If you tuned into Monday Night Football yesterday evening, you know that Sky Sports skewed from their regularly scheduled programming for a change and chose to focus on something else during the show besides the game they were covering: VAR.
VAR (or video assistant referee if you still somehow haven’t gotten that memo) has been a fixture in the Premier League since 2019, following testing in various divisions around the world and the gradual implementation throughout modern football.
You only have to have watched the odd game in the past few years to know that the system isn’t perfect — and that’s putting it mildly — however, that’s like any referee and what most fans have long scratched their heads over is, simply, why it takes VAR so long to make a decision.
Well, after the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) chief and veteran referee, Howard Webb, joined Monday night’s show and revealed the VAR audio and analysed a number of different calls from this season, we now at least have a clearer idea.
A fascinating never-heard before conversation between officials regarding Kai Havertz's disallowed goal for Chelsea 👇 pic.twitter.com/fKZw0MWjDR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 15, 2023
This was just one of many clips which provided insight not only into VAR audio and what the referees are hearing as they operate throughout the game, but how decisions are broken down into different stages by the overall team of officials.
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As Webb went on to explain, the unprecedented footage depicts how VAR either tries to support or correct the on-field decision from the referee; whether the first official needs to be sent to the screen or not, as well as other aspects such as what might have happened in the build-up.
While it’s been easy to get frustrated with VAR, especially when so much has been kept in the dark about it since its arrival, this was a truly eye-opening look into why it takes so long for referees to make their final calls and just how hard a job they have when it comes to making on-field decisions.
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For instance, how on earth would a referee have spotted this and been able to make the right call without the help of VAR?
"It was clear and obvious when we saw it from that angle" 🎥
Howard Webb breaks down the use of VAR in Leandro Trossard's disallowed strike against Leicester City 🔎 pic.twitter.com/5B3xsrNy07
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 15, 2023
Now, this is yet another example of VAR working well and demonstrating its value beyond correcting the ‘clear and obvious’ that we were told it was brought in for; without micromanaging the game in this instance, the officials checked the keeper’s complaint back on the replay and found him to be right.
As Webb told the presenters on the night, the goal of VAR is to have “maximum impact with minimum interference”, although Gary Neville did question at what point reviewing moments in the game gets into the realms of “re-refereeing”.
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They even showed off occasions when the referees got it wrong on the day, with the 51-year-old stressing that the PGMOL are looking to hold their own more accountable when it comes to incorrect decisions, as we have seen with apologies made to clubs following mistakes more recently.
While some argued that they refrained from showing some of the bigger mistakes during the show, Webb insisted that referees have made a “commitment to be more transparent’ and this is, at the very least, a start.
"The sequence VAR looked at didn't start early enough"
Howard Webb explains that Ivan Toney's penalty for Brentford should have been overturned for a foul by the forward in the build-up 📺 pic.twitter.com/ANs9NSpFo2
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 15, 2023
Again, even detailing how an APP (attacking possession play) factors into the final decision helps combat the confusion that those on the pitch and most of us watching feel when waiting for a VAR check. Moreover, they can’t “sacrifice accuracy for speed”.
As Carragher questioned on the night, there still remains the concern as to whether VAR officials influence decisions before a referee even gets to the monitor, but Webb insisted that they are simply “doing their due diligence by following the process” and that it’s still the ref that makes the final call.
Ultimately, PGMOL have achieved two things by sharing this VAR audio and analysis: firstly, it helped explain why decisions often take a while and secondly, it did the one thing that fans have been asking for since day one — for refs to properly communicate what’s going on and inform rather than confuse.
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Neville went on to say that people “need to see this” kind of footage more often and we couldn’t agree more. Thankfully, Webb said, “we’re looking to do this as much as we possibly can” and that there should be greater post-match clarity as more of these clips are shared with the public.
🗣️ "Fans NEED to see this! Players NEED to see this!" @GNev2 calling for transparency with VAR & referee decisions. pic.twitter.com/xT6AYN91hR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 15, 2023
What did you make of it? Was it a fascinating look at one of the most misunderstood parts of the game or simply a PR exercise that did little to remedy some of the biggest complaints this season?
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
🔵 Subscribe to our Manchester City page on BBC Sounds for the latest interviews. #MCFC#bbcfootball
Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Sale Sharks sign highly-rated Harlequins hooker, Nathan Jibulu
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks are investing in youth with their latest bit of transfer business after signing one of the Harlequins’ hottest prospects, Nathan Jibulu.
The highly-rated hooker, who has already nine appearances this season, including more than half a dozen in the Gallagher Premiership, has been exciting plenty of scouts throughout rugby union and is already firmly in national team plans.
Having already been part of the England Under-20 and A squads, not to mention impressing at club level in a relatively short space of time, it’s a big coup for Sale.
From the Quins academy to the right side of Shark-infested waters.
Jibulu joined the Twickenham-based outfit back in 2022 just a year after they won their second English championship (a full decade since their first) after previously attending Seaford College and representing nearby Wimbledon Warriors.
However, now the six-foot and seriously strong forward will be swapping the life near the capital for the North and Greater Manchester, specifically.
Set to join Sale Sharks for the 2025/26 season – scheduled to kick off in September – he’s looking like a really strong addition to their front row and a future squads to come.
Speaking to the club in an official statement, he said: “When I was younger, whenever someone asked me, ‘what team would you want to play for?’ I’d always say Sale…
“I’ve scrummed a lot with Asher [Opoku-Fordjour] and I got to know him pretty well. I always tell him how special and different he is, and I can’t wait to play with him.
“The way the club has developed him and nurtured him to become an established Premiership and England player speaks volumes about the coaching and the support that he’s getting at Sale.
“The entire front row is in the England squad, with the Curry boys too, so that tells you that someone at the club is doing something right. I looked at that and I said, ‘why would you not want to be there?’”
Still just 22 years old and having made just as many appearances for his soon-to-be former club, Sale weren’t the only ones chasing his signature.
Jibulu went on to add: “I love those games where you go toe-to-toe physically, so all of that attracted me straight away, and then speaking to people who are there already, they said all the stuff that I really like so it was a no brainer when the opportunity came about.”
As for his impending coach, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Nathan is really driven, he understands what he wants from his life and his career, and he knows how he’s going to get it.
“He’s a young lad but he’s incredibly mature and he’s got the game and the physical attributes to match. I’ve got no doubt he’ll play for England in the future and we’re really excited to bring him to the club.”
Currently sat seventh in the table after another at times promising but somewhat frustrating start to the year, the summer can’t come soon enough for Sale.
Danny Jones -
16th May 2023 
