Special guest refs would be a good idea.
Can just imagine Jack Grealish or Kevin De Bruyne retiring after earning £400k a week for over a decade to become a ref for 1% of that for the love of the game.
Great idea Howard 👍🏻
(I’m well aware that lower tier players are also going to be targeted for the role as well)
So they wanna go full-Kardashians with more drama somehow? Why not just make it independent and not just a semi-retirement club?
Was gonna joke about how his mate Michael Owen has probably already secured himself the job but he might not be a bad shout to be fair, can’t be biased if none of his many ex clubs claim him as one of theirs
If they are ex-players that have no association or played for any English club, then I don’t see why not. Can’t be worse than what’s happening now.
I still want a third party company in control of VAR to stop this mafia like protection shit from going on. A third party company can be criticized and if they are poor another one can be brought in.
I also want people with no professional footballing background involved as well to give an outside perspective.
But at the minute I want this “clear and obvious” bullshit gone. Have two people in var (let’s call them var 1&2) and for every incident looked at Var 1 & 2 decide separately on the incident. If they both agree then their decision is used. If Var 1&2 disagree, then you send the referee to the monitor for the tie breaking vote.
I like this, it’s meant to be used a lot to prevent bias and bad decisions that have a big impact and its called the separation of power. So for the UK we have the Monarchy, the government and the legal system all keep each other in check.
Could add in what they do in tennis where a team has one or two calls every game where they can take the decision to VAR if they disagree.
For fuck sake
As long as said player doesn’t have an ambassador role for X club.
Next up: Howard Webb suggests using a Twitter Poll to make VAR decisions
At press conference: “While the Twitter poll trials went smoothly, the lads at PGMOL recruitment have instead decided to bring Paul… the octopus, onto our team as Director of VAR.”
Sure this process will not be biased at all just like those so called independent panels we keep hearing about.
Good luck finding footballers suited to this job
I’d imagine likes of Owen and Neville being “considered” for it, after all it’s all about being mates with Webb. Surely even United fans like yourself know how stupid that idea is. Same goes for any other ex player, specially who’s not bright enough to be a manager/coach/director by now.
Just bring a truly independent panel that’s not picked by PGMOL itself, like their current one and make them both accountable under FA. It’s not that complicated.
Go for a broad selection of ex players of different positions and managers, ideally those who have not played/worked together, who also have no current professional affiliations with clubs. Along with ideally past evidence of having the ability to be objective when assessing a situation. Its rare but you will see players acknowledging controversial calls that go against them as correct, i feel this is a pretty valid proof of some form of integrity towards the game and would be able to add to the conversation about rules.
Right now we have many pundits [normally ex-players] with varying opinions on the rules, but there are some rules that they do all agree on as being bad for the game. These are new rules that haven’t always existed in football that were created by people who don’t have the same experience of the game as players who have played at the top level. I think getting them in to help with var is not the best decision right now as they have different opinions of the current rules. Maybe it would be smarter to have them as consultants for when Howard Webb and co want to set the rules for the new season. Once the rules are set you cant argue bias as everyone is playing off the same rules. Maybe after doing this have the players also consulting with var as a separate entity, to help create a interesting dynamic for the “separation of power” as mentioned in a comment below, something else i think could help with avoiding errors
I actually think that having a former pro on the VAR team is a worthwhile idea, but it does present its own issues.
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Bias may be harder to account for.
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What ex-pro is going to want that job? It would have to be an ex-player who played low down in the league system and even then, I doubt many would like the job.
Players that spent their whole careers in Scotland could be the answer to both of those.
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No bad ideas in a brainstorm but usually you don’t run with the first idea from a brainstorm.
We really need an Amazon Prime All or Nothing series dedicated to the PGMOL, just so we can really get in close as we watch Howard Webb David Brent-ing his way through life.
I don’t understand how professional playing experience will help.
Being a referee is pretty objective. There are rules and you make judgements based on those rules.
Being an ex-player doesn’t mean you’ll make a better decision than normal people.
I can’t see any top players going for this. You get a shit ton of abuse and the pay isn’t worth it if you’re rich. Maybe some league 1/2 guys.
The biggest problem are the actual rules & their interpretation. Look at some of the recent decisions?! It’s a contact sport but now it’s not a contact sport because seemingly minor physical contact = a foul, a sending off, penalty etc
Yesterday’s game highlights this problem … look at the Man City Liverpool game > foul on Allison is so soft. Jota sending off etc
Bring back the spirit of the game. You want players going toe to toe & challenging for 50/50’s. Yes you sometimes jump using yr arms etc
Historically there’s never ever been a situation where there’s more news headlines about refereeing then actual matches
Going digital does pose genuine issues … off side you draw the lines & yes 4cm does mean the striker is infront. Where do you draw the boundaries? If you say x % or x cm … people will still moan
Interrupting the game is easy if the rules are clear. There will always be contentious calls but right now it just feels like too much moaning plus too many obvious mistakes