My fellow Gooners and football JustArsenal “addicts”, as many of you will know, just yesterday a verbal dispute broke out on the issue of VAR. by Jon fox
It is an issue that I have long wished was not an issue and that it had not happened at all, UNTIL the proper technology was in place to eliminate human error. By that I mean artificial intelligence or AI which has made enormous strides in recent years and which already plays a far more significant part in all our daily lives than some willimagine. It is up and running and is not far from being ready to use on VAR, subject to there being a will to use it, to eliminate the certain human errors that we all make.
To imagine that VAR officials are somehow less immune to error, as shown so graphically in the Arsenal game last Saturday, is to fool ourselves. All humans come with design faults; it is the natural condition of our species. All of us, refs and VAR officials included and, guess what, even players, managers and owners. Oh, and fans too. That is simply facing facts my friends, and to expect perfection in humans, fine people though almost all of us are, is just not realistic.
I have long been saddened at how refs, almost alone, are singled out for such vitriolic personal abuse and routinely called cheats, by fans almost everywhere.
My personal view is almost an opposite one. I think that in general, refs do an almost impossible job to the best of their ability, but where I join in with others is in saying that ability is very frequently NOT good enough.
I think it abhorrent to blithely and without any proof, to label another human being as a cheat. That is a serious and foolish allegation and though many highly bright and wise Gooners on JA think many refs are cheats, I do not. I think MOST are not up to standard but NOT cheats.
In my view a good many players ARE certainly cheats and, very often so are managers when discussing the game that has just ended. They are all highly – I would call it “obscenely” highly paid – while refs are paid a decent but fairly normal salary, in line with society’s norm. and many are far more in touch with the reality of life as a financial consequence, than are super rich players.
My purpose in giving this background is to illustrate how unfair football is and how unfair many of we fans often are, myself included.
Weekly, we are asking the impossible and expecting humans, ie refs to get decisions 100% right. That is not how humanity works, by our very nature. Every one of us is human and makes mistakes and to deny that is to be dishonest, something I much dislike.
So, when VAR was introduced the many people in charge, who really ought to have known how human nature works, disregarded it entirely, and went ahead with a VAR where humans were and are in charge.
Wiser minds would have known from the outset that mistakes were certain, since humans ran things. As the weekend just ended has graphically shown us all.
Today on Talksport our own Martin Keown was saying that “perhaps VAR should be suspended right now until they get things right”. He was shouted down by the others on that programme unsurprisingly, and it was pointed out that you cannot suspend VAR mid-season. I agree with just that last line, NOT mid-season!
The point is that as used right now and ever since it came in, VAR has been a huge annoyance to the fans, in particular those fans who regularly attend games.
FANS are not merely impotent, although also important spectators, or should I say we ought not to be impotent. We deserve and must have a critical say in how things are run.
FANS ARE THE HEART, SOUL AND LIFE BLOOD OF OUR BELOVED SPORT AND WITHOUT US IT WOULD BLEED TO FINANCIAL DEATH IN NO TIME AT ALL. That needs to be said loud and clear, and it is we fans, each and every single one of us, that I will always stand for and fight for on our behalf. As most of us also do at times when we band together to fight the common enemy, the non-caring owners who want to make themselves even filthier rich at our expense, We are, to them, just helpless pawns in their game of who is richest of all wins. UGH!
We fans brought down the evil idea of the proposed European Super League farce that was brought in without us being consulted, and collectively we brought it down in hours. Not even days nor weeks, but HOURS!!! IMAGINE HOW MUCH WE CAN ACHIEVE IF ONLY WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO STAND AND FIGHT FOR WHAT WE WANT.
My personal objections to VAR, in simple terms, are these: Firstly, it spoils and often ruins the all-important high spot in any game, a goal celebration. For ever, until VAR reared its ugly head, we fans could cheer a goal to our hearts content once the match ref has awarded a goal. It was never chalked off, often several minutes later, thus destroying our vitally important excitement.
And excitement, passion and cheering our heads off is why we go to football, why we follow it. In sexual terms it is the climax after making love. I do not apologise for using that analogy either, as it is true, profoundly true. And all fans know it is too!
Secondly, It takes far too long and often we who attend do not even know why the VAR is being used. No connection with the fans was thought important, UNTIL, a few months ago, when some bright spark realised that fans had a right to know what was happening in the game that we spent all week talking and thinking about and spent huge money on attending. Football is not like cricket and tennis which have natural breaks after each ball or point. It is pacy and thrilling and that pace and flow of the game is of vital importance.
We poor mugs were finally given a bland phrase on the screen telling us what the stoppage was for. Big deal! How generous of those in charge to give us such consideration. After all, we only pay ALL their huge wages, albeit indirectly. Tongue in cheek praise for those in charge then? You bet your life it’s tongue in cheek.
Thirdly, I may be old fashioned but I firmly believe in having ONE FINAL DECISION MAKER IN TOTAL CHARGE. I reject as nonsense the idea that another, human and therefore equally imperfect, ref should be in charge of a video that directs the pitch ref to halt the game and await instructions along with players and fans, until, finally the video ref tells or does not tell the actual ref, to go to watch the pitch side screen for a second look. In theory, we are told the pitch ref can tell the video ref to go and boil his head and that he will not be going to take a second look.
But in practise, which is what matters, that does not happen. Never! In practise again, once the actual ref goes to take a second look, and whether or not he truly agrees with the VAR ref, he changes his decision to agree with the VAR ref. YES THERE HAVE BEEN A MERE HANDFUL OF REFS WHO HAVING HAD A SECOND LOOK WILL STAY WITH THEIR OWN ORIGINAL DECISION.
In reality, refs are afraid of offending the ref in charge of all refs; until recently it was the woeful Mike Riley and he had charge over all refs, despite being one of the very worst refs ever when he used to have the whistle. Now Howard Webb is in charge and this week (Tuesday) has called a meeting to bang together the heads of incompetent VAR officials. This morning it was announced by Webb, that John Brook who VAR’d the Palace v Brighton game and made another huge VAR mistake and who was due to run VAR in Mondays Merseyside derby and our game against City, is now dropped. Lee Mason who cost us two points will probably be dropped tomorrow, Tuesday, it is predicted.
But remember, all refs are human and will therefore always make mistakes . It is naive to say “how can that happen, given that they have endless replays to see the true outcome”. Yes they do, but still they make mistakes, and humans always will make mistakes. We all need to accept that unpleasant fact and IMO, allow for it to happen. Only a foolish person sees something wrong happen year after year after year and yet still expects a different and perfect outcome, from HUMAN BEINGS. That aim is fools’ gold my friends.
What we should have done from the very outset, instead of dividing fans and making the game so wearily stop start and spoiling excitement, was to wait until AI was ready to take over and run VAR. Without a human as final decision maker we would actually be able to get correct and SPEEDY decisions, instead of the constant lengthy sick joke wrong calls made by VAR all along.
IF and only IF, we could use AI to get all VAR calls both correct and without delay, then and only then would I accept that VAR is to stay.
I want to say that the other point of view to keep VAR as it is, despite the overlong waits and wrong calls, is still liked by a great many fans. I suspect that fans who attend matches would be in a large majority alongside my view but that online fans and TV spectators who are less inconvenienced, would by a narrow majority vote to keep VAR as it is. It is the contention of the opposite side of this debate that, despite wrong calls, VAR gets more decisions right than was the case before it came in.
I say the price we are paying for that contention, even if true, which is itself debatable, is simply not worth paying.
I WOULD RECOMMEND A MASS FAN VOTE OF ALL FANS WHO EVER ATTEND Prem clubs’ games . I think those who attend should have primacy of decision over those, such as I, who no longer go along. I stress that it is fans who attend, not those who run the Prem league, nor FIFA, nor UEFA, who should have the right to choose. Democracy OUGHT TO BE PARAMOUNT.
Ad Pat has pledged to hold Gooner JA fan vote on this subject after the other point of view has been aired in a forthcoming article, as I know it will be.
I will be fascinated to read all the comments in reply and then to see how you who care , hopefully that is most of you, will vote.
Thank you so very much for reading to the end.
COYG
Jon Fox
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