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‘The General’ absolved but payback required

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West Ham will be among the clubs pushing for radical changes to the VAR scenario at the end of the season.

The club were acutely aware ahead of the two crazy sendings off of Tomas Soucek and Fabian Balbuena that change was required.

But we have entered new territory with the The General’s  dismissal against Chelsea when it was clear to the world that the defender had done anything wrong at all.

One has to conclude that those assessing these situations have either never played the game or have no understanding of the rules anyway.

It’s a total embarrassment in a game that this goes on in a game where the are so high – change is of paramount importance and our understanding is that it’s set to happen across football.

The referees responsible for these misjudgements appear to escape scot free when their decisions are overturned.

There has to be payback. If others are put in such positions because of refereeing errors the officials have to be punished.

In the meantime changes in the VAR rules and pitch side camera scenarios look very much to be on the way.

CandH understands the Hammers will be right behind them and we’d be interested to hear your suggestions on how things can be changed.

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Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!"

Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

11 comments

  • JRS says:

    Spot on. Again it’s consistency! Just like before VAR when we gets a new rule every year. Crack down on diving & only Lanzini & Niasse got bans, in Thier case they where running full speed & actually got contact. Yet others went down with no contact like Delph when Rice was close, Rashford, Saha etc & nothing. Know they keep making those rules like the hand ball which got Antonio what 3 times late season! But this season see handball in last game nothing, see someone get kicked in face last weekend not even yellow. I remember when Kouyate got smashed in face nothing. It’s one game I ridiculous call then same game no call for a clear & obvious foul or diving! Meanwhile Balbuena can’t even clear the ball had the goal cam after I’d of gone mental. We weren’t great but Chelsea like when we’ve played Man U City etc at times get the better end of the calls.
    *** If want to use VAR right some use it for Diving know can easily tell oh wait he wasn’t touched, clear & obviousl. How come we don’t see see that but see these horrendous calls.
    Hopefully we get some luck last 5 Games🙏

  • Taffyhammer says:

    Ban betting. Leave refereeing to human judgement. Don’t analyse decisions with technology. Review rules to make them simple and relevant for today and tomorrow. Allow enjoyment of the game to thrive. Don’t compile statistics. Allow an analogue appreciation of the game and those involved.

  • Brian G says:

    Var itself is a good idea but unfortunately the referees at stockley Park are making some silly referrals. When you slow something down into slow motion then some merely poor challenges can appear to be reckless. This then leads to incorrect interpretations. The use of var for offsides is not the fault of referees it is the fault of the way they interpret what constitutes offside. In this case the offside law interpretation needs to be changed rather than var itself. Similarly the original definition of handball years ago required the person to intentionally handle the ball for it to handball. That original interpretation of the rule should be reinstated. It is plain stupid to disallow a goal if during the build up to the goal it just hit an attackers hand or arm below the armpit. In regard to sending balbuena off that is rank useless performance by Chris kavanagh.

  • DJHammer says:

    I have noticed that as the referee approaches the monitor it is already cued to play back the incident in question, however it always appears to play in super slow motion, as we well know it always looks worse.
    Why can’t the on field ref ask for real time speed and several angles to make a better informed determination?

  • Bournehammer says:

    Why aren’t the refs miked up so we can hear the conversation and rational behind these ridiculous decisions in the same way rugby does?
    What have they got to hide………………?

  • GaryD says:

    Other sports use VAR without problem. American football has a central review that quickly makes a decision. Tennis players can question call a finite number of times after which, if wrong, they are SOL.
    Calls should be reviewed in real time only. No lines or slow motion. As EBMUC said, referee should only use if unsure.

  • The Balbuena red card really infuriated me, and not just because hes a West Ham player, I would have felt the same regardless of his team. The implications of being sent off for kicking the ball forcefully were very serious for the good of the game. Watching it back several times i was struck by how close to the incident the ref was, with a clear view. He didnt even give a foul, till VAR spoke in his ear.

  • EssBeeMUC says:

    As I have said before, VAR is used wrong. The referee should ONLY use VAR if he uncertain about his decision. All decisions should be on field and not dictated by some numpty in a studio.
    As for referee paybacks… simply make them ref in League 2.

  • mooro66uk says:

    I read somewhere the 5 of our last 8 straight reds have been rescinded.

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