Sunderland Boxing Day

Pressure should be put on the EFL to fund the technology at all league grounds, They have the money and it would help improve the standard of refereeing which can be quite woeful in some cases and bring more consistency in decision making

 

I would take the apology story with a huge pinch of salt though. I take your point about the ball last night being mid air but if you brought it down vertically to the ground the tv angle would still show grass clearly visible between ball and line. The freeze frames on here of the sunderland goal show that the ball was not over the line.

It all falls in to a bigger narrative for me about the sh*t that referees have to put up with. As fans we lose the ability to be objective which is why we get so frustrated with the refs. We are outraged every time a 50/50 decision goes against us. I can guarantee for every decision we have moaned about this year there are a group of fans on a rival forum saying it was a good decision. Making a decision in real time with no replay is extremely difficult and by and large the refs do a decent job.

 

I believe that the ball crossed the line. It looks a good yard over in that photo. The example of the City v Liverpool one was just another talking point.

Exactly this, we had an awful referee against Shrewsbury a few days later, every fanbase feels like the referee's are against them. It's just football.

 

Installation cost would be c. £18m (then with yearly fees) - pocket change compared to the money in the game today.

I’m not paying huge attention to the apology thing, although i do think it’s strange for Drury to suggest it happened if it didn’t, as that would give rise to a potential complaint from the ref.

I’m a ref myself so I do get it. I’ve defended the officials regularly on this and other forums where people don’t understand the laws (which happens a lot), or to try and understand why a particular decision has been made.

I agree to get it right in real time is very difficult and the incident at SoL was way way closer (either way) than many gave it credit for at the time. I think there’s an assumption that if a TV angle shows something clearly then the ref/assistant must also have had that view.

 

To be fair the referees Union should go on strike. I'm sick to the back teeth of pundits and people within the game slamming 'terrible decisions' of referees. The criticism is usually based on incidents that split opinion. By nature then, if these incidents are being debated how can decisions be 'terrible'. There has to be someone to make the decision and it's the poor sod in the middle. They should say 'fck the lot of you' if we are so sh*t you can referee this weekends games yourself - good luck.

What's more is the idiotic practise of referees getting criticized AFTER seeing a replay on live tv. You never ever here commentators or summarizers call decisions in real time and on the odd occasion they do they usually get it wrong. However when they have seen 5 different angles slowed down x5 they suddenly become expert referees.

VAR will only bring more trouble for referees. They will be slammed constantly for making decisions on down the line 50/50 penalty decisions that will never keep everyone happy.

 

What I think is wrong is that they are bringing VAR in next season at significant cost when what they should be doing is establishing Goal line tech in all four divisions first.

 

Different governing bodies unfortunately.

 

In reality it isn't though, they are all governed by the same rules as set by the FA.
They are all officiated by the same FA's representatives as well.
This sort of thing should be controlled by the governing body that sets the rules and standards, not each individual League.

 

Agree entirely. The PL get billions, bring in VAR, goal line technology etc because they are scared of losing PL places. Rest of us get nothing but in terms of actual survival could be the death of clubs by a single goal line decision or not. The PL have far too much power and Shaun Harvey needs to grow a pair...

 

Well I won’t be holding my breath on your last point. I think the PL should set up a independent development fund, not run by themselves. The clear aim of developing the football league in the three leagues below them. It was known as seeding money, you then reap the rewards later, rather than dividing the cake up between the 18, so they can play their players zillions without a thought for the future of football.

 

It's not the EPL so much, but the greedy owners of the established clubs that won't entertain sending any money south to the EFL. I thought the bubble might've burst by now but it's getting stronger.

If or should I say when, the European Super League kicks in, then the remaining clubs are going to need the rest of us. Their product won't be as attractive to the Asian and other markets around the world, the TV money will drop and they'll be left trying to flog over valued and overpaid average footballers to a smaller set of clubs who will be looking to do the same.

 

I heard an interesting interview on Talksport the other day, which talked about the finances involved in the premiership. It challenged the view that the ‘bubble could be about to burst’ and said that the surface is only being scratched. It suggested that the next logical step for the premier league is to become a broadcasting company, securing its own TV rights and charging for the streaming of games. Essentially becoming a Netflix type organisation. The speculation was that in doing so, TV revenue could go from 1.7b a year, to pretty much that much every month!!

 

That could be true and very viable, clubs don't need the hassle of catering for spectators as there's just not enough money in it after expenses...
Imagine, every game played in empty stadiums but streamed to your home for a few quid....

 

What a nightmare that would be. Who'd want to watch a game between Brighton and Bournemouth with little or no atmosphere. The take up on that would be very few outside of the 2 clubs, unless it was end of season and their results directly affected whether you were relegated or not.

 

I don’t think the suggestion was for clubs to deliberately expect empty stadiums. But rather, that they negate the need for independent broadcasting deals by chasing that revenu themselves. Instead of subscribing to Sky or BT, you’d have a monthly subscription to PLTV or something. The byproduct would be lower crowds though - unless clubs have the sense to slash ticket prices. And let’s be honest, would they...??

 

I heard that and it pretty much kills the myth rhat football is killing itself. Football has never been in such good shape, the world can’t get enough of it.

 

The interesting one will be PL v UEFA v FIFA v individual rights.

The cost for establishing such a streaming service independently will be huge. Massive income stream potential, but entry into being a provider will be phenomenonal. Only have to see the recent figures posted by Netflix to wonder if the PL would want to take that risk?

 

I can see it in ten years.

Baking programmes and soap operas populated by footballers on the Premier League Lifestyle channel...