Cerberus Blade
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- Sep 2, 2015
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I've been under the covers again, this time without a torch, and done some investigation into who may be actually at fault and to what level. Here's my findings:
1. Stockley Park
I have found no evidence at all that Stockley Park is at fault. Stockley Park is just a collection of buildings for commercial purposes mainly. Buildings are not capable of interpreting human behaviour and making decisions on it. As far as I know, the bloke on the bike in the picture had nothing to do with it either.
2. Julie Fletcher - Cleaner - Stockley Park
Julie has been a cleaner at Stockley Park for the past 7 years. It is a possibility that she might have accidentally unplugged VAR when she was plugging the vacuum cleaner in. However, I have discovered that no office cleaners were in the building on Wednesday evening. So this doesn't explain it.
3. The VAR technology itself
Whilst the VAR technology has come under considerable criticism in its inaugural season in the Premier League, I can find no evidence that the VAR technology is to blame in this instance, because it wasn't used.
4. The blokes who operate the VAR technology
It is difficult to know for sure if the blokes who operate the VAR technology are guilty of anything in this instance, because they haven't said anything about their role in it. One suspects that they may have been working from home and not actually watching at the time?
5. The Linesman
There is a proportion of blame levelled at the linesman. Because he should have been in line with the play from that free kick and he should have been aware that the ball crossed the line and that the goalkeeper was laid in the side-netting holding it. However, we have to remember that linesmen these days are only good for the "ins and outs", i.e. "throw-ins". They don't get involved in the more technical aspects of the game, like offsides and goals anymore. We've got clever technology to do that instead. But not only that, I have to feel a bit of sympathy for the linesman because his view was obstructed by 7 different cameras at the time.
6. The Referee
The referee is the person in ultimate control and with the final say on decisions in the game. At least, it used to be that way. Nowadays referees have a relationship with the officials at Stockley Park, akin to the relationship between Sooty and Harry Corbett. The referee only does what his puppet masters allow him to do. When faced with a difficult decision, the current perceived wisdom of referees is to let someone else decide for you, or do absolutely nothing about it. In this case, despite it being obvious to the naked eye that something was amiss, the referee did not investigate it further, instead he passed the buck to a piece of technology on his wrist.
7. The Hawk-eye watch
One of the above has made a major contribution to viewing entertainment. The other one has spoiled it. I will leave you to decide which is which? If we are talking about the one on the right though, then, as you can see from the image, if a goal is scored during the game, it flashes up the word "GOAL" and apparently it buzzes as well. On this occasion the watch didn't flash up "GOAL" or buzz until the half-time interval. Whether it was switched on or not before then we do not know. But we were told that for the first time in over 9000 appearances, the goal-line technology failed us and that this was due to every single one of 7 cameras being "occluded", so the ball was not detected crossing the line. It should be easy then to provide us with the 7 camera shots that were "occluded" so we can see for ourselves? Yet this has not been shared with us so far. And to make it even more perplexing, somehow, despite Hawk-eye not having a clear view of the incident, it seemed to have got photographic evidence from somewhere, during the half-time interval, that a goal had been scored. So what evidence was this based on if all 7 cameras were occluded at the time?
Conclusion
The conclusion is obvious. It's nobody's fault. We should just suck it up and get on with it and stop moaning. So what if we miss out on a multi-million pound prize as a result? So what if the wrong teams get relegated at the end of the season as a result?
It's all part of the beautiful game!
1. Stockley Park
I have found no evidence at all that Stockley Park is at fault. Stockley Park is just a collection of buildings for commercial purposes mainly. Buildings are not capable of interpreting human behaviour and making decisions on it. As far as I know, the bloke on the bike in the picture had nothing to do with it either.
2. Julie Fletcher - Cleaner - Stockley Park
Julie has been a cleaner at Stockley Park for the past 7 years. It is a possibility that she might have accidentally unplugged VAR when she was plugging the vacuum cleaner in. However, I have discovered that no office cleaners were in the building on Wednesday evening. So this doesn't explain it.
3. The VAR technology itself
Whilst the VAR technology has come under considerable criticism in its inaugural season in the Premier League, I can find no evidence that the VAR technology is to blame in this instance, because it wasn't used.
4. The blokes who operate the VAR technology
It is difficult to know for sure if the blokes who operate the VAR technology are guilty of anything in this instance, because they haven't said anything about their role in it. One suspects that they may have been working from home and not actually watching at the time?
5. The Linesman
There is a proportion of blame levelled at the linesman. Because he should have been in line with the play from that free kick and he should have been aware that the ball crossed the line and that the goalkeeper was laid in the side-netting holding it. However, we have to remember that linesmen these days are only good for the "ins and outs", i.e. "throw-ins". They don't get involved in the more technical aspects of the game, like offsides and goals anymore. We've got clever technology to do that instead. But not only that, I have to feel a bit of sympathy for the linesman because his view was obstructed by 7 different cameras at the time.
6. The Referee
The referee is the person in ultimate control and with the final say on decisions in the game. At least, it used to be that way. Nowadays referees have a relationship with the officials at Stockley Park, akin to the relationship between Sooty and Harry Corbett. The referee only does what his puppet masters allow him to do. When faced with a difficult decision, the current perceived wisdom of referees is to let someone else decide for you, or do absolutely nothing about it. In this case, despite it being obvious to the naked eye that something was amiss, the referee did not investigate it further, instead he passed the buck to a piece of technology on his wrist.
7. The Hawk-eye watch
One of the above has made a major contribution to viewing entertainment. The other one has spoiled it. I will leave you to decide which is which? If we are talking about the one on the right though, then, as you can see from the image, if a goal is scored during the game, it flashes up the word "GOAL" and apparently it buzzes as well. On this occasion the watch didn't flash up "GOAL" or buzz until the half-time interval. Whether it was switched on or not before then we do not know. But we were told that for the first time in over 9000 appearances, the goal-line technology failed us and that this was due to every single one of 7 cameras being "occluded", so the ball was not detected crossing the line. It should be easy then to provide us with the 7 camera shots that were "occluded" so we can see for ourselves? Yet this has not been shared with us so far. And to make it even more perplexing, somehow, despite Hawk-eye not having a clear view of the incident, it seemed to have got photographic evidence from somewhere, during the half-time interval, that a goal had been scored. So what evidence was this based on if all 7 cameras were occluded at the time?
Conclusion
The conclusion is obvious. It's nobody's fault. We should just suck it up and get on with it and stop moaning. So what if we miss out on a multi-million pound prize as a result? So what if the wrong teams get relegated at the end of the season as a result?
It's all part of the beautiful game!
