Brighton v Brentford

A reminder that most of you baulk when commentators, players, pundits & managers don't know the rules
We are to blame for that just as much as them. They have no clue from one moment to the next what we're doing

BCMilan said:

Looks to me like he's elbow him, then pulls away. Is it me ? If he'd wanted to "do him", i'm sure he would have.

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I'd tend to agree although it goes against what most members on here think.
Having watched it a few times now, my belief is that he shapes for it, raising his elbow and then clocks the distance between himself and his opponent, rather wisely swinging it short enough to miss. Looks more like a petulant protest than much else but still not a good look.
AM is right there and the lack of protest and outrage from the other team, coupled with the distraction of the caution for SPA has all contributed to it being a nothing event on the night.
I'll also caveat the above by saying that if I was to see that in my game on a Saturday afternoon, I'm pretty sure there'd be outrage all round and I'd be reaching for the red.

I’ve only just seen this and it seems a clear red card to me and seems that pretty much everyone here agrees. Not even a 80/20 split. We rarely get that on here.

So if it’s that obvious to us, how did VAR not give it? Is this a fundamentally flawed system?

As always consistency is the key. We see 2 red cards (second yellows), for kicking the ball away early in the season. I have since watched a lot of football and haven’t seen anymore yellow cards for that so does PGMOL only enforce the rules when it suits them? This drives fans nuts. VAR was supposed to be the great leveller on big decisions and instead we have more controversy.

I have to say that I really enjoyed watching the league cup matches without VAR. You could actually celebrate a goal and refs had to make the decisions on the spot without hesitation and knowing that it stood.

In fact his case, had the ref missed the elbow attempt, then this discussion would be over, but the fact VAR looked at it and didn’t ask him to look at the screen brings the integrity of the game into disrepute.

Fix VAR or get rid of it.

I've no problem with a red card.
But if he was actually trying to elbow him his spatial orientation needs looking at by a doctor.
He either thinks better of it or was trying to intimidate his opponent.
He's very lucky anyway and would be walking if I was ref.

Kes said:

I'd tend to agree although it goes against what most members on here think.
Having watched it a few times now, my belief is that he shapes for it, raising his elbow and then clocks the distance between himself and his opponent, rather wisely swinging it short enough to miss. Looks more like a petulant protest than much else but still not a good look.
AM is right there and the lack of protest and outrage from the other team, coupled with the distraction of the caution for SPA has all contributed to it being a nothing event on the night.
I'll also caveat the above by saying that if I was to see that in my game on a Saturday afternoon, I'm pretty sure there'd be outrage all round and I'd be reaching for the red.

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This is one of the reasons I don’t think you’re likely to see a red card without contact.
Even if we think he tries to do him, that’s always going to be an argument.

ARF said:

Almost every comment I've seen on social media from non-referees agrees that this is a sending off.

I'm fed up of this ******** of having to second-guess "what football expects". Especially when what we're being told what football expects is clearly not what football expects.

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Football expects was only meant to be for situations that law doesn't cover and it's gone turbo into everything. Law covers this amply and in my view should be a red card every day of the week

JamesL said:

Football expects was only meant to be for situations that law doesn't cover and it's gone turbo into everything. Law covers this amply and in my view should be a red card every day of the week

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Agree that was the intention at grass roots, but at the top levels it has morphed way beyond that and is effectively used as an excuse to bend the laws to be able to manage games and situations. I'm pretty sure if this is covered at the next Mic'd up that Webb will say it was correct for VAR not to get involved, although the lack of any VAR intervention may mean it isn't covered.

RustyRef said:

Agree that was the intention at grass roots, but at the top levels it has morphed way beyond that and is effectively used as an excuse to bend the laws to be able to manage games and situations. I'm pretty sure if this is covered at the next Mic'd up that Webb will say it was correct for VAR not to get involved, although the lack of any VAR intervention may mean it isn't covered.

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I do agree that this is exactly what had happened and why red wasn’t given. But in what way does this benefit the game? Fans want referees to do their job, and right now I don’t think they’re doing that. They’re looking for any which way that they can stay out of the limelight, all the while they’re literally doing the opposite.

Think @deusex and @BCMilan have summed it up. This is not about any directives from 'on high' to keep players on the pitch, nor is it about picking and choosing which laws to enforce. It's arisen because a group of officials have watched the footage (live and on repeat) and come to the conclusion that Pedro consciously chose NOT to make any contact. Therefore he didn't strike an opponent nor did he even attempt to strike. This interpretation (for that's all it is) is backed up by the fact he was actually looking at his opponent when he made the action ... rather than the more usual look one way and swing the other.

I think it's a generous interpretation and I think he's lucky it was viewed this way ... but I can totally understand it.

The fact Dermot Gallagher is even stunned the VAR never recommended a review for a red card maybe says it all really.

I'm just also stunned Andy Madley seems to be in the perfect position and does not even produce a yellow for unsporting behaviour if you want to go down the lenient route.

Paul_10 said:

The fact Dermot Gallagher is even stunned the VAR never recommended a review for a red card maybe says it all really.

I'm just also stunned Andy Madley seems to be in the perfect position and does not even produce a yellow for unsporting behaviour if you want to go down the lenient route.

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There seems a total lack of acknowledgement and/or appreciation for what happened from all on field officials

es1 said:

There seems a total lack of acknowledgement and/or appreciation for what happened from all on field officials

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We’re never gonna know what happened, unless they cover it in Mic’d Up.

As things are, the only logical reason is what @Kes & co said above. But it really doesn’t sit well with me personally. With the speed and amount of force he used, it doesn’t seem like normal football contact to me. At least one that could be justified as ‘brushing an opponent off’