VAR decisions

Awful officiating.

 

Who was the VAR ref tonight?

 

Stupid Shatwell.

Damn the autocorrect...…..I mean Stuart Atwell.

 

That took forever!

 

Enough said.

 

Pereyra red card appeal upheld. Quite right, too.

 

I suspect you feel a bit of an idiot now. Yet another keyboard warrior slain by the passing of time.

Watford Football Club‏Verified account @WatfordFC
We've successfully appealed against the red card shown to Roberto Pereyra against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

That's one fewer card for the birthday boy today

 

Nope. Well done though. Bizarre. Surely there will be some sort of inquiry around this.

 

How many VAR Red cards have been overturned by appeals?

 

But it was reviewed by VAR and you said it wasn't. And you said you were 100% correct. And you weren't.

 

Sadly I doubt it will ever be mentioned of again by anyone involved. I would honestly be surprised if they include it in their list of mistakes, if they do an update to that list.

 

Are you intentionally poking the hornet’s nest?

 

He's not smart enough for that. You 'orns.

 

I think you'll find I am. You 'orns.

 

Nah....deluded yes. Just because you use a spellcheck doesn't make you smart.

 

Does supporting Watford make @Ghost of Barry Endean smart?

 

Well that’s just base level entry. It’s like turning up for your exam in time and writing your name on the paper. You get some points for that, but it’s not a pass mark.

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned recently - but our game on Sunday is being officiated by Mike Dean...who is a massive Tranmere fan, who we coincidentally play 48hrs later. Even if were to send off a couple of players to ensure a suspension, I doubt they would have been picked anyway.

But it’s still a bit of an oversight in my opinion as it’s not for the FA/PL to suggest what side we might pick VS Tranmere. Would have thought he’d have been swapped or stood down really.

 

Of course it go the other way, and he overcompensates. In reality I expect it will have little impact (I really hope so anyway!)

 

I’d take Mike Dean for the replay with his Tranmere scarf around his neck rather than the c***s we’ve been having lately.

 

Best wfc quizzer of the decade.

 

I think that was Nugsson. Whatever happened to Nugsson?

 

I'll get him back.

 

I can't believe I'm getting involved in this! I would say the penalty at Everton and the handball at Spurs are debatable. Neither were changed because it wasn't a clear error. The Newcastle and Southampton handballs are very poor decisions as is the non penalty at Spurs but Spurs themselves had a decent shout for a pen against Rose which had it been given I suspect would not have been overturned. The third goal against Villa was possibly a foul in the build up to the goal but again not a clear error so was allowed to stand. We are probably owed a couple of decisions but go on any clubs forum and I suspect the same discussions are taking place.
We are not alone in getting poor decisions. The red card against Tranmere was checked according to the radio yesterday which is why they were surprised it was revoked

 

We are owed a lot from bad decisions and it will NEVER be balanced out. You've tried very hard to make it not look quite so bad, by playing down some and adding in a Villa goal we scored for good measure. The big difference is those things that have gone against us were in very tight matches. In the case of the handballs we were winning 1-0 in ALL THREE games, so they had a major impact. Ali was a clear handball. He slam-dunked it into the goal.

The goal we scored against Villa, made it 3-0, so didn't have any meaningful impact on result. It just made it a bigger win.

I didn't even include the Leicester away match, where the referee gave the softest of penalties to them for nothing. I believe he was told that he should have given Leicester a penalty in the first half, even though VAR had reviewed and did not give it. He balanced the books in the same match. Nothing like that has ever occurred for us, and never will.

Referees are extremely poor in England but we are harshly treated in most matches. You've lived through it as much as me. You see all the injustices yet I think some people don't want to acknowledge there is an issue because it strikes at the very fabric of their belief that the game is clean and free from bias. That is the biggest crock of ****, in my humble opinion of course.

 

Very well put. I agree entirely and I suggest everyone else follows suit.

There is a bias by refs and bias against watford in the media too. Even jug ears linekar hates us. What possible reason does he have to dislike us?

There was uproar when we had all the loan players, yet this has been done before and since and there has been barely a murmur. Why?

Is it unconscious bias, or something more sinister?

 

There's been a few other Dele Alli style 'handball' goals this season that haven't been overturned so at least they are consistent.

I didn't think it was handball anyway so whatever.

Anyway, all those decisions that you list that went for us are not up for debate. I can't remember them but they were spot on.

 

Slam-dunked it into the net with half a shoulder and a foot.

I rest my case.

 

I think in the Leicester game we got away with one so that evens out but it was possibly the softest penalty ever given! My point is though, pretty much every club have the same discussions as us and feel as though they are hard done by. Unfortunately the people using VAR have just made it worse

 

I agree, a lot of fans from other clubs do feel hard done by, but plenty do not. I know fans of other clubs and they have an attitude of "you win some, you lose some". This is because bigger clubs, or teams with sides playing well can overcome difficult decisions, whereas it tends to nail us. A bad decision has a bigger consequence to us then it would for a side that is used to winning. For them it's a balance. They are aware of the bad calls, but can also sight when something goes their way.

However, I still maintain we get more bad decisions than most. Three handball goals scored against us in tight games is unprecedented. No other club has had one goal scored against them in this way this season. It just does not happen. With regards to Ali, which seems to be in dispute with you, I think you just have to see Ali's reaction in the moment. He didn't celebrate and he looked resigned to it being chalked off because he knew he controlled it on his bicep. He couldn't believe his luck when the camera angle didn't pick that up conclusively.

A VAR reviewed red card overturned, which has happened before, but only once with Spurs' appeal over Son, so that is unusual. Again another poor decision gone against us. By your own admission the softest (or non penalty) award ever in another tight game where Leicester were just not breaking us down and it hands them the lead, although I agree about a penalty appeal for them earlier in the game should have been given. But that's evened out in the same match, so even when we do finally get a lucky break it's instantly rectified.

What about the handball from Murray for Brighton in the opening game of the season. Blatantly moves his arm towards the ball in the penalty area to stop a Pereyra free kick. VAR reviewed and gave nothing.

The only beneficial VAR review we've had was the overturned penalty appeal against Chelsea, which ultimately led to nothing. These are the facts. We've only had one VAR review overturned in our benefit this season. There have been numerous VAR reviews go the other way.

What about the red cards for Kabs and Mapps? Both incredibly harsh for things that were deemed "intent" by the referee rather than actual physical contact. I've seen numerous other games where a second yellow should have been blatantly awarded but have not been because the official wanted to keep it 11 v 11. There doesn't seem to be any fear of sending our players off for the most minor of offenses. There seems to be consideration for the player in other games by the referee, but not for us.

You mentioned the Villa game, but there were numerous VAR checks in that match. It seemed to me they were purposely looking for things to send off our players or disallow our goals but could not find anything. They didn't review the Pereyra red card against Tranmere, but couldn't wait to review their first goal and penalty appeal.

It seem to me we're punished for any minor indiscretion, but when it's the other way, a more lenient approach is taken.