30 Aug 2025 17:00:09
Less said about that game the better.

The one thing I will say - although the decision went in our favour this time, that is not the kind of thing I want being given as a foul, especially not by VAR as a 'clear and obvious error'. Without taking a pop at referees, because they cop enough and it only seems to make them bunker down in a kind of siege mentality, but us as fans from all clubs have to respectfully stand up somehow and say 'no, that is not a correct decision. VAR should not have intervened. This is NOT how we want football to be refereed' even when a decision goes in our favour. Perhaps they will pay attention if it's all of us, and aside from all the vitriol - just a simple 'no thank you'.


1.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 17:24:45
Think you're right EdW and raises question of much clearer guidelines as you when or when not and for what VAR should be used. Ok for offsides though perhaps also of only clear and obvious and not my a toenail either way? Violent or dangerous red card decision too possibly. And penalties eg was it a dive or handball though there is a level of inconsistency that is irritating and these yes should also have to be as clear and obvious as possible.


2.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 18:01:07
JBS, agree on the offsides, absolutely. And 'clear and obvious error' was meant to be (and is still meant to be) the test. Yet the definition of 'clear and obvious error' seems evasive, especially to VAR refs, who take it to mean 'every decision'.

My take when it was first introduced was that it should be like tennis – managers or captains have a number of 'reviews' they can ask for; if it turns out to have been an obviously incorrect decision then you keep the review to use, if not you lose it. Would have the advantage of limiting the number of reviews in a game – often the players just know with things like handball.

However, thinking about it now I doubt that would cause less controversy because the only way it works is if the ultimate decision made by the review is correct every time (in tennis it's much easier to make those calls, there being a limited scope; they are still contentious, only much more rarely), and referees in this country simply don't seem to understand the game to the level of getting common-sense decisions correct, let alone the difficult ones. You also have the issue that managers are rewatching the game instantly on the touchline on tablets – that would have to be banned as well.

Would a VAR panel comprising one ref, one former pro and one fan work? And they have to make a decision within a limited number of replays? Probably not. The whole system is flawed, because football is not a game on which people agree on decisions. It's all so subjective. But again, what staggers me is that professional refs seem to get the really simple-seeming ones (to my mind) absolutely wrong. Thinking here about Soucek diving down to palm the ball away like a goalkeeper in the area for West Ham against us a few years ago, or Bruno Fernandez doing the same skill that Muniz did today, kicking the opposition defender in the shin in doing it, falling down and getting a penalty. And then they give themselves a pass by stating how many VAR decisions were correct in a season – but they're the ones deciding whether the decision was correct or not in the aftermath, which is like someone marking their own homework!


3.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 18:02:48
Game needs a big public review in this country. Won't happen, of course, but we should be calling for it. Would love to see fans from all the different clubs in the EFL working together to say what we actually want from refereeing in this country, rather than just fuming impotently every weekend.


4.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 18:44:12
I do agree, I don’t like that type of foul being given. However I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. Accidental contact can still be a foul - how many time to you see someone try and kick a ball but the opposition gets there first, a freekick is almost always given unless missed. At the end of the day he’s stepped on TC’s foot, taking TC out of the defensive picture.

Assuming he had turned TC without contact, TC could potentially gotten back to a defensive position and aided in defence of the attempt (I’m not sure he would have, but it’s possible) . I can understand how the foul has been given.

All that being said, I still don’t agree with the foul and feel we got lucky.


5.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 19:32:50
Some very interesting and well considered posts about VAR. I am going to keep it simple. I am okay with automated offside- it’s binary yes or no, like line calls in tennis. However, I do not like VAR, it effectively leads to two levels of mistakes; the first to intervene and the second when the ref is called to the screen evidenced by Fulham’s disallowed goal. Prior to VAR referees made mistakes but as with most football fans, I took it on the chin on the basis that these things even themselves out during the course of the season. However, I doubt whether there is any way back so there needs to be a proper review of how the system operates. Regrettably, those who introduce new rules and procedures never consider the fans because of the money involved in football; no longer “the people’s game”. Jumpers for goalposts.


6.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 19:42:46
EdW, interesting proposal about a panel including a former pro but knowing our luck Jamie Carragher would be on it for our games. Lol.


7.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 20:51:23
Cech – it's funny I made the same argument about Chalobah being able to be back defensively to my son as a devil's advocate position. My ultimate feeling is as yours though – football is a contact sport and people do just get hurt sometimes (for example, clash of knees where one player comes off worse) . Muniz's foot literally had nowhere else to go.

Jimbo, yes, no doubt in that situation we'd regularly have a VAR three including Carragher and Anthony Taylor.


8.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 20:58:12
Am I the only one who thought it was a foul. I know it was accidental but he still ended up stamping on on Trevohs foot with studs. Me and my mate and a few others in the pub said no goal straight away for the foul on Chalobah and no one was surprised it was ruled out except the commentary team!


9.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 21:48:44
Hdkn, no you are not the only one. It doesn’t matter a toss if it was accidental.


10.) 30 Aug 2025
30 Aug 2025 22:04:33
It's a weird one, Hdkn, because I can totally understand that perspective. And yes, Trev was clearly hurt by the contact of the guy's studs. But also there was zero intention, and it was part of the natural movement of the Muniz's body. I guess the point is, if the ref had blown for a foul immediately no one would have said anything. A few gripes from the Fulham end, perhaps. Play stops, game continues with an indirect free kick. It's the fact of letting play go on, the kid scoring a great goal and then VAR getting involved, calling the decision not to blow 'a clear and obvious error'. It's not, it's just a subjective decision being subjective, which lots of decisions just are. Some refs blow for accidental contact, some don't. But it's not a clear and obvious error not to blow for that.


11.) 31 Aug 2025
31 Aug 2025 17:59:13
Edw, I don’t really think that whether a player is hurt or it is accidental is relevant: the issue is: was it a foul. Football is still just about a contact sport. The two players made contact; one got his foot stepped on: as simple as that. It wasn’t a foul. I think officials and supporters are overthinking things. I know what a donkey is but I can’t define it.