Dogawful Officiating

[Tsunami]

That’s 2 home games running where the centre back has been allowed to almost take Woltemade’s shirt off his back. The linesman on the Milburn side may as well have been sitting beside me. Woeful, absolutely no help to the ref and he missed 2 offsides that were at least 5 yards off. It’s not easy to keep up with play but his starting positioning was terrible.

[JigsawGoesToPieces]

24 minutes ago, geordie_b said:

Around the 56th minute he blew dead a corner when at least two of our players hit the ground before the corner was taken. It looked very close to having already been taken and therefore a penalty. Anyone got the match recorded to check?

 

Dont think you can give a pen if balls not in play? i.e corner not taken.

[Erikse]

Was funny when he told both players to "knock it off" after Morata held Burn with both arms and hoyed him to the ground when he was trying to simply trying run around him. As if it was an equal tussle between the two.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2025 by Erikse

[geordie_b]

19 minutes ago, JigsawGoesToPieces said:

 

Dont think you can give a pen if balls not in play? i.e corner not taken.

Thats my question, in the Leazes it looked like he blew too late and the corner had already been taken

 

 

Edited October 5, 2025 by geordie_b

[Cf]

Genuinely feels like they're setting a higher bar for calling a foul against a tall player. 

[The Butcher]

They get worse every week. Bobbins today.

[Conjo]

3 minutes ago, Cf said:

Genuinely feels like they're setting a higher bar for calling a foul against a tall player. 

 

Always been the case, hasn't it? For some reason the best example I can remember is Fellaini at Everton. Players could get away with murder against him, but if he looked in the general direction of anyone lower than 1,80 it was a yellow card.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2025 by Conjo

[midds]

Another shocking display from this little twat, it's not a sore loser thing either, this fucker is disgraceful with most of what he does. He finds it impossible to consistent with his decisions even for more than 10 mins, sometimes he blows for a contact=collapse and the next he lets it go, if he's booked someone he'll let them get away with murder (Williams should have had 3 yellows  - one for the foul and 2 deliberate handballs, and Joelinton at least 1 too tbh). The fucker should have just used the coin he had in his pocket and just flipped it before any decision to help him make his mind up

 

When the ref is so shit it sends a ridiculous message to the players who have no idea where they stand going into every tackle, it breeds resentment and they know he's making it up so they take more liberties knowing he's spineless and they'll probably get away with it as they can sense he's petrified to give big decisions - their shirt pulling and ruling out our first for the Bruno contact to MGWs face. Awful, awful, dreadful, spineless and inconsistent display - he's absolutely fucking toilet every week

[joeyt]

I think congratulations are in order to the powers that be for completely diluting what should have been a great moment of Bruno's goal, because I and many others around me felt we couldn't celebrate it due to the absolute lottery of VAR decisions

 

Thankfully we were on the right end of it today but bringing in VAR has to be the worst thing I've ever experienced as a match going fan

[joeyt]

Also there's absolutely no point in referees stopping grappling in the area before a corner is taken.

 

He just needs to tell the captains before the game if there's any grappling then he'll give a pen or a free kick while the ball's in play and he's not going to stop the game to tell them again

[John P]

Good to see they're really clamping down on holding at set pieces, as promised

[Erikse]

A slight nod on someones forehead or a very careful slap on someones face is deemed violent conduct, and often results in a red. However, deliberately swinging an elbow with power into someones face when they are going full speed, so that they need to be carried out on a stretcher, is not violent conduct? No VAR intervention here..

 

The ref didn't even give a free kick btw.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2025 by Erikse

[healthyaddiction]

They seem to be terrified to ever give red cards for elbows & punches. I kind of wonder if refs deliberately leave it to VAR and as VAR only addresses absolutely clear errors (and it's easy to justify an elbow as being an accident) that's why they're never given.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2025 by healthyaddiction

[geordiesteve710]

3 hours ago, geordie_b said:

Thats my question, in the Leazes it looked like he blew too late and the corner had already been taken

 

 

 

From where I was in the Gallowgate it looked like that as well.

 

Making it up as they go along.

 

Either that or it was a howling error by VAR seeing the red shirts and assuming it was Liverpool.

[Rod]

44 minutes ago, Erikse said:

A slight nod on someones forehead or a very careful slap on someones face is deemed violent conduct, and often results in a red. However, deliberately swinging an elbow with power into someones face when they are going full speed, so that they need to be carried out on a stretcher, is not violent conduct? No VAR intervention here..

 

The ref didn't even give a free kick btw.

 

 

 

Shocking!

[Dr Venkman]

One of the most infuriating refereeing performances I can remember, just absolute bullshit from start to finish, and I’m talking about a ref who (rightly) gave us a penalty.

 

Honestly not sure what defenders have to do to Woltemade/Burn to have a foul given against them?

[joeyt]

He also seem to have a slight delay on his whistling as if he wasn;t sure about his decisions - felt like he was just guessing half the time

[Nobody]

4 hours ago, GeordieDazzler said:

Are you just allowed to foul tall people now?

Seems like it, aye. 

[Nobody]

2 hours ago, joeyt said:

I think congratulations are in order to the powers that be for completely diluting what should have been a great moment of Bruno's goal, because I and many others around me felt we couldn't celebrate it due to the absolute lottery of VAR decisions

 

Thankfully we were on the right end of it today but bringing in VAR has to be the worst thing I've ever experienced as a match going fan

@Kaizero

[Nucasol]

10 hours ago, healthyaddiction said:

They seem to be terrified to ever give red cards for elbows & punches. I kind of wonder if refs deliberately leave it to VAR and as VAR only addresses absolutely clear errors (and it's easy to justify an elbow as being an accident) that's why they're never given.

 

 

 

Van Dick has got away with it for years.

[Kaizero]

19 hours ago, Nobody said:

@Kaizero

 

Going by the fact you tagged me in this, I assume you're already aware that I wholeheartedly disagree with the opinion stated in the post you quoted. There's no need to rehash a discussion that'll just waste people's time because it'd inevitably go nowhere, but I'll say that if it weren't for the fact VAR got implemented and brought the amount of times human error would decide a football match down to almost no "fake" results in professional football? Without it I'd have given up on the sport years ago as it was a complete joke. VAR has added another layer of drama and excitement as a spectator as well. I'll never dislike the fact we now have a much higher percentage of correct results, the fact it's headline news and the subject of nationwide debate for weeks on end when there's a fuck up is the perfect example of just how improved football is because we have it. Before VAR, there were so many blatant fuck ups from refs and linos in multiple PL matches in every round, of course that didn't become the main talking point for the pundits then, because refs fucking up all the time was the norm – now it's not, meaning it's worthy of critique as there wouldn't be any fuck ups if only the refs were better. Alas, the refs are the same as the ones that used to fuck up all the time when they had no help from VAR. It'll take time for them to become more professionalized, but now they actually have to do it as well as their complete lack of skill and professionalism shines through every time they fuck up.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2025 by Kaizero

[joeyt]

I don't think our refs are very good but I'm not convinced better refs means VAR is workable. Surely any sort of human interaction with subjective calls means it's always doomed to fail. 

 

And who is deciding if a call is correct or incorrect? There'll be some who think Gibbs White was fouled yesterday. If the VAR decided he was does that mean a foul was the correct decision? Who's deciding these correct decisions for subjective calls? It isn't tennis where it's black and white calls

 

You're completely wrong if you don't think it's diluting celebration of goals. Every goal I'm having to think back three whole passage of play to think if there was any reason the VAR can think of to disallow it

 

I couldn't even celebrate Estevao's goal against Liverpool as I had to try and remember if Cucurella was offside or not

 

It's absolutely rubbish

 

 

Edited October 6, 2025 by joeyt

[joeyt]

Even offsides aren't black and white when you have to take in the subjective nature if someone is interfering with play,  or intentionally passing the ball to that player

 

The only thing technology should have been used for is goal line technology 

[Toon1984]

I think, as well as VAR, the rules of the game need looking at. When you have subjective decision making, you have inconsistency and so let’s help the officials by reducing subjective decisions to the minimum through rule changes e.g. pulling a shirt in box is a penalty. Full stop. Handling the ball in the box is a penalty. Full stop (even if it’s blasted from one meter away or it hits the supporting arm). Unfair sometimes? Yes but consistent and the same rule for everyone with no doubt.

 

I would also bring in the rule that the VAR officials have 15 seconds (or similar) to flag up anything. If it can’t be done so fast then it wasn’t a ‘clear and obvious’ mistake by the on field official, and so the latter’s decision should stand.

 

As for offside, any wrong decision should be relayed to the on field refs watch (like ‘did it cross the line for a goal’). With chips in the players’ boots and ball and a suitable rule change, the idiots upstairs would only need to decide if a player interfered with the GK, again they’d have 15 seconds to declare.

 

With a 15 second rule, the on field ref’s visits to the tv would result in many more cases of him sticking with his original decision and that’s fine. 

[Rod]

7 hours ago, Kaizero said:

 

Going by the fact you tagged me in this, I assume you're already aware that I wholeheartedly disagree with the opinion stated in the post you quoted. There's no need to rehash a discussion that'll just waste people's time because it'd inevitably go nowhere, but I'll say that if it weren't for the fact VAR got implemented and brought the amount of times human error would decide a football match down to almost no "fake" results in professional football? Without it I'd have given up on the sport years ago as it was a complete joke. VAR has added another layer of drama and excitement as a spectator as well. I'll never dislike the fact we now have a much higher percentage of correct results, the fact it's headline news and the subject of nationwide debate for weeks on end when there's a fuck up is the perfect example of just how improved football is because we have it. Before VAR, there were so many blatant fuck ups from refs and linos in multiple PL matches in every round, of course that didn't become the main talking point for the pundits then, because refs fucking up all the time was the norm – now it's not, meaning it's worthy of critique as there wouldn't be any fuck ups if only the refs were better. Alas, the refs are the same as the ones that used to fuck up all the time when they had no help from VAR. It'll take time for them to become more professionalized, but now they actually have to do it as well as their complete lack of skill and professionalism shines through every time they fuck up.

 

 

 

Perfectly put. VAR is actually brilliant if used correctly. It is still the idiot officials that fuck up, not VAR.