Former manager Neil Warnock believes he has the answer to VAR’s problems after a weekend of blunders, one of which cost Newcastle United.
West Ham United were also victims of the video assistant referee, being robbed of a late equaliser at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.
Maxwel Cornet thought he had scored his first Hammers goal and won his new team a point late on, only for his goal to be ruled out. VAR deemed that Edouard Mendy was fouled in the buildup by Jarrod Bowen, meaning the goal was chalked off and Chelsea held on to win 2-1.
It was a scandalous decision, and even more controversial than the Newcastle one. But Toon fans have every right to be angry too.
Eddie Howe’s side had a perfectly legitimate goal ruled out by VAR, who stated that Joe Willock had fouled Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita. However, the collision only occurred because Willock was pushed by Tyrick Mitchell.
Either the goal should have stood or Newcastle should have been given a penalty. Yet somehow the decision went Palace’s way.
It was a shocking weekend for VAR, and now Neil Warnock has a solution.
Neil Warnock on VAR
The former manager turned pundit has commented on the refereeing situation in the Premier League via his official Twitter account.
He wrote: “I will keep on saying it, we need ex players or managers in charge of VAR, people who know the game from an early age and all the tricks of the trade. Poor officiating should never be the talking point of any game.”
Interesting solution from Warnock
What happened on Saturday was appalling. Newcastle should have won and West Ham should have drawn. However, both sides were denied by VAR.
It’s caused outrage from fans, pundits, players and managers. But is Warnock’s solution viable?
It’s all well and good saying players should run VAR, but no one appears to be offering to do it. And even if players were involved, that could lead to all sorts of problems. Will ex-players be allowed to make decisions involving former clubs or former rivals?
It simply isn’t that straightforward. However, the use of VAR is causing outrage already this season. Horrendous decisions are being made far too regularly.
Games are being re-refereed by VAR. They are looking for reasons not to give goals each and every week, in instances that never would have been considered before VAR was a thing.
Football is an imperfect game full of human error. Sadly errors were made by the officials on Saturday, and it cost both Newcastle and West Ham in a big way.
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