TalkSPORT’s Danny Kelly has come out and dammed the head of the Premier League’s Officials Board, Mike Riley, and has told him to resign over the use of VAR.
Following Wolves’ controversial 1-0 loss to Liverpool yesterday, where Pedro Neto’s equalising goal was chalked off by the finest of margins, there has been a large amount of uproar across the footballing community over the use of the system.
Kelly, a presenter and pundit on the radio station, was seemingly furious after the game and wants there to be some accountability taken by those that have caused the decision.
He went on as far to say that he either needs to come out and explain himself and the decisions being made or he needs to resign.
He said (via Birmingham Live): “They have managed to find an angle, not square-on to the action, in which a tiny piece of one of the Wolves players…
“I mean, it is ridiculous.
“It’s just going on and on.
“Mike Riley has got to come out in public and tell people, what he’s going to do to improve it or he must resign.
“He brought this nonsense in with reviewing goals for offside.
“It’s spoiling the game and people are turning away from the game.
“The Premier League’s brand is being tarnished!
“Resign, Mike Riley, resign!”
Should the offside rules for VAR be changed?
Yes, it is not fit for purpose
No, we have to get used to it
As frustrating as it is for Wolves fans, calling for Riley’s head might be a bit of a harsh admission. It might not be pretty to see such a fine margin rule out such a great moment for the club, however, those are the rules and they have been all of the season.
Additionally, that’s how VAR has worked across the world and in Europe. People have argued about ‘clear and obvious’ decisions, however, as offside is a binary call, then the technology allows for a simple offside or not offside decision.
It’s arguable that there should be some leeway involved within these calls, which could suit an ‘umpire’s call’ kind of verdict like in cricket. Bearing in mind the goalscoring part of the body is mapped by manually selecting it via the Hawk-Eye system (Premier League website), it suggests that this is not always 100 per cent accurate, therefore, to stop calls being incorrectly overturned then there should be a certain amount of space whereby the linesman’s call remains, essentially ruling out the potential for human error and still being able to overturn a clear incorrect decision.
Personally, this would make a lot of sense for future decisions, however, during these very early days of VAR then there are always going to be disagreements and teething issues, so calling for Riley’s resignation is probably a bit too strong.
