Ward than have VAR spreading it's destruction of football ever further down the leagues.

No. I'm a firm believer that these things even themselves out over the course of a season.

bobinho wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 11, 2025 11:51 pm

VAR has drastically reduced the standard of on field refereeing.

This!

VAR would not overturn Egan-Riley's red card because there was contact. It would not give a penalty for handball because the ref didn't give it. VAR has two purposes - one, to correct obvious mistakes; two, to disallow perfectly good goals and take away the enjoyment of scoring. The beneficial effect of point one is more than offset by the negative effects of point two.

If they would stop the "offside by an eyelash" rule and go back to level=onside, I'd be fine with VAR. Most of its other problems are caused by the refereeing standards as a whole being so rubbish.

We've had some poor refereeing display this season. Last night was particularly abject. The problem is, though, that these refs are the best around. There is no point demoting or sacking them because there isn't a pool of superrefs waiting to take their place.

Anyone who has spent any time in or around grassroots football will have a fair idea of why that is. Not many people (normally kids) want to put themselves through that experience every week and work their way up to being a professional ref.

I'd much rather rage at the referee in real time for a few minutes than for 7 minutes whilst they decide if Ashley Barnes has a bigger nose than a defender.

I obviously want us to get promoted but the thought of us getting battered every week AND var makes it based completely on the financial impact it has on the club

For many, we have grown up without VAR.

Refereeing and linesman decisions, either good or bad, were just part and parcel of the game and like today are a topic for discussion.

Whilst being largely accurate, VAR just takes away the emotions of the crowd when a goal is scored. The ball hits the net and is given on the pitch by the officials but within a matter of seconds the ref has got a message in his ear that the decision requires VAR.

Celebrations curtailed and then it becomes a pantomime.

The anti-fan passion-killer that goes by the name of VAR can do one.

God no.

northernpowerhouse wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 11, 2025 11:57 pm

No. I'm a firm believer that these things even themselves out over the course of a season.

I hope so, we will be in for a glut of penalties in the last 9 games if true

I've no issue with people being against VAR but then it has to be accepted that it is no longer whether a foul is committed, rather it is whether the ref has seen it. Added to this the pundits etc can't expect the ref to see what they can from their position of 5 different camera angles and at slo mo.

Ref standards as such have never been higher , due to the training etc etc . However the microscope which they come under coupled with some pretty fine cheating skills by the players means the human error aspect is ludicrously amplified . Especially with 50/50 type decisions which would once just pass off , they’re now over analysed to find that someone was more at fault so let’s just blame the refs .Its impossible for the ref to see what the tv cameras can do.

I’d just like to see referees have to watch a game back and explain their decisions. Have the integrity to admit their mistakes. If the couldn’t see something because they were facing the other way, or a player was obstructing their view, say so. It’s a part of the game, no one is 100% perfect 100% of the time. Same with the linesmen. This would make them better referees in the future.

I'm sure there must be some element of this, just not to fans.

AlargeClaret wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 13, 2025 10:08 am

Ref standards as such have never been higher , due to the training etc etc . However the microscope which they come under coupled with some pretty fine cheating skills by the players means the human error aspect is ludicrously amplified . Especially with 50/50 type decisions which would once just pass off , they’re now over analysed to find that someone was more at fault so let’s just blame the refs .Its impossible for the ref to see what the tv cameras can do.

Not to knock the substance of the point, but Tuesday's ref saw quite a lot of fouls that the TV cameras didn't.

If players' fine cheating skills was the problem, then it would be less of an issue. Players cheat absolutely blatantly and still get free kicks for it - that's what the PGMOL is doing to the game. They train the refs to give far too many free kicks.

Do I think it all evens itself out over the season? Absolutely not

Do I think the referees are good enough? Absolutely not

Do I think VAR would make it better? Absolutely not

VAR is only as good as the person using it, the technology available, and the rules governing it. None are fit for purpose. And even if we sorted out the technology and the rules, we'd still have the same referees making the decisions, just in a different place. They can't even get the easy decisions right. They won't get the difficult decisions right, no matter how many replays they look at

AlargeClaret wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 13, 2025 10:08 am

Ref standards as such have never been higher , due to the training etc etc . However the microscope which they come under coupled with some pretty fine cheating skills by the players means the human error aspect is ludicrously amplified . Especially with 50/50 type decisions which would once just pass off , they’re now over analysed to find that someone was more at fault so let’s just blame the refs .Its impossible for the ref to see what the tv cameras can do.

Agree and add in the law changes which have made situation more complex.

There was a terrible sending off at the end of the Hull game last night. Hull player went through, Oxford player bundled him over (maybe a penalty, maybe a coming together), Hull player got a second yellow for simulation.

Referees can determine the results of games without VAR. Not saying they do but they certainly can and with so much betting on football it would be no surprise Bookies always want to give themselves an edge especially in Vegas. Follow the money. It’s no different to politics !!!

I hate VAR with a passion. Cannot stand the way it robs you of the spontaneity of celebrating a goal.
Refereeing is a difficult job and there seems to be plenty of them not upto it but I’d like to believe that decisions even themselves out over the season. Whether that is the case, who knows?
But a definite NO from me.

The attitude along the lines of:

'It doesn't really matter if we don't get the correct decision'

Is seriously outdated now.

equinox wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 13, 2025 1:39 pm

The attitude along the lines of:

'It doesn't really matter if we don't get the correct decision'

Is seriously outdated now.

But it needs to be balanced against the enjoyment of watching the sport (because ulitmately that's where the revenues come from).

aggi wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 13, 2025 1:43 pm

But it needs to be balanced against the enjoyment of watching the sport (because ulitmately that's where the revenues come from).

The Premier League (who have VAR) has never been so popular with demand for tickets beyond anything England's top flight has EVER witnessed, EVER.

Embrace and ffs shut the **** up about it spoiling the 'moment'.

I’d rather have a bad case of haemorrhoids than have VAR in any league. It’s completely ruined the game. I’d rather be robbed by an on field ref than be robbed by VAR and both happen regularly.

Pearcey wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 13, 2025 5:12 pm

I’d rather have a bad case of haemorrhoids than have VAR in any league. It’s completely ruined the game. I’d rather be robbed by an on field ref than be robbed by VAR and both happen regularly.

I have a vision of toys all over the floor.