[Albion] Was it a penalty?

[Springal]

De Zerbi in the minority

 

[WATFORD zero]

The official site and other outlets making a thing of it and Lamptey saying he thought he got some of the ball - nobody really knows the interpretation of the rules do they it’s very odd.

I thought I did. If you got to the ball and didn't go through the man, and it wasn't reckless or out of control I thought it was a fair tackle (and i've voted 'no' having only seen it from the North Stand with no videos/replays since)

But never mind Tariq, I'm in an over 60s tournament Monday, so I hope it's been cleared up by then

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

The follow through wasn't excessive in force or studs up. However, in the case of the studs planted in Mac Allister's chest it was - but no penalty. I don't understand.

Nor do I, because MacAllister’s was as well.

VAR remains contentious and pointless.
Inconsistency remains.

 

[tedebear]

But never mind Tariq, I'm in an over 60s tournament Monday, so I hope it's been cleared up by then

Just don’t follow through on anything and all will be well…

 

[Nobby Cybergoat]

The way I see it.

If you get the ball first and you're not lunging recklessly to endanger someone, you're in the clear, no penalty

But, if you go in like that and don't get enough of the ball to demonstrate to the ref you've got there, you're giving the ref every opportunity to penalise you.

VAR should not intervene as it's not a clear and obvious error.

So I have no major objections. But I have a deep cynicism that these narrow decisions aren't applied equally. This ref looked like one who's main objective for today was not to disrupt the title race ..... to not be the subject of radio phone ins, newspaper headlines and lurid online conspiracy theories. I understand why a human under this pressure would gravitate consciously or subconsciously to the path of least resistance. But I admit i'm a little frustrated by it.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

So where in the rules does it say it dont matter about making contact with the ball.

The FA laws of the game are freely available on the internet. You need to look for penalty and direct free kick….all will then become clear. I also posted the relevant laws in an earlier post.

 

[zefarelly]

Why does the strength of Lamptey's touch matter? He either got the ball or he didn't.

This

It's the only definitive in any challenge, he kicked and clearly deflected the ball before he touched the diver, sorry, player.

it was cheating by officials, with a clear bias for the bigger picture Of a close title run in.

tyhe fact we weren't good enough to get anything is irrelevant. It was the wrong decision.

 

[Farehamseagull]

Not in law. There is nothing in the law about contact with the ball with regard to fouls, nor contact with the ball first nor how much contact is needed. But it is the explanation given when the ref doesn't give the foul (not just by pundits trying to explain it, but you will sometimes see refs gesture toward the ball, or make a sphere shape with their hands to indicated he 'got the ball'. I try to defend refs or explain their decisions as best I can, but this approach of 'some times it matters, sometimes it doesn't' really annoys me.

Like you, I always try and defend refs and this is another area where I will - there’s nothing wrong with ‘sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t’ - every challenge or ‘foul’ is different - that is football.

There are just too many subjective calls in football for decisions to always be black and white. That is why VAR will never be that effective in football - look at this decision - on a Brighton fan forum of all things, the poll is very close with some wide ranging opinions. VAR has no chance!

The sooner everyone in football accepts that decisions are never going to be ‘correct’ as a lot of times there isn’t a widely ‘correct’ decision and you’ll get some calls and not others, the better.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Like you, I always try and defend refs and this is another area where I will - there’s nothing wrong with ‘sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t’ - every challenge or ‘foul’ is different - that is football.

There are just too many subjective calls in football for decisions to always be black and white. That is why VAR will never be that effective in football - look at this decision - on a Brighton fan forum of all things, the poll is very close with some wide ranging opinions. VAR has no chance!

The sooner everyone in football accepts that decisions are never going to be ‘correct’ as a lot of times there isn’t a widely ‘correct’ decision and you’ll get some calls and not others, the better.

Agree, but re VAR just get rid of it.

 

[HeaviestTed]

Are yo for

Are you for real?

Are you here for a real question?

 

[Farehamseagull]

Agree, but re VAR just get rid of it.

Oh absolutely. It’s pointless for the reasons I’ve said above. If this many fans can disagree on a forum for a club who the decision was given against, what chance has VAR got and what is the point in it?!

Keep it for cases of mistaken identity and genuinely violent off the ball stuff and bin it for the rest (except goal line tech which is different anyway).

 

[HeaviestTed]

I’m not doing that though.

Arsenal were clearly considerably better and deserved the three points.

They weren’t for the first 30 mins, I had hope until the bs pen. I’m not upset though.

 

[Acker79]

Like you, I always try and defend refs and this is another area where I will - there’s nothing wrong with ‘sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t’ - every challenge or ‘foul’ is different - that is football.

There are just too many subjective calls in football for decisions to always be black and white. That is why VAR will never be that effective in football - look at this decision - on a Brighton fan forum of all things, the poll is very close with some wide ranging opinions. VAR has no chance!

The sooner everyone in football accepts that decisions are never going to be ‘correct’ as a lot of times there isn’t a widely ‘correct’ decision and you’ll get some calls and not others, the better.

My issue isn't with subjectivity, or about every foul being different. It's simply with using whether or not a player gets the ball as the key defining aspect of whether a challenge is a foul. It is not and should not ever be about that. It should be about the challenge - was it careless, reckless, or was it excessive force.

 

[Blues Guitarist]

The sooner everyone in football accepts that decisions are never going to be ‘correct’ as a lot of times there isn’t a widely ‘correct’ decision and you’ll get some calls and not others, the better.

I think most of us appreciate that you'll win some decisions and lose some. What pisses me off is the inconsistency, and the bias in the EPL. I live in Austria and watch a lot of live and TV football here. The standard of football is way below the EPL, but the standard of referring is better, and I don't recall seeing a VAR decision all season that I questioned.

 

[Farehamseagull]

My issue isn't with subjectivity, or about every foul being different. It's simply with using whether or not a player gets the ball as the key defining aspect of whether a challenge is a foul. It is not and should not ever be about that. It should be about the challenge - was it careless, reckless, or was it excessive force.

I see what you mean. Yes I agree, I think one of the biggest issues with referees decisions at the highest level is not the decisions themselves but wider communication of them. This is definitely something that could be improved upon for the referees benefit as well as everyone else.

 

[Farehamseagull]

I think most of us appreciate that you'll win some decisions and lose some. What pisses me off is the inconsistency, and the bias in the EPL. I live in Austria and watch a lot of live and TV football here. The standard of football is way below the EPL, but the standard of referring is better, and I don't recall seeing a VAR decision all season that I questioned.

Is that because you care less about the football over there though and are not emotionally invested?

I don’t believe there’s any bias in our refereeing at all.

 

[Nicks]

It's a bit similar to when Wee Billy got sent off .
He got the ball first but his momentum took him into the player.
Same a Lamptey.
For me personally it's not a penalty as he gets the ball first, no matter how slight it was.
But what do I know.

 

[AstroSloth]

The thing is there was a game against Villa a couple of years ago where March had a pen called against him for exactly the same thing.

VAR then called the ref to the monitor and the foul was overturned because March made contact with the ball first.

We literally have examples of the pen being overturned yet VAR today didn't call the ref to the monitor, what a joke.

 

[mile oak]

100% it was

 

[jessiejames]

Let’s hear your understanding of the rule.

You don’t actually have one, do you? You’re just basing it on what you have heard and what you assume.

Win the ball without fouling the player. If that is classed as a foul, then the game is stopped every Minute, for a foul.