[HerefordBull]

It's not just a Scottish problem ( with everyone claiming a weegie bias) with 3 games at least being affected in the EPL yesterday. Arsenal claiming correctly that the equalising goal shouldn't have stood due to firstly a block on a defender by a player in an offside position but also a player in the build up blatantly offside.

Chelsea claiming that a penalty should have been awarded for a handball in their game against West Ham.......correctly.

Brighton had a goal chalked off as they drew the offside lines in the wrong position!.................you couldn't make it up.

I don't know why football cannot get a review system correct? I know in cricket for International games the booth official is from an Independent country but in domestic games often they are home grown umpires, yet their decisions nearly always seem fair and correct.

From what I have seen at Cricket, Rugby , American Football etc the crowds don't mind the time taken to reach a decision as they know that a correct one inevitably will be reached. Certain sports show the replays on the screen whilst the decisions are being made so the crowd also become involved and are not just left with a big VAR sign for 3 minutes or longer with none of the fans knowing what is going on. What these sports get right is consistency in the decision making which is all a football fan asks for, whereas one game will award a penalty for a handball in the box no matter what, eg Ambrose against Celtic and others won't ( even more blatant ones) eg Goldson against Celtic.

The Booth officials need to be professional and just apply the Rules of the game concerned , something in Football that seems very difficult to do, for whatever reason including West Coast bias in Scotland.

[St Charles Owl]

Sometimes I wonder if its not the VAR nor the one using it that is wrong, its often the ambiguity of the actual rules!! Offside should be a simple yes or no, until you get into interfering with play which becomes ambiguous. Handball rules get changed all the time and are so ambiguous that I am not sure any of us could accurately tell you what they are this season. For me the main diver for handball should be hand to ball, a deliberate movement of the arm or hand towards the ball.

[0762]

I think we're all agreed there is a huge ref prob up here that needs to be resolved. It was already self-evident long before VAR was ever introduced. Agreed there are inherent interpretation issues as mentioned in other previous threads. I still perceive favourable decisions given to a select few footie clubs up here and other very similar decisions not given at all to other Scot footie clubs - absolutely glaring and it is a big factor in positioning said advantaged clubs in high league placings due to some very dodgy ref/VAR calls!! Note VAR decisions already being debated AGAIN after this Scot Cup weekend! NOTE: RANGERS GIVEN A F###### DIABOLICAL PK V PARTICK THISTLE ON A 1-1 SCORE LINE - CONTACT ON KENT CLEARLY WELL OUTSIDE THE THISTLE PEN BOX - REF CORRUPTION IN FULL VIEW!!!!! VAR official supposedly reviewed it???????? All radio commentators totally bemused by the decision btw!! Diabolical!! The irony is Tavernier missed the pk!! One element of praise for Michael Beale and Rangers re conceding to Partick's "walk-in" second equalising goal unopposed after a bizarre ungentlemanly "steal" by Tillman from a PT drop-ball (in the process of giving the ball back to Rangers) to make it 2-1. Rangers fans not happy re such an objective decision, but definitely the right one made by Beale.

[hibeejim21]

Sevco just got a penalty for a dive well outside the box

Off the scale levels of corruption.

Shocking stuff from tillman, followed up by scummy behaviour from that coked up mess they call a goalkeeper.

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VAR is just there to search for penalties and red cards for the huns. It's an absolute travesty.

[HerefordBull]

Sometimes I wonder if its not the VAR nor the one using it that is wrong, its often the ambiguity of the actual rules!!  Offside should be a simple yes or no, until you get into interfering with play which becomes ambiguous.  Handball rules get changed all the time and are so ambiguous that I am not sure any of us could accurately tell you what they are this season.  For me the main diver for handball should be hand to ball, a deliberate movement of the arm or hand towards the ball.

I don't think so SCO. The offside I mentioned was given because the VAR official drew his lines from the wrong player and not the one furthest back to his own goal. I also think if you are standing offside and block a defender in the manner of the Arsenal game then that is obvious and a straightforward decision. Where this interfering rule becomes difficult is when a goalkeeper claims a player runs across or stands in front of him etc

I agree to a certain extent on handball but certainly up in Scotland there does seem to be a bit / lot of who is going to benefit from the decision and little or no rules are applied. I don't know if you saw the two incidents I mentioned but in the first the ball came off one defender and struck Ambrose on the hand whilst he had them behind his back to keep them directly out the way of the initial shot...........result penalty,

In the second, Goldson actually puts his hands up as the shot is taken and blocks it................result, no penalty!

As Jim highlights, in the game yesterday Rangers are given a penalty where replays show the initial contact was well outside the box which the VAR booth backed as being a correct decision..............nothing to do with ambiguous rules but it happened at a time in the game when Rangers were struggling to break through against a lower division side well into the second half...........but perhaps I am being cynical.

In the Superbowl last night the review system was used throughout the game and to my mind it was done in a fair way . They review all touchdowns and from the first Eagles drive they were given a touchdown. However the review showed the running back had grounded a few inches short of the line so the on-field decision was reversed. correctly. The hardest job the officials have in the booth is to decide at what point a receiver has " full control" of the football which can be ambiguous and certainly 2 calls last night could have gone either way.

[St Charles Owl]

I don't get to see any Scottish football over here so haven't seen those incidents. I stand by offside being a simple rule in general, drawing lines on the wrong defender is a mistake not an interpretation of the rules. That Fernandez goal for MU when Rashford shepherded the ball until Fernandez got there had to be called as interference by an offside player. But it wasn't because the decision for interference is subjective and not finite. Handball is the same, the way you describe the Rangers one yesterday makes it sound a ludicrous decision and we have all seen those since VAR came in, yet others are deemed not hand ball. VAR in Scotland is new, putting aside the accusations of bias as I have no insight into that, I remember when it was first used in the PL it feels like it was the same as you are seeing. It has gotten better but I think it still needs to evolve.

The main difference in the NFL for me is the rules are somewhat clearer, even simpler to a point but the communication in the stadium to the fans, coaches and players is far better. They leave nothing to question when a decision is made whereas even though VAR says it was or wasn't offside, there is still debate as to which player or when in the move within the stadium itself. We see more on television than they see in some stadiums and no one gets a full explanation at the time.

[hibeejim21]

Not only that but thistle had a clear penalty ruled out in the first half. One of the clearest awards you will see all season.

The main difference i can see is the VAR committee in England came out and apologised for the calls that they got wrong at the weekend, not a chance the SPL would do that. You even get Lineker calling VAR out as crap thats killing the game. Nothing up here. That pk thistle got yesterday was the first one awarded against the huns there in years ffs Anywhere else that would be laughed out of town for what it is.

Yesterday though the main focus from the media has been praising Beale for letting thistle score a goal to counter their players own blatant cheating. If that goal had been allowed to stand unopposed there would have been universal outrage. The hun support were going mental and would have Lynched fish lips had they not won that game. Not an earthly he would have done that in the league.

Beales been a disrespectful arsehole since the moment he got up here, his players diving and cheating at every opportunity. Both him and VAR can get to f*ck.

[0762]

He wouldn't have conceded that goal v Celtic either!!