Wolves Fans' Verdict v Newcastle: Another VAR injustice

Clive Smith

Wolves huff and puff but lose again, nothing to see here, move on. Except we can’t. The overwhelming feeling of injustice strikes again.

After Liverpool in the FA Cup, Forest in the Carabao, Lemina at Southampton (meaning he missed Bournemouth) and the non-penalty, red card here at Newcastle. Is there a Wolves fan out there constantly running over black cats? Sticking pins in teddy bears? If its you – please stop!

Ok, so I am sitting way up in the God’s and the ref is just a few yards away, so he must be right. But, when a 12-hour round trip gets shaped around a decision that might possibly have been wrong... hey, its hard not to feel somewhat bitter/angry/livid.

What else happen then? Mr Howe brought his book of dirty tricks into play and, as Newcastle always try to do, they kicked Neves out the game, twice he was down and needed lengthy treatment.

The first half was patchy. We played well at times and for 25 minutes were certainly ‘in’ the game. Traore and Semedo linking up well and Moutinho putting in a good shift. Then, a routine looking free-kick (from a position we’d often just take short, square or back), went into our box for a flick header to score the sort of goal the Doog was famous for.

That gave them the confidence they needed whereas ours took a knock. We did well to survive without conceding again before the break because we were being battered for 15 minutes.

Lopetegui’s surprise half-time substitution this week saw Neto replace Traore. He played well too, looking to have neat touches and pace and hit the woodwork with a well worked free-kick. Podence had hit an upright in the first half. It really was not our day!

With 20 minutes left we rolled the selection dice again, and again it worked. A cross into their box and when the ball ran loose it was Hwang who equalised. Maybe after all we were going to get something out of the game, but no. Within 10 minutes it was 2-1 and game, set and match.

The Neves and Moutinho combo had worked well and we were certainly competitive in midfield. Podence, who seemed to divide opinion amongst the crowd, was involved in quite a few of our best moves but, like others, was wasteful at times. Kilman and Dawson made there usual high number of blocks but in possession we did ourselves no favours at the back. Time and time again it looked an accident waiting to happen as Sa tried to engineer a passing move that could only be watched through fingers over your eyes as it usually involved a string of hospital passes and brought anguish to the away end. Dawson in particular looked nervous in possession.

Jimenez continues to frustrate, me at least. Standing in an offside position (more than once) when we are trying to build an attack, is not helpful. He is still very petulant with the trivia around time wasting on the oppositions throw-ins and free-kicks. Frustrating, because when he does get involved in the general play his form has improved recently.

Let’s hope for a positive outcome next week.

John Lalley

Angry? Yes. Frustrated? Yes. Monumentally disgusted? Yes. But surprised? Not in the least; not even a smidgeon.

Absolutely nothing Howard Webb’s bunch of preening Charlies do in bringing their own version of The National Lottery into chaotic disrepute registers one jot. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy couldn’t have bettered the script for this one; the level of incompetence is beyond ridicule; almost on a weekly basis, this farcical nonsense is an on-going embarrassment, an absolute blight on the game; shamefully unfit for purpose and seemingly operated by charlatans.

Come season’s end, this injustice might count for absolutely nothing; conversely and without being melodramatic, such nonsense might cost us our place in the Premier League. The highest level of the professional system in this country subject to the vagaries of buffoonery; we should be staggered, instead we simply wait for the next instalment of madness which trust me, won’t be long in coming.

That said, the first-half of this game was a nightmare for Wolves. After being caught hopelessly from the free-kick to concede, we lost all sense of organisation up to half-time and were reduced to panic stations.

We were so fortunate not to turn around with the game already decided such was chaos we subjected ourselves to. Strangely, Daniel Podence almost posted the falsest of complexions on the half when he rifled an excellent strike against the post with Pope by then guilty of trespassing, well beaten. For all of his limitations and despite a seeming reluctance from Lopetegui to play him, Podence remains as likely a marksman in a team virtually devoid of a cutting edge.

It really was a truly awful 45 minutes punctuated by errors and a massive loss of composure with Newcastle finding acres of space to exploit down both flanks. Yet amazingly, we had the opportunity to salvage something from this game. Newcastle’s bullying was assuaged and when the equaliser arrived, we had not only achieved parity but were actually shading the contest.

Sadly, that was as good as it got; we didn’t have the belief to push on and win the game choosing instead to tinker with our system and concede the initiative. Almiron’s winner fashioned in the gap we vacated on our left flank with our wing-back far away in the distance up field, could so easily have been avoided.

The fact that Sa would have comfortably dealt with the effort bar a deflection simply added salt to the wound. We never threatened to equalise a second time and finished the game as disjointed as we had started it.

This was a game that we deserved little from but with proper game-management we could have gleaned something positive. Had the laws of the game been properly enforced, then the likelihood is that we may have taken even more. The quality of our performance here good or bad is really not the issue; it’s the nature of the travesty of officiating that pervades and it’s a very unpleasant odour!

Rob Cartwright

I can’t help but feel we’ve suffered another VAR injustice in this game. What appeared to be a stonewall penalty, midway through the first half, was more significant than a chance to take the lead; it would have meant a red card for their goalkeeper which would have completely changed the game from that point onwards.

The referee was in no position to make a decision. He was so far away, I doubt he even saw the challenge. VAR should have suggested he watch the replay, at pitch side.

I think this affected the players, as we conceded just a few minutes later. Newcastle went on to completely batter us for the remaining 20 minutes of the first half. We went into the break lucky to still be in the game.

Oh, and it seems that a push on the defender to create space to take the header to score, is quite alright these days.

We were needing another half-time master class from Lopetegui, so I was a little surprised with just one sub. I’d have replaced Podence with Neto; not Traore, who had got a couple of good crosses in. Podence did not look match fit to me.

We quickly got on top in the second half and enjoyed more possession in advanced areas. Time to turn the screw, with three subs made with 20 minutes still to go.

Hwang scored almost immediately. I was expecting the referee to call play back as he appeared poised to give us a free kick earlier in the move.

I’m not convinced we needed Collins for Moutinho, at this point. Moutinho was instrumental in us getting further up the pitch and there appeared no issues with his stamina. Lemina was less effective in this role and in a stroke our momentum declined.

Newcastle were “on-the-ropes” now. Wolves were pushing for the winner, but fell to defeat against the run of play. Almiron had come on, looked a threat and scored. This was rough justice.

To be honest, we didn’t really recover from this and couldn’t find any rhythm in an attacking sense.

I feel we deserved a point, but if VAR had done its job (again) the game would have played out very differently against 10 men for over an hour.

I’m still very confident, but we now have three points separating seven teams just above the relegation zone. It’s going to be fun!

Leeds and Forest are now massive games, being two of those seven.