RateTheRef

Copied over from the general thread

Well I have to say a huge well done to the MLSZ and our match officials, who did a fantastic job this weekend in respect of the introduction of VAR.  It was very much inline with how it was used in the Euros and the complete opposite of the farce that it has been in the PL. It was not used intrusively, the vast majority of the mandatory reviews on goals were done so quickly, they were not noticeable. In the 6 games over the weekend we had 2 draws, 4 away wins, 39 yellow cards + 3 further YC for managers, 1 YYR, 1 straight red and 3 penalties. As this is me I'll also mention 3 black shirts, 1 red shirt, 1 blue shirt and Andó-Szabó Sándor can get to the naughty step...

Paks 2-3 Mezőkövesd Zsóry Referee:Berke Balázs (Black) YC: 7; YYR: 0; RC:0; Pen: 1
45+5. VAR review for a possible penalty - decision penalty awarded from a missed indent during a corner.
Although all 5 goals were automatically reviewed only the 5th goal, was reviewed noticeably.

Overall: 1 missed penalty decision corrected

Gyirmót FC Győr 1-1 MTK Budapest Referee: Zierkelbach Péter (Black) YC: 5; YYR: 0; RC: 1; Pen: 0
36. -  VAR review for a possible red card, following the review the original yellow card stood.
54. -  VAR goal review for possible handball. The goal stood there was no handball offence as outlined in the Laws of the Game.
88. - VAR review for a possible red card - this one took a while (2-3 mins). Following consultation with the VAR an OFR was carried out and the ref determined that his original decision to issue a yellow card was incorrect and he withdrew the yellow card and issued a red card.

Overall: Three major VAR reviews – two confirmed the original decisions and one, using an on-field review, corrected a decision from yellow card to red card.

Ferencváros 1-2 Kisvárda Master Good Referee: Káprály Mihály (Black) YC: 7; YYR: 0; RC: 0; Pen: 1
77. VAR review possible penalty – on-field review – decision penalty to Ferencváros

Overall: 1 missed penalty decision corrected

Budapest Honvéd 1-4 DVSC Referee: Bognár Tamás (Blue) YC: 6; YYR: 1; RC; 0; Pen: 1
56. VAR review – possible penalty for handball – on-field review – decision penalty.  Following the OFR Bognár Tamás also gave the player who had committed the handball ( Klemenz Lukas Rafael) a yellow card, which was his 2nd yellow card of the game & therefore a red.
The goal reviews on all 5 goals were barely noticeable

Overall: 1 missed penalty decision corrected & as a consequence a 2nd yellow Red card also given that would have been missed.

ZTE 1-1 MOL Fehérvár Referee: Andó-Szabó Sándor (Y****w) YC: 7; YYR: 0; RC: 0; Pen: 0
69. VAR review on the ZTE goal – decision goal given

Overall: Slight delay (15-20 seconds) on 1 goal with the review, the other goal the review wasn't noticeable.

I will also mention 44.Serafimov Nikola waved like mad at the ref for a yellow card to be given and the ref duly obliged and gave him a yellow card! You love to see it!!

Újpest 1-2 Puskás Akadémia Referee: Pintér Csaba (Red) YC: 7; YYR: 0; RC: 0; Pen: 0

Overall: 3 goal reviews that were not noticeable.  You wouldn't have even known that VAR was there had they not shown the images of them in the van at kick off!

Conclusion:
20 mandatory goal reviews - 18 unnoticed 2 a very slight and insignificant delay
6 non goal VAR reviews - 2 confirmed the original decision correct, 3 corrected penalties that had been missed (1 via an OFR that also saw a YYR that would have been missed), 1 yellow card corrected to a red card (OFR) so 5 decisions corrected, 2 in 1 review.
Not a single set of lines to see if someone had a toenail or nose hair offside - loved that!

The only real delays were during the 2 on-field reviews and resulted in incorrect decisions being overturned and corrected.  During the OFR the TV screen split in two and on the right there was a smaller image of the referee at the pitch side camera and on the left a bigger image showing the footage that he was seeing on his screen. The reason for the review was clearly displayed so you knew what they were looking at and why. Announcements were also made over the tannoys in the stadiums so fans inside also knew what the reviews were for. It didn't show on TV if the images were also being broadcast over the big screens in the grounds.

That, imo, was a huge success.  I had been dreading VAR coming to my beloved NBI but if it continues to be this unintrusive then I'm all for it.