Mark Noble is looking for a win which will see the team building on the progress he believes they have made over the last three games.
He remains disappointed at the Sheffield United outcome and freely admits that VAR has changed the game he grew up in.
It’s a tricky one of course given the number of decisions that went against us last season but he believes eventually he and others will learn not to celebrate a goal until they have looked at the screen.
If he is right that will kill the game as we have always known it and most will see it as a very sad day indeed.
In fact it’s probably the handball rule that is the chief culprit in all the problems at the moment and the likelihood is that will go and that hopefully VAT will become what it was meant to be – a final judge on very unclear decisions.
In the meantime he is looking for a big result today and gave his thoughts to the official match day programme
He said: “We go into Saturday’s game looking to build on our performances in the last three games – our wins over Bournemouth and Gillingham and, even though we lost, our defeat at Sheffield United.
“I thought we played really well here against Bournemouth and thoroughly deserved the three points. I was delighted to get a couple of goals, but the result is always more important than any individual accomplishments.
“At Gillingham, I thought the boys did a really professional job, standing up to a strong, physical and direct team who threw everything at them, particularly in the first half.
“To get two wins and keep two clean sheets were just the start David Moyes would have wanted after returning to the Club, but he and all of us were left frustrated and disappointed by the way things went at Bramall Lane.
!We created three or four really good chances to score, which we didn’t take, and then obviously a mistake cost us the game.
“I was really pleased with the way we played, so the decision which saw our last-minute equaliser disallowed put a real dampener on things.
That’s the way football is at the moment, though, and VAR and the changes to the laws have changed the game I played growing up.
“If I am being honest, if I was a supporter and I’d spent a lot of money on a ticket, petrol and food to go to a game, to see my team score what I believe was a valid goal in the last minute, then have it chalked off by an official who is not even at the stadium, it would make me feel very frustrated.
“The changes have taken some of the enjoyment out of the game and made me think twice about celebrating whenever we score a goal. To celebrate like we did at Sheffield United, jumping around and cuddling each other, and then have decision overturned a few minutes later, is embarrassing.
“I think it will get to a point when the ball will go in, then everyone will stop and look at the screen and they won’t celebrate until the goal is confirmed.
“Every goal, I’m immediately thinking ‘Is that offside?’ or ‘Is that handball?’ and that’s not right. They want VAR to only overturn ‘clear and obvious errors’, but it’s not doing that at the moment, in my opinion.”
The Ref has to grow a pair and make all decisions on the spot unless flagged by one of the linesmen. Otherwise, what is the point of having them out there. The only use for VAR is for straight line goal line technology. I still believe that the game would benefit from a 2nd Ref, running the other diagonal line and in constant touch with Ref No1, who has the final say. An additional 2 linesmen could be introduced to really cover all angles and areas of the game. This is all a bit radical for the FA but its got to be better than having a couple of nerds running the show from a caravan in the car park.
Let’s not sugar coat this, by turning it in to a VAR issue – the facts are that ,much as I love and respect Mark Noble as a “West Ham great” he was shockingly awful,last weekend, along with others and that was what took the enjoyment out of that game for me!
George he was also excellent the week before v Bournemouth. I hope that added to your enjoyment that week..You can’t play well every week when you’re a mid table club. By the way that decision at Sheffield Utd would have given a point, it is an issue.
Yes, I’d have to agree with Mark, through VAR the bureaucrats have stripped the game of its excitement, spontaneity and replaced it with uncertainty, indecision and dysfunction.
I think many people wanted VAR until they saw it in action-especially once the PL had got their hands on it. Then I had doubts. Now I would be happy to see it go, apart from goal line decisions & for offsides ( with a bit of tweaking as that is still unsatisfactory at the moment).
Players & managers (& a lot of fans) bleated on about how ‘all we want is consistency’ & the authorities were daft enough to believe them. We don’t want consistency – we just want all doubtful decisions to go our way! But we can’t have that. We have to learn to take the good with the bad. That is better than what we have got now. i think the average football result is 2-1. That’s only, on average, three of those moments of mind blowing ecstatic joy every 90 minutes. Quite often not even that. We are reducing even those brief moments of joy, & this means we risk killing a great game.