Well, if any further evidence was needed that West Ham have been completely done by referees and VAR in recent weeks, it has arrived via the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents panel today.
The panel have reviewed and reportedly agreed the Hammers were denied two penalties during the 3-0 defeat against Brentford, with the independent review panel said to be highly critical of both incidents.
The first flashpoint came when Keane Lewis-Potter appeared to impede Tomáš Souček inside the penalty area.
The panel reportedly believed the Brentford player used a clear non-footballing hold which affected Souček’s movement and all three members are said to have agreed VAR official Tony Harrington should have intervened and advised an on-field review.
West Ham Had Strong Case For Second Spot-Kick
There was also controversy late in the second half when Yehor Yarmolyuk lost his footing and collided with Pablo inside the area.
Despite referee Craig Pawson waving play on, the panel reportedly felt West Ham had a strong case for a second penalty after the challenge brought the Hammers forward down.
Factor in the foul on Konstantinos Mavropanos in the build-up to Brentford’s opener as well as a Dinos goal incorrectly ruled out for offside and it demonstrates quite how badly West Ham have been let down by officiating.
It really does come to something when the very system introduced to eradicate mistakes creates even more of them and changes the outcome of matches in such dramatic fashion.
West Ham Frustration Growing Over VAR Errors
Speaking about VAR earlier today, Nuno Espírito Santo said via whufc.com:
“When we speak about referees and VAR, it’s consistency that’s needed. Consistency helps the game, helps the Premier League and foremost it helps the players. They have to understand that then there are no doubts or frustrations.”
Unfortunately, we now seem well beyond conspiracy theory territory.
We now have a Premier League review panel effectively admitting mistakes in a farce which could ultimately contribute towards West Ham being relegated.
We got lucky against Everton; they should have had a pen.
Why has it taken so long?
Will they be reviewing the Arsenal game?
It’s more than just influence weather West Ham get relegated on not. I don’t particularly want Manchester City to win the league but there are consequences there to from the Arsenal game. This is suppose to be a professional league run and have professional officials ref the games. Well it looks pretty poor to me and someone should be taking responsibility for this, but ofcourse it will be more training more reviews etc etc.
Been happening since the beginning of the PL era Gonzo, we are often the worst treated in the PL for decisions against leading to goals for opposition or where we would gain from penalties and are always in the bottom 3 refs hate us end of, as I always say we are the only team that plays 38 away games every season it’s like starting every game with a player sent off before the first whistle. That’s not anecdotal evidence it’s been from journalists though they don’t draw the link or report it’s every season but it is.
The season Leicester won the league they gained 25 points from bad decisions we lost 22 points, if you look nearly every season Man Ure gain 20+ points that’s not coincidence it’s by design the season Leicester won again Utd 25 points if I recall correctly, they should have been relegated as they were awful but finished mid table I think.
As frustrating as all of that is Gonzo, and as you and others have already said, West Ham are not in this predicament because of VAR or referees. A European Championship to the brink of relegation in under 3 years is the result of poor management by everyone involved from coaching upwards and in that area, as things stand, nothing has changed.
Sorry I disagree with this. If we had fair rub of the Green on decisions we would undoubtedly have more points on the board, meaning we wouldn’t be in the relegation spot.
Ray, no one is going to disagree that the mismanagement of the club over an extended period is a major factor but the VAR/refereeing mistakes should not be dismissed.
The Brighton, Forest, Brentford and Arsenal games immediately spring to mind and there are enough erroneously ‘lost’ points in just those games for us to be already safe. The club is being mismanaged but we have also been done over by the PGMOL clowns.
This is why we will enjoy the championship imo.
VAR has been set up in away to be able to manipulate games. With so much money involved now it was always going to happen.