Tony Mowbray is no fan of VAR being introduced into the Championship - even though it might have changed Sunderland's midweek defeat at Blackburn Rovers into a victory. The Black Cats came away from Ewood Park aggrieved after they were denied a clear-cut penalty in the first half when Jack Clarke was tripped by Ryan Hedges, and just 22 seconds later Rovers went in front.
Blackburn then added a second goal just after half-time which replays showed should have been disallowed for offside. VAR, had it been in operation, would likely have reversed both of referee Craig Pawson's decisions but the technology is not currently used in the Championship, although the EFL is considering introducing a version of the system next season.
Mowbray feels that the general standard of refereeing in the second tier is poor, but is not convinced that the introduction VAR - which has simply caused different controversies where it is used in the Premier League - would improve matters. Asked whether he thought bringing VAR to the Championship was a good idea, Mowbray said: "I'm not sure I want to tag my name to it because next year I'll be sitting here and I'll be being asked about a marginal VAR decision which cost us a goal!
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"I think for offsides - if someone is offside, they are offside. It [VAR] is going to work for you sometimes, and sometimes it's going to work against you - just as referee's decisions sometimes go for you, and sometimes go against you.
"I don't think you ever question the integrity of a referee, but can you question the quality of their decision-making? Probably yes.
"If it's the same referee making howlers every week ... but you don't get the same referee every week, you probably only get the same referee two or three times a season. I do feel the general standard has been pretty poor, but how you raise that standard I'm not sure.
"Whether VAR raises it... Sometimes it can be a cop-out, referees don't make a decision when something happens or a goal goes in because they know the VAR guy is watching and he's refereeing the game, really.
"If I was a supporter, I probably wouldn't want VAR because I'd rather react to the emotion of a goal or a penalty, rather than wait four or five minutes to know whether you can celebrate. Really, you just want officials to get decisions right, don't you?
"Does VAR get them right? We've seen many instances [in the Premier League] where you can look at the pictures and be unsure what on Earth the VAR guy has been looking at. So I'm not sure.
"I think it's down to people a lot cleverer than me, and whose pay packets are a lot bigger than mine, to make those decisions for world football and whether VAR goes into the Championship or not."
In the immediate aftermath of the defeat at his old club Blackburn, Mowbray had not seen the replays of the penalty incident or the offside goal, and did not make an issue of it when he spoke to the media after the match. But having now seen the video, he said: "I hope the Sunderland fans watched the game the other night and felt that we were pretty unfortunate.
"I've watched the incidents back now and how the second wasn't offside, I'll never know - I don't know what the linesman was looking at if he didn't put his flag up, to be honest. And the penalty ... goodness me.
"The evidence is there, we've all seen it, the clear kick on Jack's foot nowhere near the ball, after Jack had flicked it back past him, which took him out. We have to live with those decisions."
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