Video refs in the premiership

Mark Hughes joined the call for them last weekend after what he felt was a dodgy penalty decision that got Tugay sent off. he made an interesting point that there is a natural break in play when a penalty or offside is given so thay could be used and a decision could be made very quickly for offsides and penaltys.

What do people think, should it be brought in?

yes

Originally posted by therealchessfanatic
Mark Hughes joined the call for them last weekend after what he felt was a dodgy penalty decision that got Tugay sent off. he made an interesting point that there is a natural break in play when a penalty or offside is given so thay could be used and a decision could be made very quickly for offsides and penaltys.

What do people think, should it be brought in?

How often have you seen a bunch of pundits on the telly disagree over penalties/offsides etc even with lots of video replays?

Also - lets look at an example from cricket. They brought in video replays for run-outs, but the umpire doesn't have to refer to them - they can make the decision themselves. However, a result has been that they will almost always refer the decision, even when it's obvious, to avoid mistakes (and therefore criticism).

Now translate that behaviour to football, which is what I think would happen. There is a natural break when a penalty or offside is given, but not when it isn't given! But with video replays the referee would refer any calls that are remotely close, knowing that the video referee would sort it out. There would be far more breaks in play than are currently the case.

I'm not against the use of technology if it doesn't mess with the flow of the game. But personally, I think this proposal would be a mess. A better solution would be for managers to stop moaning.

Originally posted by mtthw
I'm not against the use of technology if it doesn't mess with the flow of the game.

I'll add to this - here's a plausible scenario where technology could work. If a reliable method could be developed where the exact position of the ball can be determined in real time, then the referee could be automatically informed (via a radio signal) whenever the ball crosses a line. This would allow accurate, and fast, decisions for throw-ins, corners, and most importantly goals for those goal-line controversies. I can't see any drawbacks in that case.

It might even be feasible to make offside decisions in the same way if the position of players was tracked as well.

Originally posted by mtthw
I'll add to this - here's a plausible scenario where technology could work. If a reliable method could be developed where the exact position of the ball can be determined in real time, then the referee could be automatically informed (via a radio signal) whenever the ball crosses a line. This would allow accurate, [b]and fast, decisions for throw-ins, co ...[text shortened]... ble to make offside decisions in the same way if the position of players was tracked as well.[/b]

One of the things Mark Hughes has complained about was when Mido handled in the box, and admitted it later, but no foul was given. He claims:

'There are clear breaks in play whenever there is a penalty claim'

That is utter rubbish: a lot of the time the ball is still in play. How would we get a solution to this, aside from the fourth official radioing the referee and telling him to immediately stop the game regardless of any immediate goal threat and take the game back to award a penalty? Would people be happy with that?

I can imagine sky would like nothing more than video refs in football. Let them line their pockets with a bit more advertising coppers. Jog on, stop messing with the game, managers and supporters have had to put up with dodgy decisions for years, some you win some you lose thats life.

yeah it is clear there are no natural breaks unless the referee gives a penalty. so video replays would ruin the game if it was stopped every time a claim was made.
What about dissallowed goals due to offside. if the ball goes in the net and the referee or lines man disallows it, shouldnt they be at least able to check?

Originally posted by therealchessfanatic

What about dissallowed goals due to offside. if the ball goes in the net and the referee or lines man disallows it, shouldnt they be at least able to check?

But the play might be stopped incorrectly before the goal is scored.

Originally posted by ElleEffSeee
But the play might be stopped incorrectly before the goal is scored.

Yes this is true but when the ball goes in the net there is a natural break in play. If the ref could at least check these goals when the offside flag is raised it will cancel out some bad decisions.

Its a start isn't it?

Originally posted by therealchessfanatic
What do people think, should it be brought in?

No.

Originally posted by therealchessfanatic
Yes this is true but when the ball goes in the net there is a natural break in play. If the ref could at least check these goals when the offside flag is raised it will cancel out some bad decisions.

Its a start isn't it?

But the problem is it is inconsistent - if a play gets flagged for offside he'll just ignore the whistle and go and score a goal, then the video replay will show he wasn't offside, the goal would be allowed and the opposition team will be livid.

Originally posted by ElleEffSeee
But the problem is it is inconsistent - if a play gets flagged for offside he'll just ignore the whistle and go and score a goal, then the video replay will show he wasn't offside, the goal would be allowed and the opposition team will be livid.

You couldn't allow the goal if the whistle had gone - that wouldn't work at all (players are told to play to the whistle, after all). So you could only check the opposite case - you'd only be able to disallow goals where offside shouldn't have been given.

Which means either
- fewer goals; or
- referees/linemen will never give offsides, they'll always wait to see if there was a goal, in which case the video ref will check it. So more goals disallowed as they won't be getting stopped before scoring.

Originally posted by mtthw
You couldn't allow the goal if the whistle had gone - that wouldn't work at all (players are told to play to the whistle, after all). So you could only check the opposite case - you'd only be able to disallow goals where offside shouldn't have been given.

Which means either
- fewer goals; or
- referees/linemen will never give offsides, they'll always wa ...[text shortened]... heck it. So more goals disallowed as they won't be getting stopped before scoring.

It would destroy the ecstatic feeling of the players and cheering from the crowd when players score a goal though. They'd get it in the back of the net, and stand around with the crowd looking at the big Jumbotron for upto 30 seconds to see whether it was a valid goal.

Regardless of what we think, it will almost certainly be brought in within a few years. And will be an improvement, no doubt about it.

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Regardless of what we think, it will almost certainly be brought in within a few years. And will be an improvement, no doubt about it.

Of course there are some doubts about it. I'm against it and, apparently, so is ElleEffSeee.