Other Pl matches this weekend 12 -15 March

IronHerb

Well done Oliver. Booked Lamela so it can't be reviewed. 🥳

yoyo

Kane wins a header from a corner In the 79th minute and it's his first touch inside the Arsenal box

MIAHammer

Arsenal hang on. A win for us would put some distance from the teams below us.

jay_in_cpt

Shocking decision IMO for penalty, Between VAR and Oliver it’s another terrible decision... might help us but if that was Dean he would have been hanged...

buffybegood

Really? If that's not a foul, what is it? He's nowhere near the ball, and he clatters the player really late.

Lukerz

I thought it was a clear pen

jay_in_cpt

Buffy , no way is that a penalty IMO, I’m shocked you think so tbh ... foul happened after he hit the ball , IMO never should’ve been a penalty, but because it’s “ Mike Riley’s favourite “ who would doubt his decision. VAR bottled it

jay_in_cpt

Lukerz said:

I thought it was a clear pen

Can’t agree, never a pen IMO, but hey we all allowed our own thoughts 👍🏻

buffybegood

If, elsewhere on the pitch, a player kicks the ball (eg he passes it) and gets clattered afterwards, are you saying that's not a foul?

jay_in_cpt

Btw I have Ian ‘Arsenal’ Wright in studio and even he thinks it was never a penalty!!!

buffybegood

Ian Wright, what does he know? I'm with Lukerz on this 😊

jay_in_cpt

buffybegood said:

If, elsewhere on the pitch, a player kicks the ball (eg he passes it) and gets clattered afterwards, are you saying that's not a foul?

Not convinced , more a collision ... IMO never a pen!!!

ASLEFshrugged

When Kane hit the post did anyone else expect to hear the West Ham Clips "ping" and a cat being kicked?

IronHerb

Definite pen. Wreckless challenge that arrived late.

MrsGrey

Thought it was high also, borderline red?

He was deffo out of control imo.

whupathman

well it finally happened, that dumb offside rule and the wolves keeper put in dire harm as play continued, lets hope the idiots in charge of the asylum change it now

Brother_Sledge

whupathman said:

well it finally happened, that dumb offside rule and the wolves keeper put in dire harm as play continued, lets hope the idiots in charge of the asylum change it now

So Lingard should not have been allowed to carry on and score against Spuds ?

IronHerb

No, Lingards was a touch and go decision. Salah was clearly offside but not as much as some 'play ons' are.

whupathman

Brother_Sledge said:

whupathman said:

well it finally happened, that dumb offside rule and the wolves keeper put in dire harm as play continued, lets hope the idiots in charge of the asylum change it now

So Lingard should not have been allowed to carry on and score against Spuds ?

this is the problem, if there is doubt carry on and VAR will sort otherwise if clear flag the offside and stop play

thornburyiron

In the close season they are looking at Arsene Venger’s suggestion that unless there is clear daylight between attacker and defenders then it is onside. Sounds to me like the old level is onside scenario rather than the slide rule use of micrometers to judge they are using now.
I think this would make more sense but if they continue with the don’t flag until the ball goes dead and let VAR decide it won’t stop what happened last night.

Dodger58

The other issue I have with the current approach is if they don't flag the offside and the ball doesn't end up dead or in the keeper's hands. I have seen quite a few occasions where play continued even with the (not flagged) offside and the defenders were under pressure and lost the ball in a vulnerable position. This is clearly unfair on the defending team.

So I would much prefer 'clear' offsides to be flagged immediately.

claretandbluesky

I think they should have a rule of front foot is offside, on those it's too close to call use the shoulders as the decider. If that is still inconclusive then benefit of doubt to the attacker.

alderz

I don't think it would take long for an assistant to flag someone they think is clear that ends up being onside, and then we have the opposite argument again

IronHerb

That may occur a couple of times a season but stopping one serious injury, such as last night, is worth that risk.

alderz

IronHerb said:

That may occur a couple of times a season but stopping one serious injury, such as last night, is worth that risk.

But there’s always risk of injury in any sport. Should corners also be banned because people are all trying to head the ball at the same time? That causes a lot more risk of injury than the occasions where play continues after an offside could have been given.

I’m not saying you’re wrong to want to reduce risk of injury because obviously none of us ever want to see a player injured. I just think you also need to to balance the needs of the game to be played fairly.

Dodger58

I think the point is that play should be stopped for the clear and obvious offside as this will significantly reduce the possibility of injury. Which should take precedence over the less likely error denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

IronHerb

But with a corner, for instance, the ball is in play. With offside once the whistle blows the ball is dead and the likelihood of an injury occurring is minimised.

Expat_Hammer

There is also the question of the attacking team gaining an unfair advantage, as happened with us against manure last year. The player was offside and in the end the ball went out for a corner. Fortunately they didn't score, but what if they had scored a goal which would have been allowed because it came from the illegal corner.

Hmmmmmmmmm

alderz

But if it was that clear and obvious the assistant should be putting their flag up anyway, and the free kick would be awarded instead of the corner. Which, to me, shows exactly why assistants can’t be trusted to flag for clear and obvious only; they often are wrong.

buffybegood

The worry is that they'll become less and less willing to put their head on the line and make a decision, especially, as is always the case, if it's against a big club. So they flag against us, it's offside, free kick opposition. If it's Liverpool or Man Utd, they're more scared of getting it wrong, play continues, they win a corner and gain an advantage.

Look at umpires and run-outs in cricket; a batsman could be a yard out and they still won't give it now without seeing the TV replay whereas, before technology, they made those calls without any assistance. I'm not saying they shouldn't check the close ones, but sometimes they're miles out and they still won't make a decision. Obviously in cricket it doesn't matter so much as there are natural breaks in play between deliveries, but the umpires seem to be too scared to make the decisions any more, and I can see it heading that way with football linesmen now.