Dunny’s Hairdryer

ANY time soon, someone will tell me the purpose of having a Premier League Independent Key Match Incidents Panel. If there actually is a purpose. Its relevance is so minuscule that its existence might have passed you by, but the panel is made up of three ex-players and/or coaches plus one representative from the Premier League and Professional Game Match Officials Limited. Still with me? Anyway, this group looked into controversial moments of Monday’s Fulham-wolves match and concluded Stuart Atwell (below) got all the VAR decisions right.

Let’s just take one of those decisions. After ref Michael Salisbury (above) did not dismiss Carlos Vinicius for a headbutt on Max Kilman, Atwell decided against advising a red card.

Three of this independent panel thought Atwell was right, but the other two members did not.

What has that proved? Simply, that a lot of VAR decisions divide opinion.

So, why we need another panel to tell us this is anyone’s guess.

IT seems the Premier League and Manchester City have ‘agreed’ a date for a ‘trial’. Apparently, they’ll argue about 115 charges in front of a panel late next year.

Yep, late 2024 – and, after that, an appeal from whoever loses. And so it’ll go on. And on.

Meanwhile, if Everton’s most recent set of financial figures show another breach of the rules, there is a suggestion they may be punished again this term.

Perhaps they should have saved the money being spent on a fine new stadium that will be of huge benefit to the Liverpool area… and spent it on lawyers.