MOTD opinions on today’s talking points

[Punk Blade]

Was a penalty.
Not a red card.

VAR was required for three decisions today, got one right and two wrong, all three against the Blades.

 

[metalblade]

We got nothing our way from the officials all game. I think we were a bit unfortunate to lose that one even if we were far from our best.

 

[Stretch]

Steady on, you'll get pulled up fairly soon for making excuses.

 

[AdamSufc1997]

I thought it was a red on angle sky showed but looking at MOTD's angle it might have been harsh

 

[Ricky]

If they decided not to give the penalty after reviewing it they simply weren't following the new handball rules.

 

[Yellarbellyblade]

I thought it was a red on angle sky showed but looking at MOTD's angle it might have been harsh

The Southampton player going down like Billy had fractured every bone in his leg probably didn’t help. Embarrassing but all too common behaviour

 

[S40BLADE]

Boo fucking hoo how about we stop blarting on about decisions and start taking more chances and playing our proper formation.

 

[pommpey]

1. Our goal. Was offside.

2. Handball. JWP deflected the ball out of the way of JO'C so advantage was gained. It wasn't 'ball to hand' either. Seen 'em given

3. Sharp. End of his boot made contact. If that wasn't a red at Leicester two weeks ago then Sharp's wasn't. Daft lunge, yellow and a chat with 'I'm watching you' would have been fair.

pommpey

 

[finlaytheblade]

If they decided not to give the penalty after reviewing it they simply weren't following the new handball rules.

Unfortunately unless it's a clear and obvious mistake by the ref it seems the VAR is not going to intervene,it cost us twice yesterday ! if the ref gave a penalty and only booked sharp VAR wouldn't have intervened so we were unlucky to have a ref who never gives us anything ( Lee Mason ).
He sent off Lowton at Cardiff very early in a match there (which was on tv ) a niev tackle from Lowton when a booking would have been fair.
Lowton just making the first team at that time .

 

[super_pig]

Was a penalty.
Not a red card.

VAR was required for three decisions today, got one right and two wrong, all three against the Blades.

pulis and kammy said same on sky
goal was off but strangely changed dynamic in their favour

 

[Speedracer]

With regards to Bill's sending off, I guess by the letter of the law it was the correct decision, even though in reality there was no force involved & no studs up. If you have played the game at any level you know the difference between that tackle & a really nasty one that looks similar but really isn't. I think the real issue is players going down like they do, & I don't know why pundits in the main refuse to call the players out for it, it is cheating pure & simple. Having said that though it is only going to get worse not better, & I don't like it but it is time for our players to do the same. The way the game is played & refereed in the premier league is different to when we were last there & we have to wise up quickly & adapt. One way of looking at it is that it is part of a teams tactics now, & we cannot afford to be holier than thou & take the moral high ground, we have to do the same or get left behind.

 

[Davalon]

Boo fucking hoo how about we stop blarting on about decisions and start taking more chances and playing our proper formation.

Because we still have quite a few Warnock disciples and descendants.

 

[Toronto Blade]

The Blades are in the Premier League beat them at their own game.Do as they do you feel a knock you stay down until you see the card then you can pop back up and run around after a brief limp, as they did yesterday.

 

[Punk Blade]

Boo fucking hoo how about we stop blarting on about decisions and start taking more chances and playing our proper formation.

I want us to take our chances AND get correct refereeing decisions.

 

[S40BLADE]

I want us to take our chances AND get correct refereeing decisions.

Aye, but this is english football the refs are gonna be shite. We just need to be in a position where complaining about officials doesn't become common place or possibly become an excuse for poor results and peformances.

 

[Silent Blade]

2. Handball. JWP deflected the ball out of the way of JO'C so advantage was gained. It wasn't 'ball to hand' either. Seen 'em given
pommpey

The new handball ruling last summer "a penalty is awarded a player's hand or arm has made their body "unnaturally bigger" whether it was accidental or not"

 

[SwissBlade]

If they decided not to give the penalty after reviewing it they simply weren't following the new handball rules.

Man city got away with similar yesterday too as the ball hit stones

 

[mattbianco1]

Was a penalty.
Not a red card.

VAR was required for three decisions today, got one right and two wrong, all three against the Blades.

It's a red. He's pulling his shinpad down with his studs

 

[bromtom]

It's a red. He's pulling his shinpad down with his studs

View attachment 61344

Absolutely but I struggle to see how this is a leg breaker as some pundits and commentators called it.

Skin breaker, blood drawer, sock ripper. Not a leg breaker.

 

[ForgeBlade]

That was apparently a red, yet Sordell's vicious assault on Coutts wasn't even a foul?

I know I know...different league, different standards etc, but for fuck's sake.

With an actually impartial, fair, competent referee we get a point yesterday at least. Mason was their MOTM by a country mile. Utterly staggering that I heard a saints fan on the tram yesterday evening after the match describing him as a "homer."

 

[Gannon's perm]

It's a red. He's pulling his shinpad down with his studs

View attachment 61344

I agree and the ball is long gone, making a rash challenge look even worse.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

If the twat wouldn't have gone down like a sniper had hit him it would be a yellow.

 

[Kevincarterversion2.0]

In short, the human and electronic ref were terrible.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

The new handball ruling last summer "a penalty is awarded a player's hand or arm has made their body "unnaturally bigger" whether it was accidental or not"

That rule has passed over the head of John Brooks the nonentity Championship referee who was doing the VAR,

 

[grafikhaus]

1. Our goal. Was offside.

But what if Egan didn't make contact from the cross? Under the new rules, it wouldn't be offside. Who can make head nor tail of these rules?

2. Handball. JWP deflected the ball out of the way of JO'C so advantage was gained. It wasn't 'ball to hand' either. Seen 'em given.

Again - according to MoTD - if an attacker handles the ball, it's a foul. If a defender handles it, it's no foul. And you're right, it wasn't 'ball to hand'. We've all 'seen em given'...depending on the team.

3. Sharp. End of his boot made contact. If that wasn't a red at Leicester two weeks ago then Sharp's wasn't. Daft lunge, yellow and a chat with 'I'm watching you' would have been fair.

I thought it was unnecessarily clumsy and it ended our chances. But this was the result of what we've been seeing for a few seasons. Teams do a few early fouls, no yellow is shown so they know we've got a weak referee in charge and they start to 'push the boundaries'. This usually leads to refs doing a belated 'I'm in charge' act and they show cards for innocuous fouls. (not that Sharp's foul was anything other than stupid) and gave Mason the chance to do what he'd been crying out for all afternoon.

 

[norfolkblade]

It's a red. He's pulling his shinpad down with his studs

View attachment 61344

It's just the inconsistency that gets me which surely is what VAR is supposed to sort out? Tielemans got away with that horror lunge on Wilson before the international break (did he even get booked?) yet Sharp gets a straight red for something much less serious. Not forgetting the Bournemouth lad (forget who it was now) who stamped on Norwood almost right in front of the referee back on the opening day, again got away with it.

Time to bin VAR already, mark it down as a nice try but referees seem to want to protect each other and barely overrule anything. It's a joke.

 

[Toronto Blade]

They don't even need employ a ref watch VAR .
An octopus with half a brain can watch a VAR screen and probably make a better decision than some of these so called refs.

 

[grafikhaus]

It's just the inconsistency that gets me which surely is what VAR is supposed to sort out? Tielemans got away with that horror lunge on Wilson before the international break (did he even get booked?) yet Sharp gets a straight red for something much less serious. Not forgetting the Bournemouth lad (forget who it was now) who stamped on Norwood almost right in front of the referee back on the opening day, again got away with it.

Time to bin VAR already, mark it down as a nice try but referees seem to want to protect each other and barely overrule anything. It's a joke.

Tielemans was already on a yellow when he fouled Wilson and is usually used as a 'final warning' to the offending player. Not this time, no second yellow was given. Was the 'challenge' intentional? Obviously as Tielemans jogged away with a smirk on his face. It was a deliberate attempt to put one of Bournemouth's key players out of the game.

Re. our 'penalty' on Saturday. From where I sat (centre of SS) I couldn't see what happened, but I knew from the reaction of the players and fans on the kop that there was something in it. Did Mason have a clear view? Did he - in a split second - 'compute' that the Southampton players' handball was 'unintentional' or that 'his body shape was unnatural'? Of course not. As you say, this is what VAR was meant to be there for but is just being used as an excuse to back up referee's poor decisions.

Don't forget that we've already been denied a penalty v Palace when Stevens' shot was charged down by a defender who's arms/hands were obviously used to 'enlarge' his body shape:





If VAR is to survive, there must be more transparency and communication with the fans. It's no good if these incidents aren't seen from multiple angles and zoomed in on the big screen instead of an areswipe like Mason just sticking his finger in his ear and giving the wrong decision. Incidents like these are just a cop-out for the ref. - aided and abetted by 'the referee's friend' - VAR.

 

[norfolkblade]

Tielemans was already on a yellow when he fouled Wilson and is usually used as a 'final warning' to the offending player. Not this time, no second yellow was given. Was the 'challenge' intentional? Obviously as Tielemans jogged away with a smirk on his face. It was a deliberate attempt to put one of Bournemouth's key players out of the game.

Re. our 'penalty' on Saturday. From where I sat (centre of SS) I couldn't see what happened, but I knew from the reaction of the players and fans on the kop that there was something in it. Did Mason have a clear view? Did he - in a split second - 'compute' that the Southampton players' handball was 'unintentional' or that 'his body shape was unnatural'? Of course not. As you say, this is what VAR was meant to be there for but is just being used as an excuse to back up referee's poor decisions.

Don't forget that we've already been denied a penalty v Palace when Stevens' shot was charged down by a defender who's arms/hands were obviously used to 'enlarge' his body shape:

View attachment 61435



If VAR is to survive, there must be more transparency and communication with the fans. It's no good if these incidents aren't seen from multiple angles and zoomed in on the big screen instead of an areswipe like Mason just sticking his finger in his ear and giving the wrong decision. Incidents like these are just a cop-out for the ref. - aided and abetted by 'the referee's friend' - VAR.

They could learn a great deal from how the DRS system works in cricket. Fans aren’t kept in silence and can hear and see what and how the third umpire is reviewing the decision. But hey, anything to protect our protected species of referees from any kind of criticism.

 

[BettingBlade]

VAR isn’t working in its current guise. The majority of successful video assistants in other sports all work on a challenge system. Each team gets 2 a half and it’s down to the captain on the pitch to decide whether to review a decision or not.

Of course this only works if they are actually willing to overturn some decisions. The way it’s being used at the minute is completely pointless and a waste of time.