LEAGUE Managers Association chief Richard Bevan believes “pairing” refs with specific VARs will improve the consistency of decision-making.
And he has now asked refs’ boss Howard Webb to consider a change in policy, convinced it will lead to better results.
While PGMOL has a number of dedicated VAR officials, most of the top-flight refs also double up in the Stockley Park booth.
That means the voice in a ref’s ear can change week to week.
And Bevan argued that having a team of on-field officials working every week with the same VAR crew would ensure an extra degree of consistency.
Bevan told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “The VAR referee should be permanent, not one week on and one week off.
“If the VAR team and the team on the pitch are one every week, that will easily improve consistency.”
Bevan added: “We’ve had a lot of Premier League managers’ meetings with Howard Webb, some good ones and some not so good.
“In the main, the Premier League managers would like to see the VAR referee being someone who is refereeing with the man on the pitch every week so there’s not a nervous relationship.
“They understand each other, they understand how they operate to a greater degree, and Howard Webb and PGMOL are working towards that.
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“Recruitment is a big issue for them alongside training and development. I think they will get there eventually, but it’s about trying to make fewer errors – because VAR is here to stay.”
This season has seen 21 on-field decisions changed after VAR intervention in the first 100 Prem games, compared to an average of 29 per 100 matches last season.
PGMOL – backed by the Key Match Incident Panel – believe there have just been a handful of errors across the first 10 match weeks of the campaign.
