The EFL campaign is underway this past weekend and with the Premier League not kicking off until next weekend, it meant the Championship, League One and League Two could be the star of the show.
The biggest change Premier League fans, who may not follow the EFL so carefully, noticed was the absence of VAR, which has dominated top-flight football headlines for seven years.
It’s a divisive issue, but one that the majority of fans dislike rather than believe it’s a benefit to the game, as some feel it’s made officials more scared to make choices on the field, and it’s virtually unanimously acknowledged it’s slowed the game down.
Wolves fans were happy to see the back of VAR in their Championship opener against Blackburn Rovers on Friday night. Marshall Munetsi celebrated opening the score with an expletive-laden chant against VAR. Those celebrations in the Premier League were always caveated with the potential of a lengthy check and the goal being disallowed.
West Brom incident makes case for VAR to be adopted in the Championship Norwich City
There was relief amongst Wolves fans and other fans too at not having VAR in their debut game but there was also a sense of grievance at decisions that VAR might have gone in their favour.
Also in the same game at Molineux, Blackburn gave away a late penalty for handball which may have been reversed with a few slow motion replays since it was debatable if Ryan Alebiosu was within the area when the ball hit his arm.
There’s no denying the ball struck the arm of West Brom’s Aune Heggebo before it ended up in the back of the net in the Baggies’ triumph over Norwich City on Saturday.
Top six in the EFL Championship
Position.
Club
Pts.
GD
1. Queens Park Rangers
3 +2
2. Millwall
3 +2
3. Swansea City
3 +1 4.
West Brom Albio
3 +1
5. Bolton Wanderers.
3 +1
6. Charlton Athletic 3 +1
To have overturned that decision correctly would have left the score at 0-0 with 15 minutes left, with either side able to go on and win.
Simon Jordan makes a bigger EFL argument on VAR in the Championship
Jim White, Martin Keown and Simon Jordan discussed on talkSPORT whether it was time to bring in VAR to the Championship.
And while all three agreed that it needed to be implemented in some form, Jordan made the important point that if VAR was established, it would need to be applied in all three EFL leagues, not just the Championship.
Keown was more interested in the second tier. “There’s a strong argument to bring VAR in. When you think this is the sixth biggest league in European football and the money involved. I believe it’s time to bring it in. The clubs, however, are voting no.
“I think the Championship clubs would vote it in,” Jordan answered. I think the issue is the EFL is a fabrication of 72 clubs. “Tell Accrington to spend £200,000 putting in a hard-wired VAR system at their ground.You have 72 clubs in all three levels and they’re all under one set of rules.
Why would you have VAR in the Championship and not in League One and League Two? All is equally important, the scales and the budgets are different but so and so forth.
So with that set of regulations as governance, how do you turn around and tell to a club that’s bleeding out of their eyes…these clubs have got no money.”Isn’t it the job of football to find the financial regime to put VAR together? Because it’s as crucial in a League Two game as it is for winning the Premier League.
Football fans respond to VAR discussion in the Championship
The reaction to Martin Keown online has been rather critical, with calls for the incorporation of VAR into the Championship. There may have been some glaring and obvious errors that VAR would have cleaned up but the overriding opinion is that the EFL doesn’t need it.Football managed over 100 years very well without VAR.
We still make some stupid judgements even with it. The delays it generates has taken some enjoyment out of the game. “Fans want to enjoy a goal properly, not have to wait for a bloke 100 miles away to analyse the build-up,” remarked one Wolves fan.“Leave VAR out of the Championship.
I don’t want to hear any commentator, ex-pro or whatever they are, discussing VAR in the Championship. You have hours and hours of content calling it the worst thing in the world, hell do you think we want it?! Go long with that rubbish,” said a Derby fan.
https://x.com/RJConway92/status/2089625516420592122?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2089625516420592122%7Ctwgr%5Eec2e771d8363e8706ac027c435806c71d37922f0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffootballleagueworld.co.uk%2Fsimon-jordan-issues-strong-var-in-the-efl-championship-stance%2F
A West Ham fan said: “They should be talking about scrapping it altogether rather than pushing this passion & enjoyment killing machine onto more that love football for what it is & should remain.
At the moment it doesn’t look like VAR is coming in at the Championship until it comes in at the two tiers below that, which doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon owing to the financial side of things.”
But even if it could, it seems the second-tier fans would prefer to see the overall refereeing improve, or just take the calls and hope they balance out over the course of the 46-game season.
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