Gary O’Neil has revealed his latest thoughts on VAR after Wolves put forward a proposal for it to be scrapped.
Wolves have been stung by VAR on numerous occasions this season which have left supporters and the club outraged at how it’s being put to use.
If the Wanderers can somehow secure a victory over Liverpool on the final day, they will finish on 49 points, but many are left wondering if that tally would have been higher if some key decisions had gone their way.
The very first game of the season foreshadowed how Gary O’Neil’s side would be treated across the season as they were denied a stonewall penalty against Manchester United, resulting in them losing the match.
Most recently, Max Kilman saw a perfectly fine goal chalked off against West Ham while in the defeat to Bournemouth, Hwang Hee-Chan had a header ruled out as Matheus Cunha adjudged to have brushed a player with his arm in the build-up.
Wolves have, unsurprisingly, had enough of the catastrophic errors that have gone against them and have now called for VAR to be scrapped completely. O’Neil has since offered his reaction to this news.
Gary O’Neil shares latest thoughts on VAR
It’s no secret that O’Neil isn’t a fan of VAR at all. The 40-year-old was handed a one-match touchline ban following his conduct in the 2-1 defeat against West Ham.
Labelling the decision to chalk off Kilman’s goal ‘one of the worst he’s ever witnessed’, O’Neil’s misery was compounded by a £8,000 fine and ultimately, made him hate the officiating even more.
With Wolves putting forward nine repercussions of having and persisting with VAR, the Wanderers boss has since responded to this update in his pre-match conference.
“I don’t know who doesn’t want it taken away completely,” O’Neil said. But I know every single Premier League manager I’ve spoken to has issues with how it is in it’s current state.
“You don’t need to be a Premier League manager to know that. I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I will. I think everyone in this room would have their frustrations with it at the moment, and their own issues.”
VAR has taken some of the joy away from football
Some people think the problem isn’t VAR, it’s the people using the technology and making those decisions.
But, as we’ve seen on several occasions this season, the assistant referees analysing each facet of the game are taking an age to come to a decision – and when they do – it’s usually the wrong one.
Its introduction has also ruined the pure emotions of football, to a certain extent, for those who go to the game or watch on the television.
Supporters think they can’t get caught up in celebrating a goal, and neither can the players, as they don’t know whether it will stand. Coming to the right decision is of course necessary, but how long it takes and stripping the raw emotion away from the sport makes it not worth keeping.
Two-thirds of the Premier League have to vote against it to be scrapped and that’s unlikely to happen, which shows why it’s the fans who should be deciding VAR’s future.