A new era, but it’ll take more than video refs to sort out this terrible mess
ENGLISH football enters a brave new era on Monday night with the introduction of Video Assisted Referees.
But ahead of the game’s overdue leap into the age of new technology, head of referees Mike Riley needs to call his officials together and tell them to pull their socks up. Too many games are being blighted by hugely inconsistent application of the laws. Too many points are being won or lost on the back of bad decisions which could cost clubs a place in the Champions League or send them down. And there are too many of these incidents for Riley to sit at his desk and do nothing. Good luck to Andre Marriner, the referee in charge of Brighton’s FA Cup third round derby against Crystal Palace, and Neil Swarbrick, who will lead the analysis of any decisions referred to the VARs in the video truck.
Don’t assume that video refs will be the cure for all ills.
As we have seen with TV umpires in Test cricket, in some cases they will only add another layer of controversy to games where interpretation of key incidents is subjective.
At BT Sport, I have worked with World Cup referees Howard Webb, Chris Foy and Graham Poll, and I have enjoyed a better insight into major decisions and how officials reach them.
But I cannot accept Mike Dean’s handball verdict at the West Brom-Arsenal game which probably cost the Gunners two points.
Arsene Wenger had every right to be furious afterwards.
Those points could be the difference between a top-four finish or missing the cut for next season’s Champions League. It was never a penalty in a million years.
And how on earth Burnley’s Jeff Hendrick was denied a penalty at Huddersfield last weekend, I’ll never know. He was cleaned out but boss Sean Dyche won’t get two points added on for hard luck at the end of the season. If we are going to ban players for alleged dives, it’s time there was a panel of ex-managers and players who put blundering referees on trial – and absolute howlers should be punished with a ban, the same as retrospective action against players.
Riley says Premier League refs are getting 95 per cent of decisions right, which is all well and good – but the other five per cent contains some terrible mistakes. The inconsistency drives you mad.
On Wednesday night at Arsenal, Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas was booked for a perfectly-executed tackle – but 24 hours later, Serge Aurier’s challenge on Manuel Lanzini, in the build-up to Tottenham’s equaliser against West Ham, was waved through by Dean, who indicated Aurier had played the ball.
Yes, but so did Fabregas. Two incidents, two different interpretations of the laws, two different outcomes.
Last month Dele Alli and Harry Kane escaped red cards for poor tackles at Manchester City on a day when others were sent off for challenges which were arguably less dangerous. What is going on? I’m looking forward to seeing how much impact VARs have because too many games are being decided by an uneven dispensation of justice.
Mike Dean gives handball against Calum Chambers, but Southampton’s Maya Yoshida is not pulled up for a more obvious case at Old Trafford. It’s not right.
And if I was a player wrongly booked for diving, and accused of being a cheat, I would seriously consider taking it further.
If wildly variable refereeing standards do not constitute a crisis, we are reaching a tipping point. And it may take more than the dawn of VARs to sort out the mess.