It’s varcical... but whatever the issue, Howard’s way is too matey in my book

THERE’S no other way of addressing this, but what happened at Tottenham last weekend was genuinely ridiculous.

I was gobsmacked. It was, to me, impossible that it could happen.

And honestly, when I was watching, all I could say was “wow. Just wow”.

Where do we even start in analysing the utter shambles?

Right from the beginning, the assistant referee got it totally wrong. Not only was Luis Diaz onside – even to the naked eye – but he then put his flag up far too early, against all the protocol now.

So there’s that. But of course that’s nothing compared to what happened soon after.

I’ve listened to the audio released by PGMOL, and the thing that strikes me above all else is just how matey it all is... almost flippant.

It’s incredibly matey, and I think that strikes at the heart of the matter. They’re all mates.

The VAR and assistant VAR officiate games together, they travelled to the UAE together 48 hours earlier... and they talk to each other like mates.

At one point, the assistant VAR says, “that’s wrong that, Daz” – referring to the VAR, Darren England.

On another occasion, the assistant ref calls the ref “mate”. What the hell’s going on there?

Listen to the rugby union review of decisions between the officials, and they’re incredibly professional.

They ask serious questions of each other, it is businesslike, it is precise.

There is no room for misunderstanding, or for any backing up of mates.

Someone jokingly said to me this week that Howard Webb is turning PGMOL into the Met Police!

It’s hilarious because there’s some truth in it. You have referees always with the same team of officials who are mates.

The people in the VAR room are mates, who judge their mates on the pitch.

And if there’s a problem, then Webb, who is also their mate, polices them.

People are saying there are livelihoods at stake, and you can’t sack someone for a mistake, no matter how ridiculous (and this was farce level ridiculous). Well, Jim Leighton made a mistake in the FA Cup Final and never played for Manchester United again.

It happens all the time in football, so why not referees?

I’ve listened to it several times and I still can’t understand how neither of the VAR officials realised the onfield decision was offside.

I have this question to ask, were either of them even watching the game?

I’m not saying they were having a coffee elsewhere, but I don’t think they were watching the match footage.

They can’t have been. How can anyone watching that game have thought the onfield decision was goal? Then when the mistake was exposed exactly one second after the game resumed, they froze. It is clear to me that they should have stopped the game again – let’s say three seconds after it resumed – and discussed the possibilities with referee Simon Hooper.

But they didn’t have the ability to think clearly like that.

Even though three different people were telling them to stop the game.

So not up to the job. But for me, the biggest problem is this ‘mates’ thing. Why does the VAR need an assistant VAR who is his mate, and who travels across Europe with him. Someone who calls him Daz.

Hell, former ref Mike Dean spoke recently of not giving a VAR decision as he didn’t want to drop a ‘mate’ in it.

Why do they need another English official in there at all?

I’d really like to see some of the best referees from overseas officiate our games, so none of this chuminess, and also no lingering vendettas if managers criticise referees.

And definitely totally independent officials observing everything in the VAR booth.

Most of all, I’d like to see VAR officials actually watch the game they’re supposed to be officiating on. It’s not that much to ask, is it?

Someone joked that PGMOL is turning into the Met Police!