Now time for Manager challenges and eliminate VAR (non-)decision making in Premier League

When the use of a VAR (Video Assistant Referee) finally arrived in the Premier League, I don’t think of us expected it to go smoothly.

Judging by the incompetence previously shown on past initiatives and decision making by those running top tier football in this country, surely we would have been amazed if they’d got it right.

However…I don’t believe any of us could have guessed just how bad they could apply the use of technology.

Don’t get me wrong, I think having the use of technology was a no-brainer.

Easy to forget how the cheats would influence so many matches. All but impossible for a referee on the pitch to spot the ever more ingenious ways that players were developing to deceive the officials into awarding penalties and other match changing moments. Plus, the simple fact of just how many decisions the match officials were getting wrong.

Which brings us to now

After the Newcastle 2 Chelsea 2 match, enough is enough.

Things have to now change when it comes to VAR and the use of the technology.

Which I think can be broken down into two different areas, things that can be measured and those decisions where a referee decides one way or the other.

Measured

They already have the use of semi-automated offside technology and I would make that even easier to implement. In that change it so you can only be offside if there is clear daylight between the attacking player and last defender. It is totally ridiculous the position now where it is often all but impossible to tell whether a player is offside or not, when introduced back in the day, the offside rule was never envisaged to be about such a minimal distance of millimetres (fractions of an inch).

I find it astonishing that now they have all the technology to ensure the checking of things that can be simply measured, yet we still see so many wrong decisions that aren’t corrected using the technology. I am talking about things like whether or not a ball has gone out of play, corners and goal-kicks wrongly awarded, throw-ins given to the wring team and so on.

I would do away with assistant referees running the line, why do we still have these?

I would instead have then watching the game on a screen and telling the referee who should get corners, throw-ins, whether the ball is out etc. They already communicate with the referee remotely, a word in his earpiece, just instead they wouldn’t be pointlessly running up and down the side of the pitch. They would be instead seeing exactly what has happened on a screen and looking at a replay if necessary and telling the referee what those decisions that can be measured should be. They could also check that the semi-automated offsides have been called correctly.

Decision making

The mess they are currently in with the use of technology and how VARs are supposed to operate, is a total joke.

The problem is that having the safety net of VAR, referees regularly choose not to make decisions they would have done in the past, as they think that if it does turn out to be something they should have given, then the VAR will save them. However, now the most recent guidance is to go as much with the referee on the pitch as possible, so now the added problem of the VARs not keen to contradict the on the pitch referee!

So it is often the case of, a bit like a ball played into the box and two players on the same team where neither go for it because they think the other one is going for it. So with VAR and the referee on the pitch, neither of them end up making the decision they should have done as they think it is the other’s responsibility.

My solution is to get rid of the VAR altogether. You have the assistant referees now using the technology for decisions that can be measured and double checking the semi-automated offsides, but then when it comes to making decisions where it is a judgement, follow other sports and have managers with the ability to challenge decisions instead.

The same as the likes of cricket and tennis, give each manager a number of challenges (two or three?) they can use during a match. They indicate to the fourth official they want to challenge a decision and then just line now, when play next stops a check can be made. Instead now it will be the managers deciding when the referee should go to a monitor at the side of the pitch to watch replays, then if the manager is successful with the challenge then he retains the same number of challenges still available to use, but loses one if unsuccessful.

What this would mean as well, is that the referee on the pitch is then making all the big decisions, rather than the ridiculous thing now where in reality it is the VAR making these decisions when reviewing replays. If the VAR decides no review should happen then the referee on the pitch will have no input, whilst when the VAR does ‘advise’ the referee on the pitch to look at replays, almost every single time they never ever go against the judgement of the VAR.

No system will make things perfect but as things stand, we have now got into a huge shambles where VARs are concerned. If doing what I suggest, the power will every to all being with the referee on the pitch AND in the hands of the managers as to whether they want a decision reviewed. There will still be times where after a review the referee won’t agree with the manager who has challenged BUT I reckon for sure, moving to this system would mean managers, players and fans feeling far less aggrieved at the end of matches, as the referee will have been asked to take another look at the most pertinent incidents.