Play to the whistle ....

[Nelson1889]

The FA have basically backed themselves into a corner now where they can't possibly book anybody for time wasting for playing on after an offside or kicking a ball away because it could be overturned by VAR.

If we are winning on Sunday and Robinson gets flagged on a counter attack but he plays on does the ref book him for time wasting or not now?

At the end of this season one thing has to go, linos or VAR

 

[Digs blade]

The FA have basically backed themselves into a corner now where they can't possibly book anybody for time wasting for playing on after an offside or kicking a ball away because it could be overturned by VAR.

If we are winning on Sunday and Robinson gets flagged on a counter attack but he plays on does the ref book him for time wasting or not now?

At the end of this season one thing has to go, linos or VAR

The game is completely corrupt. Rather than clearing up errors VAR has just caused complete and utter confusion. Players don’t know what to do for the best neither do refs neither do linesman so all those saying play to the whistle are missing the point.

Even Shelvey wasn’t playing to the whistle he simply walked up and rolled it into the net. Did he run away celebrating a goal? No and neither did any of the Newcastle players. They’d already regrouped waiting for Henderson to restart.

As others have said the link shouldnt be raising his flag unless he is sure. The ref didn’t have a clue what to do.

No way can our players be blamed for a complete mess of a system that has been taken to a whole new level tonight

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

Nope. Not even that.

What we're now saying to players, since the introduction of VAR, is that the decision of all three active officials could be wrong. Their authority isn't the final ruling on any aspect of the game. That they now need to chase every single ball, even if it looks completely lost, just in case the camera says it was worthy of chasing.

We're telling players who have been taught certain things since the age of fucking 7 or 8 that everything they've known now means sod all.

The only official VAR is overruling is the referee, since the referee is the only one that can call the ball dead. The linesman’s flag is advice to the referee, just as it’s always been.

 

[SB_90]

i thought 21 players did. i thought i heard a whistle & played to the rules. 1 guy doesnt & get rewarded

 

[Webding]

While it was a total farce, I don’t get the outrage at the ultimate decision; Shelvey was well onside and while he was just chancing his arm a bit, our players know the situation with VAR and shouldn’t have stopped when they realised he was carrying on.

VAR has created ridiculous and false situations, but the rule has always been that you play to the whistle, and the ref has always been able to ignore the linesman’s decisions. In fact, he overruled a few throw-in decisions minutes before the goal.

It’s still got to go though. Awful.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

i thought 21 players did. i thought i heard a whistle & played to the rules. 1 guy doesnt & get rewarded

Atwell didn’t blow.

 

[Digs blade]

Neither did he award the goal as far as I could tell. He just stood there as if to say what do I do here

 

[TJB.]

The only official VAR is overruling is the referee, since the referee is the only one that can call the ball dead. The linesman’s flag is advice to the referee, just as it’s always been.

If that's the case, why haven't players always played to the decision of the man in the middle and ignored the men with the flags?

If you're a player and you see that flag, you acknowledge it, don't you? And play accordingly?

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

If that's the case, why haven't players always played to the decision of the man in the middle and ignored the men with the flags?

If you're a player and you see that flag, you acknowledge it, don't you? And play accordingly?

that’s a convention, not a rule.

 

[BeccyBlade]

The refs pause and point at the linesman appeared to acknowledge the offside. Then an ‘oh sh1t’ VAR, I’ll start running. Didzy bundled over in box, flag up, offside, no VAR - it’s too inconsistent!

 

[Varkanoid]

Lets face it we were doomed to lose when Amazon decided to put an ex Wednesday and ex Newcastle player in the Commentary box.

 

[Not_a_Cheat]

The refs pause and point at the linesman appeared to acknowledge the offside. Then an ‘oh sh1t’ VAR, I’ll start running. Didzy bundled over in box, flag up, offside, no VAR - it’s too inconsistent!

Agreed but he was offside. I was screaming the same. If a penalty appeal was on, we'd have been buggered. Twice? He was offside though before any incident IMHO

 

[ilovesufc]

How can anyone blame the players entirely for that? The whole stadium was surprised when the checking goal screen came up. The point here is, a) the linesman isn't supposed to flag unless he's certain of offside and b) the referee glances to the linesman, pauses, puts his whistle to his mouth to blow up, then changes his mind and starts chasing Shelvey down the pitch. And people seriously can't see where the confusion for the players lies here?? Do you really think when a player see's the offside flag AND a referee with the whistle to his mouth, that they aren't going to naturally pause or stop themselves? Whilst we don't cover ourselves in glory for the poor step up & no one can argue that Shelvey wasn't onside, the officials have directly affected the play here - the whole scenario is a farce. And why? Because VAR is causing confusion for not only players, but for officials as well. It's incredible how VAR is supposedly there to reduce controversy over decisions... however I don't think we've ever had a season so far with AS MUCH controversy as we're seeing this season. What a mess!

 

[Addison]

Shelvey is saying Attwell told him to keep playing to the whistle so was the dickhead running alongside Shelvey telling him to keep running hoping he would score, did he have a bet on a 0-2 result!! That tells you VAR referees the game not the match official on the pitch. In Attwells mind he was uncertain what to give so he waited for VAR to make the decision for him. That alone confirms Rileys form of VAR is not consistent with FIFA's version and needs to be scrapped.

We wouldn't have scored if we'd been playing till Christmas tonight but Attwells overall performance and his lino team tonight needs to be questioned. Attwell over ruled his lines man on more than one occasion yet decided not to let our players know until Shelvey was walking the ball into the net. There were times when the flag went up he was quick to blow his whistle. Totally inconsistent.

We have to remember it was Attwells appalling error in giving a goal that went through the side netting that was one of the reasons there were calls for VAR to be introduced. Attwell has taken it to the next level he lets it do his job for him. He needs to be sent back the Championship and Riley needs to be replaced.

 

[SUFCinks]

Rule 01 - Play to the whistle

The beginners guide to football for idiots

 

[Moosie]

Shelvey is saying Attwell told him to keep playing to the whistle

Surely if that’s the case then shouldn’t he have let Henderson know the game was still ‘live’? I know the play to the whistle crap that’s been spouted but he made no real attempt to save it.

My immediate thoughts are that Shelvey was just time wasting like the rest of them, and pre VAR would have been booked for time wasting.

 

[Deadbat]

The game is completely corrupt. Rather than clearing up errors VAR has just caused complete and utter confusion. Players don’t know what to do for the best neither do refs neither do linesman so all those saying play to the whistle are missing the point.

Even Shelvey wasn’t playing to the whistle he simply walked up and rolled it into the net. Did he run away celebrating a goal? No and neither did any of the Newcastle players. They’d already regrouped waiting for Henderson to restart.

As others have said the link shouldnt be raising his flag unless he is sure. The ref didn’t have a clue what to do.

No way can our players be blamed for a complete mess of a system that has been taken to a whole new level tonight

Cant agree. We lost the header, played a high line and did not go with the runner. Then did not run back or the keeper try and save. Most of the national media saying it was out fault. Cant agree. I hate VAR but this was a good goal and the only issue is the linesmans error.

 

[A Storm of Blades]

Rule 01 - Play to the whistle

The beginners guide to football for idiots

And when the legendary Arsenal backline under George Graham were in a perfectly straight line, arms in the air, shouting offside, who were they appealing to?
Sorry, but this sudden assertion that a linesman flagging for offside is some kind of optional consideration, that can be, and is, frequently ignored, is objectively bollocks. Of course, there have been occasions when the refs overruled, but for my entire ‘football viewing career’ a linesman’s flag has been as definitive as the ref’s whistle 99% of the time, certainly for offsides.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

Cant agree. We lost the header, played a high line and did not go with the runner. Then did not run back or the keeper try and save. Most of the national media saying it was out fault. Cant agree. I hate VAR but this was a good goal and the only issue is the linesmans error.

Indeed. We would be fuming if it had been disallowed the other way.

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

And when the legendary Arsenal backline under George Graham were in a perfectly straight line, arms in the air, shouting offside, who were they appealing to?
Sorry, but this sudden assertion that a linesman flagging for offside is some kind of optional consideration, that can be, and is, frequently ignored, is objectively bollocks. Of course, there have been occasions when the refs overruled, but for my entire ‘football viewing career’ a linesman’s flag has been as definitive as the ref’s whistle 99% of the time, certainly for offsides.

The linesman’s decision is confirmed by the ref. Until that’s the case, play the fuck on.

 

[Oldun]

Or in this case the flag ........ is now dead in the water.

RIP Football

If you look at them side by side very carefully they are actually quite different. They also sound a bit different too.

 

[Foxy]

What's all the fuss about?

It was a perfectly good goal.

Why did our players stop when he was clearly a mile onside?

Because the linesman did something he shouldn't have according to the advice given at the start of the season, the ref brought his whistle to his mouth, many people 'heard' a whistle... Everyone stopped, the ref then chased Shelvey and pointed at the static linesman point his flag at where the offside he'd given should be.

Even Shelvey didn't appear like a player desperate to bag a goal, the Newcastle fans and him didn't celebrate like it would count and a bulk of people thought he was about to be booked for timewasting.

I thought real time it was onside, it was a legitimate goal technically... My issue is the clusterfuck of confusion on laws of the game, inconsistent application and the actions of the officials causing us to stop.

I'm the biggest advocate of play to the whistle. But if I was Hendo, especially after the VAR at Wolves, I might not have done anything but stand still either.

And we'll not mention them then being allowed as a full team to run from their own half to celebrate and the complete lack of proper usage of the subbing off from nearest point law.

 

[Oldun]

Watch the ref. He acknowledges the linos flag but he keeps running to keep up with play. Surely Hendo should have realised that?

 

[Moosie]

The only reason the media are saying it’s our fault is because we’re little Sheffield United.
If this had happened to one of the big 6 then there’d be outrage.

Just imagine if something like this costs Liverpool their first title in 30 years? Or someone gets relegated on the last day?

 

[A Storm of Blades]

The linesman’s decision is confirmed by the ref. Until that’s the case, play the fuck on.

Oh come on! Go back 2 years or more, player slots a pass through and the flag goes up. Nobody is then waiting for the ref to confirm! The flag is the whistle. The ref would only overrule if there was a clear error like it was played by defender. If the ref is, and always has been confirming offsides then by design, we don’t need, and never have needed, linesmen.

 

[Zone Man]

Cant agree. We lost the header, played a high line and did not go with the runner. Then did not run back or the keeper try and save. Most of the national media saying it was out fault. Cant agree. I hate VAR but this was a good goal and the only issue is the linesmans error.

What I'm struggling to get my head round is why didn't he whistle??
I mean, when any other flag was raised (and with not being in a "better" position than his assistant) he consequently took the decision of his linesman and blew up straight away - therefore not allowing play to progress any further.
Yet on this particular occasion he then decides "er, hang on, this time I'm not going to believe you're right and let play go".
This is where the problem lies - you never know if the referee is going to go with his assistant "instantly" or not and at the same time, why should the referee now decide when to believe in his assistant's decision or not?? What I mean is, do you tell the assistants not to flag at all EVER and let VAR make every decision for offside after the ball goes dead or do you tell the linesman to flag and then let the ref pick and choose which one's he's actually going to believe, and go with, or not??!
End of the day, we weren't quite good enough tonight, as a management team OR on the field of play but this VAR shit really does need clearing up or simply fucked off.
We go again . . . . . COYRAWW!!!!

 

[Klaatu Barada Nikto]

Oh come on! Go back 2 years or more, player slots a pass through and the flag goes up. Nobody is then waiting for the ref to confirm! The flag is the whistle. The ref would only overrule if there was a clear error like it was played by defender. If the ref is, and always has been confirming offsides then by design, we don’t need, and never have needed, linesmen.

the linesman is there to support the ref and provide advice to situations where they are in a better position than the ref to see. The ref has always been allowed to overrule a linesman’s flag. That fact that it’s rare in an offside call, should not detract from the fact that it’s the ref that has the final decision.

The only real difference now is that when the ball is dead, the VAR can overrule the ref.

 

[A Storm of Blades]

Because the linesman did something he shouldn't have according to the advice given at the start of the season, the ref brought his whistle to his mouth, many people 'heard' a whistle... Everyone stopped, the ref then chased Shelvey and pointed at the static linesman point his flag at where the offside he'd given should be.

Even Shelvey didn't appear like a player desperate to bag a goal, the Newcastle fans and him didn't celebrate like it would count and a bulk of people thought he was about to be booked for timewasting.

I thought real time it was onside, it was a legitimate goal technically... My issue is the clusterfuck of confusion on laws of the game, inconsistent application and the actions of the officials causing us to stop.

I'm the biggest advocate of play to the whistle. But if I was Hendo, especially after the VAR at Wolves, I might not have done anything but stand still either.

And we'll not mention them then being allowed as a full team to run from their own half to celebrate and the complete lack of proper usage of the subbing off from nearest point law.

The subbing from the nearest point rule, reminds me of the 6 second rule for keepers holding onto the ball. Entirely pointless if it’s never enforced.

 

[Foxy]

The subbing from the nearest point rule, reminds me of the 6 second rule for keepers holding onto the ball. Entirely pointless if it’s never enforced.

I've seen it enforced twice and blatantly ignored to allow obvious attempts at time wasting far more.

Utterly fucking pointless, like most of their inconsistent tweaks to 'improve' our game.

 

[A Storm of Blades]

What I'm struggling to get my head round is why didn't he whistle??
I mean, when any other flag was raised (and with not being in a "better" position than his assistant) he consequently took the decision of his linesman and blew up straight away - therefore not allowing play to progress any further.
Yet on this particular occasion he then decides "er, hang on, this time I'm not going to believe you're right and let play go".
This is where the problem lies - you never know if the referee is going to go with his assistant "instantly" or not and at the same time, why should the referee now decide when to believe in his assistant's decision or not?? What I mean is, do you tell the assistants not to flag at all EVER and let VAR make every decision for offside after the ball goes dead or do you tell the linesman to flag and then let the ref pick and choose which one's he's actually going to believe, and go with, or not??!
End of the day, we weren't quite good enough tonight, as a management team OR on the field of play but this VAR shit really does need clearing up or simply fucked off.
We go again . . . . . COYRAWW!!!!

I said the same on another thread, if Shelvey is in down the wing, i think he blows. It’s obviously the nature of him being through on goal that causes him to wave play on. We can all imagine how inconsistent that will be if that’s the interpretation.