RateTheRef

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.

Thanks for the insight, bmb, although my opinion has not changed one bit since it was introduced ------I just do not like it and thing that it is an encumbrance that the game could well do without.
Having said that, I realise that I am probably in a minority and have decided that I shall not be watching top level football and, after 69 years of going to Turf Moor to watch the Clarets, I shall be using my money to support Ashington. They have given a new season ticket to those who held one last season and have done so without any remuneration, even though we were able to watch a number of games before the season was curtailed. I should add that they are not an affluent club but they care about the local community.
The main sponsor is a media company so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they do not wish to introduce VAR!

Thanks for the insight, bmb, although my opinion has not changed one bit since it was introduced ------I just do not like it and thing that it is an encumbrance that the game could well do without.
Having said that, I realise that I am probably in a minority and have decided that I shall not be watching top level football and, after 69 years of going to Turf Moor to watch the Clarets, I shall be using my money to support Ashington. They have given a new season ticket to those who held one last season and have done so without any remuneration, even though we were able to watch a number of games before the season was curtailed. I should add that they are not an affluent club but they care about the local community.
The main sponsor is a media company so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they do not wish to introduce VAR!

Well done Ashington. Why is it the small non league clubs always lead the way in terms of customer service/community spirit etc. That is a rhetorical question btw!!

I'm not a fan of it but we now have it in the NBI and I have to suck it up & deal with it. I mind it a lot less when it is quietly efficient as we saw in week 1 and the complete opposite of the PL version!

Kispest manager is not a fan! It should be noted that it was Kispest who had a penalty & YYR card after a VAR review and he was also given a yellow card as he was still complaining 8 mins after the review started. Bognár was 100% correct with the review and the 2 decisions he made as a result ie the 2nd yellow and the penalty.  My team fell apart  - that was not down to VAR or the referee but down to their own errors, lack of concentration and lack of discipline and shock of shocks, the other team playing better on the day!

After the match Horváth Ferenc said: (Comments in brackets & italics are mine!) It's hard to talk about the second half. Whether this VAR is useful or not useful…? It's a very interesting thing. Who decides what they look back on? (that is clearly specified) Why didn't anyone look back at Clement's first yellow card? (not within VAR remit) Before the third goal, why didn’t they look back to see if the ball was out or not? (They did & replays showed it was in) They’re breaking down a hundred-year-old tradition with this VAR. The game is constantly standing. The VAR will return as much as it will take, but the same has happened to the referees so far. The VAR makes football completely unnecessarily mastered. I say this not only because of today's match, but before that it was my opinion, but now, of course, exponentially, because things have happened to us because of VAR. Even after 1-2 we went ahead (he means attacking), one thing can’t be taken away from the team that he wanted to win until the last minute. It doesn’t matter if we get 2-1 or 4-1. Everyone put themselves in and you could see on the team that he was in good shape, everyone was moving forward. This is another Honvéd than it was, regardless of the outcome. The Honvéd became different in the second half from the fact that a man was exhibited (sent off) and we also received a penalty, which was not easy to process. They got another goal after a few minutes, and from there it was a frantic rush. It’s hard to talk about the penalty, I only saw the situation for a moment. His elbow hit the ball, (arm not in a natural position - under the LOTG was handball & yellow) plus he was even issued for it (given a yellow card), I don’t think this huge penalty is necessarily fair for this situation, because things happened to us because of VAR. (Not fair for the correct decisions to be made then obviously...)

Horváth Ferenc showing his lack of knowledge of the LOTG in relation to hand ball and the role of the VAR!