Condor68 wrote: βSat Nov 05, 2022 8:17 pm
Sorry about this .Been watching a couple games up here after VAR and think a visually /hearing impaired piece of wood could do the job better.Last week a Dundee united player went for a ball and the ref saw nothing wrong even though the opponent went down screaming .VAR which is supposedly for circumstances where goals and offsides are debatable got invloved.They decided that the ref should look and the united player was sent off.If there was any contact it must have been as light as the touch of my wage in the account before the wife got to it.Today in the Celtic v Dundee united game a ball was crossed into the box by a United player it went over the heads of most players in the box but Steven Fletcher headed it back into the box.It hit a Celtic players hand and Var said check followed by penalty.The offending player was still in the air from his attempt to clear the ball and his back was to the header so he had no idea where the ball was,yet the ref again followed VAR .Pundits on TV said by the letter of the law the arm was in an unnatural position.If a guy behind you hits you with the ball from behind what chance do you have.There were more issues in both games but I just wondered if you had the same problems when it came in in England or is it just our referees are still crap.Looks like up here arms and legs will have to be strapped to the body and players roll about on the ground to get the ball.Then again will have to go.A bit of last nights Aberdeen match has just come on.Yet again ref bows to var.Our refs now have no bottle.Ref thought corner var suggested penalty keeper saved it var comes back says keeper not on line so retake and goal.A var suggested penalty the ref must have been nearest to goalkeeper so should have stood by his decision.Forgot to add the first offence /red card was rescinded on appeal but the team played with 10 men ater a var/ref mistake is that fair ?
As the resident Arab in here, i was at the game v Motherwell where their pantomime villain, our Tony Watt was sent off.

With the usual caveats, we had quite a good view of the incident, saw the ball nudged away, and watched our Tony spin away from the challenge. Brother Beaton paused, obviously replayed it in his head again and moved on. Its gone to a review, they have made their decision on a still picture apparently, and sent the guy off only for it to be overturned after multiple angles were looked at. Strangely, first comment i saw to say it was never a booking, never mind a sending off came from a Hearts fan and followed up by comments in support of his view from many other team supporters.
Looking at the highlights from the penalty incident at Ceptic, i will take a decision like that every day of the week as its about time us lesser teams benefited from incidents like that!

Seriously though, the defender has gone up to attack the ball, used his whole body and arms to unsuccessfully create the torque to powerfully clear the ball. Next stop for the ball was square on Fletchers napper who headed for goal, only for the ball to hit the defenders trailing arm. By the letter of the law that has been created, its a penalty, but a really harsh one!
Did the ball travel a great distance? Arguably a body and a half width of the defender?
Was the arm in an un-natural position? Arguably no because to create the power to clear the ball, thats where the arm ends up!
Was it deliberate? Couldnt be because the defender could not have seen the ball and known it was about to hit his trailing arm behind his back!
Did it affect the outcome of the game? No chance because we are doomed!
Thing is though, that is only 2 weekends where VAR has been in place in Scotland, and its gonna take a number of years to get to the same place as other countries, and the controversy is never gonna go away as us fans always have a skewered view of every incident. As England has been mentioned, it is well documented that there have been many contentious decisions made with VAR, and i usually agree with the pundits. Every so often though, and i go to 2 specific incidents where players have gone into a challenge, take the ball and sent the man into next week, and while the letter of the law said its a red, i look at those incidents and pick up a clear slip that takes the control away from the aggression which i think should be taken into consideration in mitigation. One key incident for me over the weekend in England was an attacker running past the keeper is caught by a hand, review decision was penalty. However, for me the attacker had already lost his balance and the keeper did not get enough pressure on the leg to pull said attacker down.
And while i say i am willing to give VAR time to bed in up here, i also think it has been rushed in, and in some cases i have seen offside determinations made from ground level and behind the play. Things like this can and must be sorted before it can be trusted, even with the paranoia around referee bias!
Red-Eye-Knight, i am wondering if you support the team with THE 10 year history, or the other similar team where 1910 and never again applies!
Arabest,
Geoff.