Liverpool reaction to PGMOL statement "dangerous", says Gary Neville
Gary Neville argues that Liverpool should not have made a statement in response to PGMOL's own statement regarding the poor refereeing during Spurs 2-1 Liverpool.
The body responsible for refereeing Premier League games issued the following statement on Saturday after seven mistakes were committed by referee Simon Hooper and his officials.
For reference, here is the statement verbatim from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
It reads: "Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
"We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
“It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
“That such failings have already been categorised as ‘significant human error’ is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
“This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
“In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”
How did Gary Neville react to the news after full-time?
The entire footballing world was in shock after full-time between Spurs and Liverpool, with most united in agreeing that the referees and VAR got it all wrong on Saturday.
After Kelly Cates read the PGMOL statement live on Sky Sports, Gary Neville responded in disbelief.
He said: "No, no. Kelly, seriously?"
"Yes, yes. That's what has happened," replied Cates.
Neville continued: "No, no. At the time I thought we get VAR up on the commentary box before anybody else does and I thought 'that's onside'. Then all of a sudden you just hear in you ear [the goal has been ruled out].
"We get the pictures up in the gantry - the commentary from VAR officials to the referee - and you get 'check complete'. You're like, 'what?' No lines. It was too quick and something was obviously wrong.
"That is unbelievable. That is a bad one. A really, really [bad mistake]. That is very significant-"
Redknapp then chimed in, theorising: "It makes you wonder how many others [decisions VAR officials have got wrong]."
"Oh I know," Neville concurred.
Liverpool have now made a strong statement
On their official website and social media channels, Liverpool issued a powerful statement that makes it clear they will not accept the poor officiating standards displayed at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The statement reads: "Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined.
"We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR.
"It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
"That such failings have already been categorised as “significant human error” is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
"This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
"In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution."
How has Gary Neville changed his narrative now?
Quite a bit, really...
Initially, Neville seemed aghast. He claimed the error was "very significant" and worse than the statement let on.
Neville wrote a lengthy tweet this morning sharing his view on things and, Liverpool fans, don't expect much more support from the former Manchester United fullback on this hot topic.
Neville claims the statement was a mistake and that an apology is enough, adding that talk of Liverpool taking further action is "dangerous."
First of all, at not time has a real apology been made. An admission of an error has been made but the PGMOL, the Premier League or the FA are yet to apologise.
Liverpool's statement is exactly the type of response each and every club should make every time a glaring error has been made.
Brentford may want to make a similar statement themselves after they were robbed of this penalty on Sunday - less than 24 hours after the PGMOL's supposed apology...
The reality is that referees in the Premier League have been making high profile errors long before VAR was introduced and we appear no closer to a high standard of refereeing than we ever have.
Place comments
0 Comments
You are currently seeing only the comments you are notified about, if you want to see all comments from this post, click the button below.
Show all comments