21 Jan 2026 19:27:28
So the Premier League have come out and admitted to another VAR mistake made against us.
The goal 'scored' by Licha against Burnley was valid and therefore, obviously, should of stood. I could of told them that 10 seconds after the goal was scored!
If we had not been robbed of those 2 points then we would be in 4th position in the League now, a Champions League qualification position. If the end of the season comes and we miss qualification for ECL by a 2pt margin then there will be some righteous anger and annoyance.
{Ed025's Note - you are not the only ones IWOTB, it has happened to a lot of clubs mate, Everton have had 2 apologies this season and last season Wolves had at least 5, VAR is embarrassing and should be kicked into touch, the officials are using it as a crutch so they dont have to concentrate..
21 Jan 2026 19:45:34
Ed25
I still think they should look at the details of the third goal by Mount in the derby that was disallowed. The graphic looked like Cunha was further forward than in the still photo. Did the frame of the photo exactly match the graphic? I have real doubts and that would cast doubt on the validity of the decision. It just didn’t look right.
{Ed025's Note - im with you Red Man, i have lost all faith in the system mate and would not trust them to make a jelly..
21 Jan 2026 20:04:27
That's as maybe Ed, but the fact remains that whilst very annoying for all parties concerned, there is clearly a degree of consequence for these errors. If it result's in the loss of a Champions League place over, say, finishing 13th in the league rather than 11th or 12th there is clearly justification for greater anger and annoyance. What would the financial consequences between those 2 examples be, many, many millions!
Not having a pop or such like Ed, Just think the consequences of essentially the same mistake can have significantly differing outcomes.
{Ed025's Note - it can for every team IWOTB, teams can be relegated and leagues lost on wrong decisions mate, some will obviously become more important than others but i suppose every team has its own agenda..
21 Jan 2026 22:00:00
6 more points for those 2 apologies amd Everton would be in a cl place too.
I never look to blame on pitch refs and I don't think I ever have.
They make mistakes and have done since the game began. Players make their jobs impossible with their constant cheating.
Then they have to put up with energy decision analysed from views and speeds they don't have or see its bloody ridiculous.
But now the refs on the pitch are not in charge its a joke.
Wat hi guys challenges and fouls in slow motion and freeze framing a millisecond moment in time is just nonsense.
Having too many laws that are not black and white leads to interpretation and huge inconsistency.
Var should be only be used on request by coaches twice per half, they did this in the world youth Cup and it worked very well.
My view is leave the ref in charge on the pitch and if a coach feels there is an ott challenge that's been missed he can have it checked.
22 Jan 2026 06:59:16
TW
Bit like Cricket, maybe if the challenge proves correct then they keep it. I would also limit the review to 1 min, if it isn’t proven in that time it isn’t clear and obvious.
22 Jan 2026 09:16:13
Agree redman. 2 looks in real time amd move on.
22 Jan 2026 10:36:05
Agree wholeheartedly. Will help the game flow better and all the players and coaches moaning during the game can now be countered with, use your appeal, if you genuinely believe the decision is wrong.
22 Jan 2026 12:03:07
The problem you have with coaches requesting the use of VAR is time. They will want to review the incident before requesting and by this time the game would have restarted. Or you are pausing for every little incident for a potential review. The game would be really bitty. If you allow players to request it then you have the issue of players requesting everything BUT player request maybe better as they are up close to the incident. And if they know it is subject to two reviews then that would restrict them.
For example the Martinez penalty incident, if he was adamant then he tells the captain instantly who requests. Coaches probably couldn't see the incident clearly so then they'd review on IPAD and this is all time. Who's job is it to bring it to the attention of the Coach?
I'd also be concerned about coaches using it to stop the flow of the game, Eddie Howe for example. He got the GK to go down so he could get some instructions to the players.
However, I do agree it needs a better system if it is here to stay which I'd be happy if it wasn't.
22 Jan 2026 12:30:49
Watch how it worked at the youth world cup so you can understand it.
Look at what happened before coming up with a bunch of things that have already been addressed.
22 Jan 2026 12:43:04
Great idea Ken.
Not sure if it would work but definitely better than the nonsense we have now. VAR saps the fun out of football. You can't celebrate a goal any more, totally detrimental in my opinion.
Also agree if players weren't cheating all the time probably wouldn't have been introduced in its current guise.
22 Jan 2026 13:11:50
Didn't know they used it at the youth world cup so just looked it up, perhaps your point of it at the youth world cup would have been better delivered had you given the full picture of how it was used or perhaps you didn't understand how it was used?!
So the referee first identified a situation that could be reviewed and then the coaches have a limited time to decide whether to review it or not. This would work for incidents where the game is stopped, Goal scored, red card, penalty awarded. But it's not going to work for incidents like penalty claims that referees miss or don't think were.
22 Jan 2026 13:49:03
Ports there is the Internet to look up I'm not here to explain or interpret things for you.
If you had read the post you would have seen where I said it was adapted at youth wc. let's not look for a load of hypothetical negatives when a trial has been completed and worked very well and was well received by players coaches and refs.
Read up on it if you like and give everybody's and executive summary.
22 Jan 2026 14:28:03
Just scrap var. everyone hates it. Fans hate it players hate it clubs hate it yet fifa want it. personally its only in for tv to add drama, but even tv hate it now, so why have it. It's ruined the game so why onbearth football still has var.
{Ed025's Note - im with you Nick..
22 Jan 2026 14:52:11
I did use the internet to look it up and have given everyone a summary of how it was used. It’s in the post you replied too.
22 Jan 2026 16:32:42
I was watching the derby in a bar in Alicante.
2nd goal, I didn't know whether to celebrate or not.
I hate VAR for taking away that spontaneous feeling of utter joy when a goal goes in.
22 Jan 2026 17:23:16
I don’t blame VAR. I blame refs for using it as a cop out for making difficult decisions.
The offside rules are a farce. The refs should be making common sense decisions based on the facts (VAR) and the spirit of the game (was the forward so blatantly offside that it gave them an unfair advantage over defenders) .
The problem is that refs are too cowardly to take responsibility, and want the technology to make decisions for them.
{Ed025's Note - absolutely Danny..
23 Jan 2026 00:46:27
It would make sense to have a review system for yellow cards and red cards, and possibly offsides, though hopefully technology will soon be good enough that it will be completely automatic like in tennis where they don't even use line judges in the major tournaments any more. That way there will be no more mistakes by the assistant referee and no more mistakes caused by the VAR referee using the current technology incorrectly.
With regards to yellow cards and red cards, model it on cricket. Two reviews per match, it must be the captain that asks the referee for the review, and there is a timer that starts as soon as the referee has made their initial decision.
Ideally another timer that starts as soon as the referee has started to review the incident on the monitor, for example 1 minute, since if they can't decide whether or not they've made an error in 1 minute looking at replays, then they've probably not made an error, certainly not a clear one, so get on with the game.
Only issue with reviews in cricket is that sometimes the third umpire spends 5 minutes on a single review and there is already a significant issue with over rates in test cricket, and I would hate to see football start taking forever over every decision.