Whitey Grandad

I’m afraid I have to agree with you. Seemed inconsistent throughout and was too lax with Dele Alli amongst others. You are right, ever referee receives a report with several videos, one showing the game as seen on TV and another focussing just on him and his decisions with comments on fouls that he should have given as well as ones that he shouldn’t.

I believe that is a current suggestion at FIFA.

Ain’t never gonna happen. But thanks for the kind thought

Played well today. A settled back four helps.

That’s the point. You don’t have to turn your head because your field of view is 120 degrees. Some people can’t assimilate the complete field of view and are called ‘head turners’. These people have to point their head towards whatever they’re looking at. Others can see what’s happening out of the sides of their eyes. The assistant (linesman) automatically positions him/herself level with the second to last defender so that when the ball is kicked they only need to decide whether the attacker is nearer the goal than themselves. It is a specialised profession and requires years of practice to be good at it.

It is possible with training to survey and evaluate the complete field of view. Some people can’t do it. Ironically the referee is in a good position to see both when the ball is kicked and whether the recipient is offside in most instances except for the tight calls which is where the assistant comes in. You’re right, either the law must change or its application must be reviewed. There’s quite a bit about it in The Times today with FIFA talking about ‘clear daylight’ between the attacker and the defender. Apparently in the US MLS the VAR review of offside is done with the naked eye, no lines are artificially drawn across the pitch. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/new-pressure-for-overhaul-of-offside-law-bt57vgnfv (Possible paywall)

And the VAR decisions are ‘correct’? If that were true there wouldn’t be so much fuss and bother over them.

Following that argument it would be best to disallow all goals just to be sure.

It doesn’t work like that. The assistant is constantly scanning the field of view. Human visual awareness can cover many things simultaneously.

And they are miles away from the action and looking at the game through blurry off-axis pictures.

But will we still be top at the end of the season?

You can with enough practice. You can switch from one to the other quicker than a camera can take another frame.

They aren’t middle-aged and they aren’t all men. These are highly-trained and experienced officials that you’re talking about. They have to meet very stringent fitness tests. More importantly they are in the perfect position being right on the sideline and level with the second-last defender. It is very rare that a VAR camera is looking square across the pitch.

Arms don’t count.

Precisely

The problem is that the technology is not accurate enough to judge whether or not an attacker is an inch offside.

Ah, that great pagan festival Eostre.

General Blasphemy? Wasn’t he in the Salvation Army?

Always sad to see a great talent pass over. I lived his work and I even have a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band record somewhere, probably ‘The Intro and the Outro’. Their album ‘Gorilla’ was all the rage in my teenage years.

Bob Marley? I thought he was dead

We got lucky with Djenepo’s ‘handball’ in the buildup to Ings’s goal a couple of weeks ago.

Based on my judgment on the technical methods that are used. In an earlier life I was a senior engineer in television picture processing and have written and presented several technical papers to international television conferences. You must always remember that what you think you see in your living room is an illusion created by flickering coloured pixels. It gives a general impression of what took place. My figure of 50cm is what I suggest should be the ‘margin of allowance’.

You cannot make a subjective decision through a television lens. The PL and the others are all in the pay of the TV companies. They have ceased to be spectators and want to control the game as well.

But cricket, tennis, rugby are spasmodic games which have regular stoppages. What separates football is the relentless pace of the game, the ebb and flow. Unless Saints are playing at home, of course.

Says anyone who has actually looked at them. Most of the marginal offsides to start with but that Arsenal goal that was disallowed because Chambers is supposed to have fouled somebody is a clear injustice. , widely recognised as such throughout the game,