I don't think the direction is enough to not make it dogso, but I seem to be on the non-popular side on a few of these recently. But obviously the penalty area downgrade makes it a lot less controversial than previously.
Hundreds of millions of pounds at stake, and we go old fashioned without VAR. Maybe the EFL didn’t want to pay the extra fees to the refs?
let me say first, that I thought the red card in the EFL Championship Final was correct, but I wonder if there might have been a review?
I'm of the mindset that it gets used for the whole playoff or not at all. Why is it fair to have VAR for the final but not in the semis when potentially it could've changed the outcome of the game?
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1623345581 PREMIER LEAGUE VAR lines to be thicker next season in bid to end armpit offsides
Four referee promotions for 2021-2022. Not sure anyone can say they saw this coming. https://www.premierleague.com/news/2175938
That just highlights how difficult it is to get to the top flight in England and other countries in Europe compared to MLS. This just shows how long they have to pay their dues. Sure there are certain guys that will get fastracked like Oliver, but for the most part its years and years of doing the EFL circuit before you even get a sniff at the EPL. Salisbury started refereeing in 2001. There are certain referees in MLS that weren't certified in 2011 as referees, much less 2001. Brooks became a referee in 2004. For comparison sake, Ismael Elfath became a certified referee in 2007 or 2008 and was refereeing MLS matches in 2011. Think about how many talented referees get lost in the wash in England and other countries just due to not wanting to grind away for 15 years to make it to the big time. Really remarkable.
I like Brooks and Salisbury very much. The former is ex-FIFA AR; Graham Salisbury, Michael's father, was one of the best FL refs in his time. Brooks is a classic English manager, whereas Salisbury (the biggest talent IMO) has actually more of a law-enforcer style. I know everyone was impressed by Gillett after that video of him in Australia came out... but I simply don't think he is very good, to be honest. He gets stuck in the centre of the FoP during his games and doesn't / cannot really take the initiative. Of course, everybody in England thinks that is refereeing excellence, but he would struggle in the international field handling matches like that. Haven't seen Harrington recently but friends who have officiated with him remark that he is a very nice man. Overall, I'm impressed that PGMOL actually want to start sth of a revolution in SG1, but Jones / England got rather few PL insets in 20/21, so we'll see. Otherwise - the incorrect penalty to Newport given by Bobby Madley almost definitely cost him a place in SG2, and Rebecca Welch is the first female referee to be promoted to the National List, she will handle L1/L2 (Tier III / IV) matches next season. On the whole, quite refreshing choices by PGMOL if you ask me!
One could realistically argue that the Football league especially in the Championship is on par or better than MLS. Also the Select Group 1 do far more matches per season than MLS referees. Using the 2019 season, Allen Kelly did 20 MLS matches, and Martin Atkinson did 36 Premier league matches.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/s...prove-Euro-2020-showed-works-light-touch.html Nothing too interesting in here, but it did confirm that the line drawing process won't be shown to the fans this upcoming season in the PL.
Except the appointment of arguably the worst performing referee in the PL for the past few seasons as a dedicated (presumably meaning that's all he will be doing) VAR! PH
Too lazy to start a new thread but this was funny from a pre-season friendly. It does have some language. pic.twitter.com/htTLm0CUgt— Sebastian Bacon (@SebastianBacon8) July 31, 2021
Mike Reilly assuring us that they will "dial back" VAR interventions in the EPL this season. Well, we can only hope that they do so! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58064333
Apologies - too late to fix now. I have probably made that same mistake multiple times - Reilly, of course, being a more traditional Irish spelling of the name; Riley more English. So, I guess I should have got it right as you don't get much more English than Mike!
@allan_park Something similar was posted in the new thread for the upcoming season. We can continue discussion there.