Russell Martin went on a long rant about VAR
Russell Martin went on a long rant after Southampton were denied victory at Brighton by a controversial VAR decision.
Saints thought they had gone 2-1 up on Friday night through Cameron Archer’s goal, only for the officials to deem it offside. VAR took nearly five minutes to adjudicate that Adam Armstrong was offside and was interfering with play after the two sides traded goals through Kaoru Mitoma and Flynn Downes.
Martin clashed with Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler at the full-time whistle and was still seething when he sat down to speak to the press. Asked about the VAR decision, which the Premier League Match Centre said came because Armstrong was “impacting [Brighton goalkeeper Bart] Verbruggen's ability to play the ball”, the Saints boss launched into a passionate rant.
“Yes, on Sunday [vs Liverpool] we should have had a penalty for sure,” he said. “This is my problem with VAR. I can really accept it from the guys on the pitch. The referee and assistants, it's such a difficult job. I wouldn't do it. It's crazy. It's not difficult to understand why they would give it in the heat of the moment.
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“Cam maybe looks offside, Arma the same. So the point of VAR I thought was to take out the subjectivity a little bit and make it really clear. They set the bar higher and all that this season for clear and obvious and the definition of it. So on Sunday, I was told it wasn't clear and obvious.
“In my opinion, Arma nicks the ball past the goalkeeper and has big contact from the goalkeeper and can't then get the ball to the other side of him. Regardless of what defenders are there, anywhere else on the pitch is a foul. That's my interpretation. But it's not clear and obvious enough.
“Then tonight I go in and speak to the guys and like I said, I understand why they would maybe make that decision. I'm not angry with them. It's difficult. They make the right call with the offside. Then it's about interpretation and how much he affects the keeper, which is why we've been told it's been disallowed.
Adam Armstrong was baffled by the decision against him (
Image:
Getty Images)
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“Understanding football, it affects the goalkeeper if he can't come for the cross because of Arma's position or if Arma's run has made him move. It's behind Adam and is too far away for the goalkeeper to come for the cross unless he's Superman, which he's not. He's tall but he ain't that. He can't fly.
“Does he move because of Adam Armstrong's position? No, he doesn't. He actually takes a step away to Cam Archer because he recognises that's the threat. If we are disallowing the goal because the goalkeeper is impeded by Adam Armstrong or affected, then is it an error because he hasn't moved.
“He can't get across and it goes behind Adam. That's my frustration. We spend four or five minutes waiting in the stadium when it's cold and tensions are high. Then that gets given because the on-pitch decision carries weight. I'm sure in the match report because it is interpretation it will get given as a correct decision.
“I went to a manager meeting in the summer and the Premier League and I was told there was only one wrong decision (last season). If we want the process to get better, let's really understand the decisions we're making and why and let's be really honest about it.
VAR took nearly five minutes to make the decision ( Image: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
“In my opinion, and other people might feel differently, I'm sure Brighton fans do, but if it's given because it affects the goalkeeper, it doesn't. So that's a bad decision. It's like a logical process to try and understand, but because it's not clear and obvious enough it's wrong and it's interpretation.
“They're looking at Cam Archer for four minutes, which we can see on the iPad next to the dugout is not offside. That takes us 20 seconds on the iPad. They have to draw the lines and do all that and then it's like what we had at Wolves, they looked at the first foul on Matty Fernandes, which wasn't a foul.
“And the second foul on Cam Archer, which was a foul from Craig Dawson, was completely like brushed off in about three seconds. If you're going to spend time and look at the whole thing... this is my frustration, we've had that decision at Wolves, that decision at Liverpool, and now this.
“I don't want to be here being a moaning git about decisions all the time. It's a tough job but I thought VAR was brought in to help that. If it takes that long, it takes the fun out of celebrating, because you can never celebrate properly, then what are we doing? The game is about fun and enjoyment. So it's either there for all the decisions or it's not. Offside is still interpretation tonight. When it's a clear thing, fine, but I don't know.”
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