Does everyone here remember how fans of English football were clamouring for the introduction of the video assistant referee (VAR) a few years ago? I do, quite clearly. And one of the primary reasons I remember it is that I was one of the clamourers.
Yep, that’s right. Although newer readers may find this hard to believe, for the longest time I was VAR’s number-one fan, insisting football needed to embrace tech to improve as a sport.
I would passionately write about the tragic injustices we were seeing on our TV screens and insist only VAR could save English football. Oh, how naïve! But at least I wasn’t alone in my naivety.
Back in 2017, when the Football Supporters’ Association carried out a survey of fans, they found that a whopping 74.6 per cent (which is pretty much three-quarters in old money) were in favour of video referees being introduced.
Fast forward six years and the FSA have just released the results of a new survey and, I think it’s safe to say, there has been a slight shift in opinion. And by slight, I mean seismic.
Of the fans surveyed this time, a staggering 79.1 per cent of match-goers rated their experience of VAR as either poor or very poor. Even more worryingly for the football authorities is that 63.3 per cent of respondents are now actively against VAR.
So, after four seasons of controversy, inaccuracy, delays and an almost complete inability to eradicate the mistakes it was introduced to eliminate, supporters have realised they were much better off with the devil they knew. Me very much included.
The only proper solution to the whole problem is to bin it. Chuck it away. Admit it was mistake and go back to how we were before. Football wasn’t perfect but it didn’t pretend to be
There is talk at the moment of gradually changing VAR to make it more transparent, like by broadcasting the conversations between the video officials and on-pitch officials when they are discussing incidents. And while that may help fans in the stadium and at home understand what’s going on it isn’t actually going to improve the quality of decisions. In fact, I would suggest it may even create unnecessary anger when supporters hear officials discussing something when they are clearly going in the wrong direction.
The only proper solution to the whole problem is to bin it. Chuck it away. Admit it was mistake and go back to how we were before. Football wasn’t perfect but it didn’t pretend to be.
History is littered with inventions, ideas and innovations that have turned out to be a disaster; the hydrogen blimp, Betamax, the Sinclair C5, laser discs and Google Glass, to pick just a few at random.
This survey is a clear indication that VAR has earned a place on that list and should be written off as an ambitious, well-intentioned, but failed experiment.
International football hits a new low
Last weekend, England played two football matches. One of them, as we know, was against Malta, and the other against North Macedonia.
In those two games Gareth Southgate’s team scored 11 goals, conceded none and didn’t have to deal with a single shot throughout 180 minutes of very one-sided action.
I’m not talking about a shot on target, just a shot.
This just goes to confirm how screwed up the current qualifying system is, with mismatched games like these now the norm rather than the exception.
For many, me included, international football is slowly losing its relevance. And it’s results like these that are the biggest contributor to this growing malaise.
The games were meaningless for England, who learned nothing about the capability of their team, while simultaneously being both embarrassing and demoralising for their opponents.
If international football is going to remain engaging, then there needs to be a radical, ground-breaking, jaw-dropping change to the way qualification for major tournaments takes place; not minor tweaks or changes, but something that shakes the whole process to its core.
Otherwise, as I have said many times previously, people will just stop watching it.
No way, José
José Mourinho has been given a four-game ban for abusing the referee after last month’s Europa League final.
During his post-match news conference, the Roma manager slammed the English official and was then captured on camera in a car park confronting and swearing at the officials as they boarded a minibus.
His actions, and the sheer venom in his abuse, undoubtedly incited the Roma fans and likely contributed towards the incident at the airport where supporters of the Italian club hurled abuse and chairs at the referee and his family.
Yet UEFA deems his actions worthy of nothing more than a four-match ban? I would love to know how they come out with their punishments. The role of a dice maybe?
Regular readers will know I am a bit of a José fan and I normally quite like his outspoken behaviour. But he crossed a line this time with his unhinged abuse, which could have had tragic consequences.
In my mind, a four-game ban is nowhere near enough of a punishment – players get that sort of ban for little more than a mistimed tackle.
Now, half a season of having to watch games from the stand... that might persuade him to think twice before he decides to dangerously fan the flames in future.
Cristiano’s still going strong
There was a line of thinking that Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to the relatively uncompetitive depths of Saudi Arabian football could spell the end of his international career.
Well, not yet it hasn’t.
Last weekend he won his 200th cap for his country – becoming the first male footballer to reach that incredible landmark – and he marked the occasion by scoring a last-minute winner in Portugal’s game against Iceland.
The way things are going he will almost certainly be a key player for his country in next summer’s European Championships. And who is to say he won’t still be around to kick an international ball at the next World Cup as well.
Playing 300 games for Portugal may be out of reach, but I’m starting to think he may have 250 in his sights...
E-Mail: James@Quizando.com
Twitter: @Maltablade