NEIL WARNOCK has slammed VAR’s implementation in the Premier League – and referees that use them.
The iconic former Prem boss has enjoyed a more than four-decade long career in football management, but he says he can barely recognise the state of the game under VAR‘s watchful eye.
Neil Warnock has slammed VAR and referees in the Premier League Credit: Getty
Warnock is not impressed with the Premier League’s current selection of referees Credit: PA:Press Association
And though he has had his fair share of frustrations towards officials during his Prem stints – including one he claimed will haunt him until he is on his deathbed – he seems to be even more unimpressed with the game’s current stable of officiating talent.
Warnock, originally a champion of VAR, revealed the reason he has made such a stark U-turn while talking to Midnite as part of its ‘Build Different Index’ launch.
Sign up for the Football newsletter
Thank you!
Dream Team is back, free, and there’s £100,000 up for grabs!
The then-Cardiff boss was hard done by in a 2019 clash with Chelsea, after Cesar Azpilicueta scored an 84th-minute equaliser from a clearly offside position, before Ruben Loftus-Cheek won it for the Blues minutes later.
The tactician labelled the decision “criminal” and the officials the “worst in the world” before eventually being fined £20,000 for his comments.
BREAKING GROUND
Prem club to transform stadium in bid to ‘attract world’s best talent’
Welcome player
Join Jattvibe Vegas now and claim a 100% deposit match bonus and 100 free spins
He explained: “When I got done out of [a result]… I can tell you the name: Craig Pawson was the referee, and Ed Smart was the linesman. I remember them, I’ll remember them on my deathbed!
“Chelsea at Cardiff. A yard off, it might have been two yards offside, and neither of them gave it. And I thought that cost us staying up, mainly.
“I championed VAR after that because it wouldn’t have happened with VAR, it would have been disallowed. But I am glad I’ve had my time as a manager now. You can’t celebrate a goal in the Premier League.
“You celebrate for a split second and then you think, ‘Oh, hang on, they’ll be looking back at the goal kick that just took place five minutes ago, and the header from them at the halfway line, and the tackles up there,’ and then that comes in. It wasn’t meant to be like that. It was for clear and obvious errors.”
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
But Warnock’s gripes did not stop at the nature of VAR itself, as he went on to blast the Prem’s current crop of officials on the pitch and in the VAR offices.
He continued: “What we’re finding in England, is that our referees aren’t good enough. If they’re in doubt about a decision, they won’t give it because they know that VAR will get them out of it.
“But the people in the VAR, you know, they’re not good referees either. The only way around it I can see, is if VAR gets specialists and some people that’ve played the game, some people that understand the game.
“Some of the ‘clear and obvious errors,’ and they go back about four stages and find a push in somewhere else. I’ve never seen the like of it. It wasn’t meant to be like this.”
One missed offside against Chelsea originally made Warnock a supporter of VAR, but he has since changed his position Credit: Sky Sports
Craig Pawson’s missed call in the Chelsea game has clearly left a mark on Warnock Credit: Getty
The 77-year-old’s ire did stop short of one figure, for whom he instead expressed pity.
Pro Ref chief Howard Webb is the subject of a lot of fans’ complaints in regard to VAR, and Warnock does not envy his position.
He added: “I feel sorry for Howard Webb because he was a really, really good referee and he was in a different era, probably, because you could talk to people and you could handle them. You could use management.
“Whereas now, you look at the referees now, they all go by the law of the game. They’re all frightened. Somebody moves the ball about a metre in the last 10 minutes of a game when somebody’s going to take a free kick and it’s the second yellow and they get sent off.
“I think that in the olden days, the ref would say, ‘If you do that again…’ Now it’s all, ‘oh my god.’ It just cringes me when I watch some of the send-offs now.”
