Perhaps it’s fitting that we endured a game as maddening as this in the week we announced plans to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this blog.
After all, chronicling the trials and tribulations of this great club can so often be a test of one’s mental and physical resolve.
And there’s no denying that this was one of the most frustrating fixtures Molineux has hosted for some time.
Putting the elephant in the room to one side for a moment, it was a game we should have won comfortably.
Leicester, barring a few neat passages of play in the first half, didn’t look like a team befitting of their lofty league position and were there for the taking.
Neto, Dendoncker and, above all else, Jimenez should have put the Foxes to the sword.
With the front three of Barnes, Perez and Vardy virtually non-existent throughout, a routine victory should have been enjoyed.
And yet, we did score.
Willy Boly’s first-half strike was legitimate in the eyes of every spectator other than the cack-handed officials at Stockley Park, who reared their ugly heads once again to remind everyone of just how inept the Premier League’s incarnation of VAR is.
At this point, I’m convinced that we have been served up this farcical version because it does exactly what it did tonight – give dreary television pundits, headline-hungry journalists and the football Twitterati something to debate.
Football has become so beholden to its cash cow that it has blithely forsaken the people whose ardent support earned it the moniker of ‘the beautiful game’.
Amazon, BT, Sky Sports and the rest of the ‘sports entertainment’ mafioso care not for our ire – in fact, they revel in it.
To them, tonight’s result is ay okay. Something for people to chew on until whatever controversy tomorrow’s fixtures bring.
Will we still have the heart to blog about this in another 10 years’ time if this is the way football is going?
Probably. After all, we’ve seen worse over the years.
But that doesn’t make this bitter pill any easier to swallow.
We should be celebrating a win. Instead, we’re cursing a referee in a broom cupboard.
Can’t take much more of this disappointment over elation.
I have a number of ode codgers and me that sit all together in the South Bank and when these guys are all saying the won’t renew season tickets next year it says everything about this VAR Bolox.
Even Mike “superfekinstar” Dean couldn’t say who was off side.
I’ve fekin had enough.
Oh and as for the game, Neves wonderful last night disappointed Moutinho & Adama didn’t come on Z lot earlier and Leycester Cheats third? I think top of the points collected from VAR
FOVAR forever
Nothing to be said about the VAR/offside rule combo that hasn’t been said already. Whichever side of the fence you’re on though, there’s no debating that we need a tolerance for such marginal decisions. That will come in next season but the cost to us has already been great.
I agree that we should have won anyway Ben.
Jimenez just didn’t have his shooting boots (or head) on despite an otherwise good performance. And Jota has to score that first-half chance.
Taking the positives it’s two consecutive cleansheets and no coincidence that this coincides with William Boly’s return. Saiss and Jonny were both very good too.
Leaving out Moutinho and Traore raised eyebrows, but the performance was reminiscent of last season and reminded us that we’re a good team because we’re organised and difficult to beat, not because we’ve got a bloke who can charge through full-backs like they’re not there.
I like Neto and whenever he’s on the pitch, he makes things happen. Very good delivery too from corners. Shame he’s a magnet for marginal VAR but can’t blame him for that. Not an easy game to come into for Podence, particularly against a full back as good as Pereira and I thought he struggled. But he’ll get better chances to impress in the coming weeks.
CLEAR: “free from obscurity transparent”. OBVIOUS: “easily seen recognised or understood”. Definition on the internet. I will suggest last night’s VAR took 3 minutes. So the decision was neither clear or obvious. They had to search for it. WRONG WRONG WRONG. That is not how VAR should work. Was Neto clearly and obviously offside. No he wasn’t. Mike Dean didn’t even know who, if anyone, was offside. This is WRONG. The referee on field should decide clear and obvious. Mike Dean would surely have come to the conclusion that nothing was clear or obvious. Otherwise the linesman would (and in the main they get it right) would have flagged. Too late for us this season but something has to change. I reckon we have had 4 very controversial marginal debateable VAR decisions go against us. 4 goals ruled out. None of them clear and obvious.
Agreed Cheese. Mike Dean had a good game and didn’t make an obvious error all night. His assistants were sound and correctly called out Chilwell for stealing ground at throw ins, which should happen more often.
What needs to happen is the decision given to the referee to decide whether there is sufficient reason in his opinion to disallow the goal ( As in Rugby) Mike Dean would have decided Neto’s heel wasn’t reason enough. Common sense , or if he thinks it is significant he can make the call and justify it. Last night must have been embarrassing for him.
Cricket goes with the Umpire’s call even if the ball is likely to hit the stumps according to the tracker.
Spot on BG, particularly your rugby and cricket analogies.
Yes totally endorse all the comments thus far. I wrote to the Premier League recently about the scourge on the game that is…they said that it’s not clear & obvious, it’s facts!
They advised me to go onto their website to have an insight into how they work. It’s all well beyond my knowledge of technology but it does involve a lot of different coloured lines. So fact Neto’s heel/toe was beyond one of the different coloured lines so fact no goal!
Mr Gradgrind wins out I’m afraid, Charles Dickens would turn in his grave to see the fast & furious natural spirit of a wonderful sport turned into a statistic al exercise carried out by a Politburo of bureaucrats some 100 plus miles away from the action.
Thinking about it now after the heat & anger of the aftermath of the disallowed goal it’s almost an unreal, surreal absurdist event. It’s inexplicable in any sane human beings mindset!
Saying that, I suppose the Wolves fan could ask whether we are more angry at Raul’s header miss or the fact that facts are facts and quite frankly Football fan that’s it! Fact 0-0. 1 point.
My issue with it is that the technology in use is not pin point accuracy based on not having a side on view for every inch of the width of the pitch and camera frame rates cannot get to the exact point of ball contact.
Until they can do that they should scrap all off side reviews.
no comment on last night’s game as all who saw it will know what went on.
Just an idea (only partially tongue in cheek).
I have an old pal in the USA who I am sure has connections. How about we all club together and take a contract out on Mike Riley and Stockley Park. I am sure something could be arranged.
Well nice idea! But a tad extreme! Mind those bureaucrats have not heard of sense, let alone the common variety.
I just wish there was a supporters group who could speak up on behalf of us. I’m sick of VAR now beyond endurance. Surely they have to listen to the fans!
VAR.
Vile And Ridiculous.
Nothing more to say on that particular subject.
It should have been an evening when Wolves went toe to toe with a top three club and came out on top.
That’s if the referee hadn’t stopped the contest because of a nasty cut sustained when Doc nearly got decapitated by Madison.
It’s a game that, if Raul, Pedro, Adama, et al had programmed their goal scoring Sat Navs correctly, we would have won by three goals at least.
So can we blame VAR for the loss of two points?
Not really, but the sense of injustice just builds with every decision that goes against us, and the mood of the Wolves faithful fans darkens as the dreaded message comes up on the big screen.
I started to fear a pitch invasion last night, the way the atmosphere in Molineux went from jubilant to toxic in the minutes it took to decide on a ‘clear and obvious’ mistake by the referee and linesman.
…But, being in the Steve Bull upper, I thought better of it.
A game where the 2 managers play chess and not loosing was more important than taking a risk
That said we should have won – not just because Boly would have won me £150 if goal had been allowed
Mcmanaman was he double taking the mick in giving Johnny Evans man of match ?
Boly won everything scored a goal imo and was on the better side
Johnny, Neto and Nevez good game
Nuno has some work to do with Podence, can he be stretched on a rack ?
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is near, does it make a sound? If something is not visible to the naked eye, did it really happen?
Two points dropped primarily because of VAR but we also wasted too many chances. Hopefully fifth spot will now represent CL football now that those cheaters Man C have been caught!
Am I missing something? I did not think you could be offside from a corner kick. the player VAR said was offside received the ball straight from the corner!!!
Did I miss a rule change some years ago??
It was Neto who did the corner kick who was subsequently offside on the return pass from Jota.
Nothing to add that hasn’t been said! Furious & ready to throttle anybody sat in the VAR broom cupboard & wipe the smirk off the smug little faces!
I don’t think it’s coincidence that the teams with the most goals disallowed by VAR are the 2 pushing to challenge the so called top 6, ie us & Sheffield Utd.
Plus if I’m not mistaken VAR now comes into the Europa League from this point on! Oh joy!
I have long thought that VAR is being used by the powers that be to deliberately rig results. ” They ” want to ensure the supposed ‘ big ‘ clubs have entry into the European competitions of the following season — where lies the big money and prestige.
The likes of Wolves and Sheffield Utd are an unwanted threat to the ‘big ‘ team clique. These two clubs are at the top of the table of highly dubious VAR decsions, which have cost numerous points. Every time points are unfairly lost, added stimulus is given to the ‘ big ‘ clubs — who only rarely seem to suffer at the hands of VAR — to move ahead of us.
I for one do not believe in coincidences. This VAR fiasco is being finacially driven. Follow the money !!
I know that The bureaucrats would deny what you are saying. However such is the marginal nature of decisions being made on a regular basis you can’t rule out a big hoax being foisted on the fan base.
You could well be right Mike. Nevertheless, we didn’t fail to win last night because of VAR. No, yet again we failed to win because we’re simply not good enough. We don’t make enough clear cut chances and we don’t pose a big enough threat to the opposition.
Everyone knows that we’re an unrepentant counter-attacking team and so teams come to Molineux and refuse to cooperate by taking the game to us. Instead they sit back and look to counter attack themselves and we have little or no plan B.
I read that the bigger vultures are circling above looking down on Adama and Raul. I also read that our owners have still not, so far, talked to Nuno about renewing his contract.
And we’re still getting no further towards the top 6/4.
The future’s beginning to look uncertain to me.
The very definition of a ‘glass half empty’ man.
Don’t know what you mean here Wolfstroker. But if you mean we should be happy to judge our situation and match-to-match progress on the basis of where we are now compared to the bad old days of a few years ago then I believe taking that sort of view to be mistaken.
Instead we should continually monitor our level of performance and progress based on the reality of the team and club we are now and, if we do that, it’s clear that we’re treading water and failing to win the number of games we need to justify the claims of those who say we’re realistic candidates for a top 6 or even a top 4 place. Instead we’re at best making no progress towards that and, more realistically, falling further off the required pace.
I mean that we’ve only been in, and reaping the riches of, the Premier League for eighteen months. Few promoted teams have achieved so much so quickly. Building a consistently winning squad takes time and I remain confident in both our owners and manager to make the correct decisions. The kind of players we would need to build such a squad wouldn’t come here anyway. Yet.
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day”. No of course not. Nevertheless, it has been apparent for some time that we’re no longer making the progress that we were previously. As I’ve said, I think that’s because we struggle to win our games against those teams who don’t play in a way that plays to our counter-attacking strengths. We’re famous now for having our own way of playing, but all of our opponents know how we play now. They consequently set up to frustrate us accordingly and it’s taking its toll on our results.
We’re now in 8th place and have only won 1 of our last 6 games. Indeed we’ve only won 8 of the 26 games we’ve played in the PL all season. We’ve therefore failed to win 18 games from those 26, which represents 69%.
It’s no surprise to see why. In our 26 games we’ve scored just 35 goals, which is about 1.34 per match or 4 goals in every 3 games. At the same time we’ve conceded just 3 fewer than we’ve scored and that’s why we draw too many games rather than win them.
I’m merely noting the reality that lies behind the stats and hoping that we’re working on the problem with a view to finding a solution.
Yes it does but it is not under the control of Riley the prat. It is the version approved by UEFA and the on field ref has the final say, and can use the monitor at pitch side.
Fifth spot might yet not be good enough for a Champions League place, Michael Oliver is still looking for a var reason to overturn UEFA’s ruling.
The tv commentators over here were so far up Brenda’s arse with their fawning over Vardy and Madison it was laughable.
One instance was a comment that Leicester had been down to ten men for the majority of the second half.
He didn’t get sent off until the 76 th minute!
And Vardy never touched the ball!
It was great to see wave after wave of attacking football, flowing at their defense in the second half, but as stated above, no one had their shooting boots on.
Later last night I watched my recording of the second half against City, where we had similar waves, but no var worries.
We have proved, time after time, we have the ability to break open stubborn resistance, yesterday wasn’t to be.
We still have to play some of those around us, and they must be afraid, very afraid.
FOvar
For me Connor Coady’s comment to Mike Dean said it all – “You’re reffing the game and you don’t know”.
I’ve seen some very variable reffing down the years, but one thing was always true – good or bad, the ref was always the man in charge, VAR seems to have taken that away and it could be just the start of things.
It’s always a bone of contention that refs seem to allow one team to get away with something that they penalise if the other team does it. For me that’s rather like the complaints of bias that politicians of all parties make against the BBC – but what if they start to check that on VAR? We’d have a break every minute of so while a panel of experts assessed the event in question like the judges on “Strictly”. Oh joy!!
The football authorities need to get this in hand and working reasonably before football fans start following darts instead.
The VAR fiasco is what it is. But that said it should not be used as an excuse for not winning a game in which the opposition was, at best, very limited.
That we failed fo sign any proven striker in the January window may well come back to bite us. Podence may well be OK — but we were already reasonably covered in the position in which he plays, whereas we have zero experienced cover for Raul. Jota`s continuing lack of finishing form means that we are too reliant of Raul to score
On the positive side, how good it is to have Wili Boly back. The defence again looks like a solid unit. Up front Neto is proving to be an outstanding talent. In my book, on present form he should be a regular starter.
Putting aside the obvious let’s look at the positives.
Neto still young had an excellent game- such a prospect
Boly is back and as good as ever MOTM
Good number of chances created – just need to put them away and of course VAR sorted out
If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, “the law is a ass — a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience — by experience.”
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
BTW, how far back to they go to check for offsides? Not far back enough to check if Van Dijk was, which is probably as many passes back as this case was.
Anyway, as I read the comments, it occurred to me. Why didn’t Neto pull that leg in a bit to try to ensure that he was onside? He knows the rules and is looking right at Jota and Chilwell, he should have known it was going to be close.
Why is Neto not trying to pull that trailing leg in to get that part of his body onside?
I know some of you are going to say that it is ridiculous to say that but at this level of play, you have to think about these things and try your best to avoid them. It’s the difference between an wily veteran and a young rookie.
Sorry, with Van Dijk, it was a question of a possible hand ball.
Really?
It’s ridiculous to say that!
You’re right Tim. That’s ridiculous.
You people have obviously never played sports at any level of competitiveness.
Maybe we in North America just operate at a whole ‘nother level of understanding than all y’all over there because we actually pay attention to those things so we don’t have plays brought back.
You really need to get your arse over here for the 8th May as I know a few people who would love to meet you.
Cheeky monkey!
Im pretty sure the woes of var will fade away at the end of the season as quickly as the good feelings you get from a two week holiday when you have been back for a week nothing stays in the mind for long and we move on.
Last nights result ended up being our own fault .
We should have wiped the floor with them the chances we had and we simply have ourselves to blame for that.
Ring rusty after two weeks off ? the amount of misplaced passes from both sides suggests so.
Its a point should have been three but we are still in touch and we will now get back into the swing of things .
A busy time ahead which i think suits us better and i believe we can finish top six.
V.A.R is wearing us all down and has to be changed but will you trust trust that bunch of idiots to change it for the better ???? i wouldnt
I am back on Thursday. Also, I am staying over until after the Sunday match. So, anyone around and who is free, just holler.
The ‘A’ in VAR stands for ‘assistant’. It was designed to assist the referee not overrule him or to make decisions over his head or behind his back.
If used as it was designed then it would be great. If the referee himself isn’t 100% sure he could go to the pitch side monitor to check and decide. If the VAR has seen something they think the actual referee has missed – like an off the ball incident say – the referee could be alerted and he could check the pitch side monitor to check and decide.
What it was NOT designed to do is make decisions. It is NOT the referee. It was also not designed to analyse offsides down to fractions of millimetres.
Real football is not something to be digitally re-mastered like an old 45 single record. If you do that it is no longer real. If it is no longer real then it is no longer football.
Some of our party who travel from Bedford – long way, lot of hours, not cheap – are seriously considering not renewing their season tickets next season due to ruinous effect of VAR.
Be final thought. How bizarre is it that one law – offside – is scrutinised to the Nth degree and yet another – withdrawing ten yards at a free kick – is left to a man (of varying sizes) to measure it by the length of his stride.
OODCL
Absolutely spot on Bedford
And here’s another thought I had while contemplating my navel:
If the faceless, nameless bodies who rule our sport can retro add or subtract a card of any colour, why can they not change an obvious var error, and give us the goal we scored?
Then the sensible, although very small, part of my brain kicked in and countered with :
If that was done, then every team would be hollering about their own var injustices, and all goals and non goals would be scrutinized, and the faceless, nameless bodies would spout forth in their infinite wisdom that it is all subjective and open to interpretation.
Why then is var needed, I would ask, when we have had men of that ilk for well over 100 years, namely referees.
My addled brain works, sometimes, in weird ways.
To me what is telling is that most pundits agree that the goal would have stood last season. The VAR rules are being misinterpreted. Was there a clear and obvious error? No way. The proof is that they needed a forensic level look to disallow it. Conducting a forensic investigation into the goal is setting the bar far too high above the ‘clear and obvious’ criteria. Up until this season, how many times were we told that a goal would stand when a player who was marginally offside was not interfering with play? The present use of VAR indicates that they are looking very hard to find fault with goals. This was never the rationale behind VAR.
I am going to hazard a prediction here. The net amount of goals scored in the PL this season will be lower than last season. If the number of goals disallowed, a) after the referee has blown for a goal exceeds the number of goals given, b) after the referee has disallowed them, then that would be telling. I believe the number in a) will be much greater.
This is spot on. The PL were advised by UEFA not to use VAR forensically. No one in the stadium saw a blatant offside, No Leicester player or management appealed for an infringement. Players at all levels are the first to put their hands up and protest if they see an injustice yet no one did. So Michael Oliver needed six reruns in slow motion to find a reason to disallow isn’t forensic?
Does anyone know a smart lawyer who wants to run a test case ” By virtue of the implementation of VAR and support for it, The Premier League is bringing the game into disrepute”.
Thank God Willy is back, imperious, commanding, unruffled. Actually saw him laughing when Barnes tried to take him on. A man against a boy.
Here’s a quote from a letter I had from the Premier League, the Supporter Liaison Manager.
“But VAR is not solely used for clear and obvious errors. Factual decisions are not subject to the clear and obvious test, for example factual offside decisions are based on the evidence provided by fully calibrated offside lines”.
So there you are! A mere pleb fan is wot I am, how can I not see the absolute marvellousness of having lines calibrated on the screen shot of the pitch. Then after going into a ill advised celebration of a goal for my team. Then being relieved that we’ve not got an unfair advantage in gaining a goal to the good because basically we’ve cheated! What utter bollox!
That is fantastic. If this fucking bollox is allowed to continue I might as well saw my own bollocks off
I feel that may be going a little far, Cheesey.
Sick to the core. We would easily have been 4th by now. Don’t start about our finishing. It has nothing to do with us not winning. Period.
Anyone want a season tkt? VAR is killing the game. I may have to stay away.
To all those contemplating not renewing because of VAR, I have one thing to say. Get a life! I’m not particularly a fan, by the way, but some perspective please. You might have to go shopping with the Mrs instead.
Oh yeah, shopping with the Mrs? When’s the early bird start? Thx for the perspective lol.
I’ll find a good home for it mate.
By the way, I’m kipping overnight at Dougie and Barbara’s on Thursday if you’re up for a pint in The Clarendon after the game.
Just the one? I have a pass that covers Sunday’s match too lol.
I know Nuno doesn’t seem to care but if Man City get a 20 point deduction this year, we could finish 3rd of 4th if we can put another undefeated streak together.
That’s irrelevant if they are banned, Tim.
No it’s not irrelevant. The idea is to finish as high as you can in the Premier League, not just to make the Champions League.
For instance, there is more television revenue given to the third place finisher than the fourth place finisher.
si senor, give the ball to Raul and he will ,,,,
Leicester are the luckiest team in this league, how on earth are they so far ahead of us this year!
I’m also getting to dislike Brendan Rogers to the point of wanting to custard pie his smug face but that can wait for another day
We now need to win the next two games 100 percent and I’m backing us to do just that , Raul to find his shooting boots in the process
The ref should have briefly viewed the pitch side monitors (15 seconds) and gave the goal simple, but the arrogance of our guys trying to prove to Europe that we are more anal than them is ruining this season for us
Fed up but now we have a great chance to get ourselves back into the top six with some winnable games
Keep the faith, this can still be a brilliant season
Utw
It’s no coincidence that since Big Willy came back, we’ve enjoyed two clean sheets. He was absolutely imperious in this.
Neto gets better every game. What a prospect?
Likewise Jonny Otto really is a magnificent player, both defending and going forward.
We have a really good team. One we can all rightly be proud of. When it all clicks we can be exhilarating to watch and these are indeed great days to be a Wolves fan.
It’s a 400 mile round trip for me to come up to the Mol’. I can’t do it every game because of the cost and, nowadays, availability of tickets. But I come up when I can and thoroughly enjoy the experience. The building excitement as I enter the Golden Palace. The thrill as our heroes take to the pitch. The ups and downs of the game itself. All of these elements play their part. Hell, even the pre-match Balti pie.
But most of all, the absolute pinnacle, the reason we all do it is the overwhelming euphoria when the ball hits the opposition net. No linesman’s flag, ref blows and points to the center circle and away you go. You and nigh on thirty thousand others unified in a spontaneous eruption of joy. There’s little else like it in sport. There’s little else like it in life.
VAR doesn’t need to rule out your teams goal. Just the thought that it might kills that moment. The game now leaves me empty and if things don’t change very, very quickly, I’m fearing I may be lost forever. Christ, I couldn’t even celebrate Raul’s penalty at Southampton in case it was called for encroachment.
I never thought I would say it, but if things don’t change in the summer and VAR is scrapped or at least used in a sane manner, I shall not be bothering to travel that 400 miles to see my heroes. I don’t think I will even be arsed to walk across the room to turn the tele’ on. The powers that be won’t give a damn and it will be my loss. But it’s already been my loss so I’ve got nothing left to lose.
So sad.
Could not have put it better Wolfie sums it up but keep the faith mate l find on our long journeys home you have lots of time to dwell on the match but this VAR has left us empty and feeling how unjust it is and feeling cheated.
I was chatting in the pub last night about VAR (as you do). Another thing to consider is the possibility of crowd disorder in a big relegation game and a VAR intervenes and effectively sends a team down. The atmosphere in the South Bank Friday night was pretty toxic after our latest injustice from VAR but we are not in danger of relegation. Imagine if we were!
Hate to say this but needs must. Come on Villa.
For all our good play this season, and at times it has been brilliant….. for all the good players we have got, some of the best I’ve seen since I got my season ticket in 1974……for all the good work of Nuno and his back room staff …. we have only won 8 league games all season or to look at it another way, we have failed to beat the opposition c 70% of the time and we score and concede at roughly the same rate of c 1.3 goals per game. The reality , even with how much we have achieved in the last 2 and a half years is that we don’t score enough goals and until we change our play to be more attacking rather than just purely counter attacking and find personnel that can convert more chances and score goals from midfield we will be a very good side but not yet a great side. Tantalisingly close but I think nuno may have to change our formula again to crack this conundrum.
It’s fame is spreading.
Went to Eden Park Auckland Sat night NZ time to see Wellington Phoenix play. On the approach to the main entrance a guy sits on a tennis umpires chair with a PA system directing the crowd as they arrive, he spotted the Wolves badge on my shirt and greeted me with “I see we have a Wolves fan here, I hear you were robbed by the dreaded VAR again this morning. Say no more.
The var boys are doing their utmost to keep us and Sheffield out of the top six so whilst i fully agree with what your saying even if we scored more I’m pretty certain they would only find more ways to disallow them.
On a slightly different tack, I don’t know what any of you think of Desert Island Discs or Ian Wright – I’m a big admirer of both, in spite of his Arsenal connection – but you ought to check out the latest programme.
Well worth a listen for all sorts of reasons.
I know I’ve said it before (sorry), but I absolutely HATE VAR with a passion, all it’s given us is misery: either disallowing ‘goals’ by millimeters or ‘checking’ good goals (e.g. Neves vs. Man Utd, killing the joy in an instant). No, wait, we did get an opposition yellow card increased to a red, I forgot about that, maybe it’s not been that bad after all 😉
Can you imagine VAR being around for ‘that’ Neves goal vs. Derby in the Championship? Instead of the absolute explosion of joy we all felt at what was for me least, the best goal I’ve ever seen us score, the self-defence mechanisms would kick in, trying to keep things in check, just in case one of our players had forgot to cut his toenails that morning.
And it’s got absolutely nothing to do with being on the wrong end of decisions so many times either, I was absolutely dreading its introduction this season, and my fears have turned out to be well-founded.
It’s killing things for me, to the point where, although I’m nowhere near considering turning in my season ticket, worryingly, the thought has popped in and out of my mind at times this season ( even though I’m sure most would consider it boring, I do actually have a life, like we all do!). I thought I’d be there for the duration: going for as long as my health and finances would allow, but I can fully understand some of the noises I’m hearing on this site and from those who sit around me at the Mol.
So, what to do? I’ve heard the odd muttering about staying out of grounds until 10 minutes into the game, but 30,000 or more people all trying to enter the ground at the same time? I reckon we’d all get in by about half time! I’m not sure how achievable this would be in reality. A minute’s silence from all fans in the grounds at minute 19 (year of VAR’s introduction here) might be another way, but this might be seen as being disrespectful, given the circumstances when it’s normally employed…I really don’t know, but I do think fans that go to games need to do ‘something’.
When the powers that be have their discussions at the end of the season about the way forward, assuming they won’t bin VAR (wouldn’t that be absolute heaven?), I do feel that supporters (Football Supporters Association?) have to be involved in those discussions. Things just can’t carry on the same way.
Sorry for going on.
What’s the connection between May 2003 and April 2020?
Both biggest game of the season.
Both Sheffield United.
Champo league play off?
Who’d have thought it?
Sorry for a further post on the dreaded VAR, but when I had my rant above I hadn’t seen MOTD, something I rectified this morning. It showed two Norwich defenders, waiting for a corner to be taken, grab hold of Van Dijk and wrestle him to the ground Sin Cara style. It wouldn’t have been legal in Rugby League and if they’d done it anywhere else on the pitch they would both have been – quite rightly – sent off. Then later in the programme there was WB having a goal disallowed because 0.25% of Neto’s body mass was offside.
Can someone please explain why the Gnomes of Stockley Park don’t do anything about what outside the ground would have been classed as assault?
I thought that was one of the reasons it was brought in for.
Watching Arsenal v Newcastle – and if I didn’t know before I can now see how good Wolves are compared to other teams.
On the subject of Arsenal in the Times today, asked which team would go the furthest in The Europa two football journalists said Man U or Arsenal. Really? Have they been watching this season? One, Graham Souness, said Wolves. Easily the best pundit.
Interesting comments by Mel Eve’s in the Sunday Mercury today.He reckons Wolves have had 5 big VAR decisions go against them in matches against the TOP 3 this season. I make it 6 but there you go. Conspiracy anyone ?
My thoughts on VAR are well documented, but given that it (apparently) won’t go away how could it be better used ? One thought I had was why not permit each team 3 VAR challenges per match, maximum 2 in any half. BUT, in order to use VAR the players would have to state WHAT INCIDENT they want examined – offside, handball, ball out of play etc. So these ridiculous, anal offside decisions would disappear whereas the clearer ones would still be given. Challenges for red-cards (rather than yellow) would still be allowed. Unseen accidental handballs may also be challenged, but some teams may prefer to save their challenges for later. But the essence is that the challenge should come from those involved in the game who feely unfairly treated in some way and that the pedantic examinations for micro-offences would disappear. Ideally, as in Germany, the ref would use a pitch side monitor so no more 3-5 minute waits for a decision.
Here’s another one. Henderson’s goal for LiVARpool at Molineux. Went in off his upper arm. Where was VAR ? Bet your life had they been a Wolves goal VAR would have cancelled it.
Newcastle away. Last minute. Doc having his shirt pulled off him by a Toon defender. VAR check the infringement. Weirdly the TV cameras suddenly switched to way up on the roof of the stand whilst the VAR was ongoing. Surprise surprise. No penalty. Same day. Salah gets the same shirt pull at Anfield. Penalty given.
Let’s give the VAR shit a rest for a moment
Next 3 games are big… 2 against Espanyol
What’s the score line we want Thursday? At least 2-0…better 3-0
What are the odds of that? Slim to none.in my view.. as someone has calculated, we score 1.3 goals a game
My point??
We don’t score enough goals… even with Jimenez/ Neto/Jota/Traore upfront
Why?
Because our midfield needs to be better both in creating and scoring
Solution?
Two new midfielders to replace Neves and in a year or so Moutinho
MGW isn’t going to make it with the back issue so we need to splash the cash… I’m thinking players of the calibre of Man City’s Silva team.. or DeBruyne
So sell Neves for 40 -50mil
Buy two stars for 120 mil( net 70-80)
Voila
Now I recall the agony when Douglas was sold .. then Costa .. then Cav
So I’m anticipating a bit of push back on this suggestion
But just saying… 1-0 or 2-1 on Thursday won’t cut it… and my diagnosis is that our Portuguese duo simply aren’t quite good enough if we want to reach the top
Just saying…
I hear you Marin, but I don’t feel it’s lack of chances that’s killing us. It’s not putting them away. Personally, I thing Neves and Moutinho are closer to being ‘best in the league’ than Jota and Jiminez are.
However, the fact is that we were promoted only eighteen months ago and as the old saying goes….”Rome wasn’t built in a day”.
Massive spending that outstrips earnings? I think Man City have ‘possibly’ nailed that myth.
I personally don’t think we will ever quite replace the quality of our midfield duo but that’s my opinion.
Signing an improvement I am much more certain is an impossibility.
Raul stuttered a bit on Friday but the potential for that forward line is dazzling. Just a little patience needed.
I understand that you are ‘putting it out there’ to promote discussion and debate about our two midfield maestros, but….
…you could apply the same argument to our ace goalscorer, Raul Jimenez.
He missed three really good chances on Friday.
If any one of those had gone in, we would have won.
Perhaps he’s not quite good enough either.
Although you will have to persuade a few million Yam-yams and Mexicans that you’re right.
Wolves just released a statement using the term “strategic enhancements” to the playing squad. So Podence, not Fernandez.
The two midfield dynamos we posses are top class its probably the shape thats holding them back so if nuno is going to persist with three up front its them that need to get their sights in line as they are most definately being given the bullets .
fifteen shots and seven corners against leicester and one goal from a centre half which was (wrongfully) disallowed is just not good enough.
More VAR nonsense at Chelsea v Man Utd tonight. Maguire should have gone at 0-0. Chelsea first equaliser wrongly ruled out. They got 1 out of 3 right. I suppose we have to have Manure in the Champions league don’t we.
After attending the meeting the other day,
Recent fans parliament minutes on the presentation from the FA and supporters group on VAR……
https://www.wolves.co.uk/news/club/20200218-fans-parliament-minutes-february-2020/
TURN YOUR BACK ON VAR
Copy of email sent to PL supporters’ groups.
Hi all,
Sorry it’s long and rambling, please take time to read and follow the links.
As the players left the pitch at half time in the Wolves V Leicester game on Friday night (14/02/2020) the cameras picked up on Wolves Captain Conner Coady saying to match referee Mike Dean; ‘’and your ‘reffin’ the game and you don’t know what’s going on’’ was Conner booked, sent off or charged by the FA after the exchange?
No, the reason being was that it was the truth, Mike Dean could not explain why he had disallowed the goal other than to mutter that VAR said it was offside and point to his earpiece. He appeared to give Jota offside (not Neto) and directed the free kick to be taken in the wrong place?
The TV Pundits, radio commentators, players, match officials, managers and supporters were unaware, Talksport ran its after match ‘phone in’ on the basis that Jota had been given offside from a corner, ridiculous journalism. It was not until a PGMOL statement released, later in the night, did it become clear that it was Neto that had being given offside by VAR. Most supporters were back at home…
Wolves are now competing with Sheffield United for the most goal ‘overturns’ in the Premier League and we can claim that the decision on Friday was the worst seen this season (there will be plenty of entries).
It’s getting worse not better.
Ironically, we held our Fans Parliament ‘VAR’ meeting with Chris Foy, PGMOL and the Premier League’s supporter liaison manager, Tommy Guthrie in attendance last Tuesday. One of the things Chris was keen to get over was “The referee, rather than VAR, will always have the final decision.”
Strange how Mike Dean could not explain to Coady ‘his’ decision on Friday night?
The minutes of the meeting are published on the club website: https://www.wolves.co.uk/news/club/20200218-fans-parliament-minutes-february-2020/# you will in the minutes that the majority voted to scrap VAR.
So why am I having a moan about VAR via this Premier League supporters network group?
It’s getting serious and concerning, at the recent meeting Wolves head of operations Steve Sutton said the there was a noticeable increase in hostility at the recent Manchester City match especially at the time of the VAR decisions around the penalty, “We all have a duty to behave and I do not condone bad behaviour but this has raised the hostility level,” he said.
Following the VAR decision on Friday night the hostility levels were even higher, a TV was smashed in the concourse and chants of ‘fuck VAR’ were coming from all stands. Wolves fans are very angry, I surmise we are not alone.
There is now a serious risk of disorder, the media and Premier League will put the blame on supporters whilst the ‘boiling kettle’ of resentment towards VAR is being ignored. We are heading to the time of season when decisions will relegate teams, deny European football, lose cup matches etc we know what is going to happen.
Members of Wolves Fans’ Parliament believe that we should be channelling this anger, rather than wait for the inevitable disorder. We have launched a campaign amongst our fans to – Turn your back on VAR – encouraging supporters to stand up and turn away from the pitch when VAR is being used. It’s not a huge demonstration, its peaceful and visual, the cameras will focus on it.
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/wolverhampton-wanderers-fc/2020/02/18/wolves-fans-encouraged-to-turn-their-backs-on-var/
The reason we all travel thousands of miles and pay huge sums of money to watch football is to celebrate goals, that moment has been stolen from us, do we celebrate now or stand and wait whilst VAR looks for any tiny reason to disallow a goal?
As the representatives of our various fan bases we have a responsibility to let the Premier League know that this situation cannot continue, we have to apply strong pressure to ensure that their end of season revue includes a real debate as to whether VAR has added any real value to the game?
We have to make sure it is put in the light of the loss that is being endured by supporters at each and every match. Goal celebrations are being ‘phased out’ under VAR, another season of VAR and we won’t celebrate goals, we will turn to watch the big screen and await the judgement of someone 200 miles from the stadium. It’s much more than statistics and lines on a screen, it’s the very culture of what being a football supporter is all about.
Will we be the generation that has to describe to our grandkids what it was like to celebrate a goal before VAR?
We urge all supporters’ representatives to consider how best to channel the feelings of your clubs supporters, whether you support our campaign, write letters, arrange a meeting with the PGMOL/Premier League like the one we held but don’t do nothing. Don’t turn your back on the game we love, turn your back on VAR.
The game we love, the emotion we feel, is being taken away from us by VAR, it needs to change.
#turnyourbackonVAR
@fansparliament
Thank you.
Neil Dady
For and on behalf of
Wolverhampton Wanderers Fans Parliament
Can we have another VAR system that checks the VAR decision for accuracy. We can then spend 15 minutes sitting around in the wind and rain looking at a blank screen. If the decision is still flawed after this there is one final option of sending an email to GOD ALMIGHTY to make the ultimate judgement. All this might take about 40 minutes and it is by now probably midnight. But hey. If GOD can’t get it right no one can.