Whitey Grandad

I can live with that cup final. We have to remember that everything else that went on in that match would also have been subject to review and somehow I don’t think that Saints would have benefited. What I would like to see is a more sensible link-up between the referee and his assistants. As a referee you have a pretty good idea whether somebody is offside or not. A quick confer there and the goal would have stood. Certainly if I had been reffing it

Very true. Just imagine that load of crâp with endless stops for VAR reviews.

None of them improve the game. Football depends on continuous free movement for its unique appeal. The fact that the ball can be cleared off the line at one end and then a few seconds later it's in the other net is what makes it special. Every other sport is a turgid dirge.

When the offside law was written it wasn't intended or expected that it would be implemented by someone sitting miles away whose viewpoint wasn't actually at normal eye height and level with the second-class defender and who was watching some coloured pixels on a distorted freeze-frame screen. It was only ever an approximate law.

I'm very pleased that I had the chance to go. Let's hope for many more such trips.

That in itself should worry you. Effectively it would mean that different leagues are operating under different laws Hi Pete!

Restaurant tables that don't sit flat on the floor and have to be wedged with beer mats.

That's not what I typed! (and I did check at the time) Add auto-correct to the list of small things that annoy me.

Any idea when that would be?

Most of it ours.

A pedantic never sleeps. Do we?

People who say "should of", "could of", "must of" etc People who say "etc" because they're too lazy to think of another example.

What a carve up. What kind of democracy is this supposed to be?

No we're not. Even here it's not entirely clear whether the defender scrapes the ball. A stupid lunge to make, mind you.

The WA is much deeper and wider than a simple FTA.

The WA is an indefinite extension except that legally we are out of the EU. Brexiteers say "that's tantamount to remaining' Remainers say 'in that case we might as well remain'

You voted for the fudge. All you did was put a tick in a box, you didn't specify what you wanted.

He doesn't have to do anything to get a no-deal. It is the default event and the only things that can stop it is ratifying the WA, revocation or him asking for an extension and the latter two are down to him. A General Election might be forced on him but otherwise he could sit on his hands. At least that might keep them out of mischief.

No it wasn't. The referee didn't think so. The forward was hardly touched,if at all, and was lunging forward trying to reach the ball. What VAR now means is that every game will have several penalties and every penalty is going to be scored even if it has to be retaken several times. It distorts the whole purpose and balance and tempo of the game.

Because we are a football club and you can't play football without players. If Bertrand goes for around £15m then who are we going to get of the same quality as a replacement?

I'm not as certain as you that it should have been a penalty. The defenders right leg might have come into contact with the back of the attacker's leg but was it enough to send her flying? This is the problem with TV, you can't judge the strength of any small touches.

Worse than disgusting. It’s almost as though the VAR refs are doing it to make a point. It’s not even completely clear that the goalkeeper is ahead of the line when the first penalty is taken. It could be that her left heel is in line with the goal line which would make her position legal. All this rubbish is destroying the beautiful game. When you think of all the great goals that have ever been scored there isn’t one penalty amongst them.

You’re most welcome. It’s some time since I blew my own whistle (no s******ing there at the back) and they keep changing the laws and the official international of them but thro ins haven’t changed for a while. It’s a bit of a strange one because the white lines are considered to be part of the area that they surround so that would make the touch line part of the main field of play and you’d think that the thrower would not be allowed to tread on it.

Stuttering is legal but encroachment isn’t and from what I’ve heard there was quite a bit of that,

The big toe can be over the line, nothing wrong with that. As long as some part of the foot is touching the white stuff then it’s a legal throw. Even if it’s only the back of a heel and the rest of the foot is well into the green it’s ok. Law 15: “Must have part of each foot on the touchline or on the ground outside the touchline”