Whitey Grandad

Yep. Last night it was painful to watch Stephens with the ball at his feet. All the players on both sides were standing around with their hands in their hips waiting for him to make his mind up until he rolled it back to McCarthy,

'Deliberately played' by the defender?

Well said. Like you I used to be a local referee and some of the parents seem to think it’s all part of the fun to hurl abuse at referees. I challenged one young mum about it once and she just said “It’s all part of having a laugh”.

Yes, during the close season all the referees get together at St. George’s Park for a big seminar and they go through all the law changes and their interpretations. This information is then promulgated to the clubs. Edit: I don’t like Mike Reilly either. I was at the first top game he refereed at Leicester against Saints. He spent the whole game trying to impress his seniors and awarded a penalty against MLT who was only trying to protect his face from a ball blasted at him from close range.

Lee Mason had his left arm raised for the free kick which can only have meant offside, probably against Ings.

Barcelona are in debt to the tune of over €1.2bn

Even worse than that. It’s 50Hz in the UK, or 50 frames per second. I used to be in TV research forty years but technology has changed since then. It’s all CCD cameras these days so unless they are high speed versions they are too slow for offside decisions. And when is the ball deemed to have been kicked? When the foot first touches it or once it has obviously left the boot?

I’ve wondered about this too.

That is exactly the point. For offside purposes you ignore any part of the body from which you cannot score. Basically, you ignore any tattooed bits that you can see.

No, it wasn’t overturned, but the on field decision was affected by the presence of VAR. I hate it and if it’s not working in this format then it’s never going to work.

That’s a vague possibility. The rules changed over where the free kick Incan be taken from but it’s all very bizarre.

He must have been watching a different game. I don’t know what he’s flagged for there. It’s definitely an offside signal and not a foul and the flag position indicates that the offender is in the central portion of the pitch. Nope, no Saints player in an offside position there.

If we bring in a new player in the next 48 hours do you think they’ll be an effective team player less than 24 hours later?

The ball was blurred so must have left the foot at the time of the still frame. The frame before shows that the ball has not been kicked. This shows up the nonsense of using VAR for such tight offsides. If the assistant had not been so keen to raise his flag then it is possible that VAR would have let the goal stand but didn’t see it as an obvious mistake. As for the handball, referees are going to be reluctant to give such penalties because they know that VAR is watching over their shoulder. The ball did glance off Cash’s thigh very slightly but the essential point is that the ball would have hit his hand anyway. It was not as though the ball only hit his hand because it had taken a deflection off a part of his body. The goalkeeper would have comfortably saved it anyway but that is not the point. As clear a handball as you will ever see. There are two competing aspects here. The referee being less likely to give a penalty because of VAR and VAR not overruling the referee because of it not being a clear and obvious mistake. The benefit of doubt has effectively moved towards the defenders. And when is Che ever going to use his left foot? He’s a good player but only half a footballer.

He got a yellow for dissent even if it was a wrong decision. The referee is always right, even when he’s wrong.

Yep. If the ball is heading towards the net, go for it with your thigh but cover it by stretching your arm out just above it.

Deleted... multiple posts.

Yep. If the ball is heading towards the net, go for it with your thigh but cover it by stretching your arm out just above it.

That was never offside.

Diallo’s passing has been awful.

Too many injuries.

JWP was just outside on his right.

I don’t understand that but Mason did appear to indicate an indirect free kick.

Yeah, that NHS link says “When it's your turn, you'll be contacted by letter, text or email with information on how to book your appointment.”

It varies as far as I know. I think it depends on whether it’s handled by a GP surgery or vaccination centre.