You know what folks? I quite like this chunking the season thing. In years gone by, we'd be doing a mini-international break, then back to football, then back to international and so on until Xmas and I'd lose any rhythm. This is nice. I like a little month of football, then a month off, and then we go for a solid while. A novel good thing from the powers that be.
Unlike Pro-Ref. God its so boring. But it's just pathetic how bad it is. I get it. Football is a fast paced sport and refereeing is tough. So I'm a big proponent of technology and trying to give humans whatever support possible. But here's the thing...that's only one part of the triangle.
Change Management has 3 pillars. People, Processes & Technology. It's really quite simple. To get sustainable improvement, the body needs to invest in all 3 pillars, sincerely and humbly. They are, under Webb and his predecessors, constitutionally incapable of this - and this, more than anything explains why no progress is made. Let's go through them:
People: Bringing in VAR meant a doubling of the number of officials required to run a game. This necessitated lots of rapid promotion, and clearly, this diluted quality. On top of this, there's no transparency as to what makes a "top" ref - what are the metrics on which they are judged? How can you appraise them without an idea of what good looks like? The Closed Shop mentality - the absolute arrogance exhibited here needs to be routed out. Separate training pathways for Elite refs and Elite VARS. Hire from outside England.
Processes: I mean, come on. It's just not complicated. Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 occasions where the VAR "forgot" to follow a simple protocol. It's genuinely mindboggling. I joked that they should all read Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto on Sunday. Actually, I'm not joking. There are multiple people and multiple screens in that room. There are no excuses for process not collapsing. Do as we do in healthcare, in aviation, in F1 - pick your analogy and drill, drill and simulate again until those processes are engraved on your heart and brain. Then add in aide memoires, paper proformas, whatever, to make sure that the human error is even further minimised. Unforgiveable.
Technology: Here's the bit where they have invested. Slowly and begrudgingly. But even so, why do we have different options in different competitions? Why do cameras not cover the whole goal line? Set minimum standards for procurement and hold manufacturers accountable - and penalise them where they fall short.
There you go, PGMOL. Saved you a fortune in consultancy fees. You can pay me 5% and stop being crap. Seems like a good deal...
Some football happened, but I've spent long enough on these idiots now, so watch your own highlights, if you haven't already...
Let's get statty:
This week, 25 people played
Most popular predicted results: Liverpool, Arsenal & Chelsea WINS (25/25)
Most disputed predicted result: Bournemouth vs Brentford (7-9-9 split)
Highest odds: Dan Herman (3,450/1)
Lowest odds: AFM (957/1)
Average odds: 1,761/1
Best predictor: The Athletic experts (6/10)
Worst predictor: Dan Herman (1/10)
Average score: 3.64/10
Best predicted result: Arsenal WIN (25/25)
Worst predicted results: Chelsea vs Hull & Liverpool vs Fulham DRAWS (0/25)
Everyone's score:
Leaderboard (>2/3; 3/4)
To this week's predos:
Good luck all
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