5 reasons to worry about Albion’s VAR woes

Albion have had more than their fair share of VAR calamities this season. Now the PGMOL have had to apologise AGAIN to the Seagulls after clear and obvious errors were not identified.

1) How can so many contentious issues be dismissed so quickly? Tottenham defender Clement Lenglet almost did a basketball dribble in the penalty area at Spurs but VAR controller Michael Salisbury took seconds to dismiss the clear and obvious error.

2) He did, though, have a right good look at Kaoru Mitoma’s first-half goal and then Danny Welbeck’s second-half strike. It was as if Mr Salisbury wasn’t being at all “plain” and appeared to look desperately until he found the most inconsequential infringement that allowed the referee – “old ghost goal” Stuart Atwell – to emphatically and almost joyously disallow both goals. Back in 2008 Atwell awarded Reading a goal in the Championship against Watford. The ball didn’t go within 2ft of the goal. As Atwell pointed to the centre spot, both sets of players look bewildered and took up positions for a goal kick. Atwell had to tell the Reading players he had given them a goal. One later said that at first they thought it was an elaborate Soccer AM stunt.

3) Howard Webb, the PGMOL chief, has now graciously conceded what every other person in country could see, that Pierre Hojbjerg emphatically and robustly stamped on Mitoma’s standing foot. Atwell dismissed the appeal with a sweep of the hands – like a magician making his assistant disappear – even before Mitoma had hit the deck. Salisbury, as Albion hadn’t scored, just had another quick look.

4) Even better than that, Longlet then pulled Lewis Dunk’s shirt, again in the penalty area, again within 10ft of Atwell who was looking straight at the incident. It is not clear if Salisbury even bothered to look at this one.

5) Howard Webb will surely know not to pop along to Lancing and waste more of Roberto De Zerbi’s time. But it is incompetence (again) of some magnitude. It must be acutely embarrassing for the Premier League that this appalling incompetence occurs from professional referees. Those who do it for a living, not for a pint and a packet of crisps in the clubhouse afterwards.

The conspiracy theorists will have a field day. Surely it can’t be true that the football establishment don’t want Brighton and Hove Albion representing England in Europe. The 11 points lost to clearly wrong VAR decisions this season would have lifted Brighton to third – and with at least one game in hand on the trailing clubs.

A football club from England’s most flamboyant and inclusive city playing in competitive matches in the far-flung reaches of the continent must surely be a good thing. But the on-field decisions are beyond baffling and appear to create doubt for some that everything is above board.