00:00 Keno, Wolves have been, well, unanimously battered in their VAR vote. 19-1, every single
00:14 Premier League club, a lot of Premier League clubs in there who have whinged about VAR
00:18 last season have gone against Wolves in their proposal. It's been expected for a number
00:22 of days that it wasn't going to get through. What's the initial reaction? What's the club's
00:27 thoughts? I'm sure in the bowels of Molineux they probably were expecting this to sort
00:32 of happen. There are going to be changes in terms of communication with supporters and
00:37 semi-automated technology for offsides. But what's the feeling going to be like among
00:43 sort of the key stakeholders at Wolves following this vote?
00:46 Yeah, I mean, obviously when they triggered this vote and put out that statement on the
00:50 15th of May, they'll have hoped that they could force enough clubs to get this through.
00:56 Because it should come as no surprise or shock to Wolves that they have been voted down.
01:02 Obviously, until the vote happens, you never know whether one or two clubs might last minute
01:05 decide to side with you. Maybe it might be a 17-3, something like that. But no, it was
01:10 19-1, not a major surprise really, despite clubs, as you say there, like Forest for example,
01:15 who've had plenty to say about VAR this season and still voting to keep it. Wolves obviously,
01:22 considering they triggered the vote, had to vote in favour of scrapping it. Otherwise
01:26 it would look rather strange, wouldn't it? So understandable and unexpected really for
01:31 it to be 19-1. But you hope now that this results in some changes. From Wolves' point
01:35 of view, I think the club are, I mean, they'll obviously be disappointed they've not been
01:38 able to do it. But as I say, also expecting it. And they'll now be fairly pleased with
01:43 the fact that they've been able to raise the discussion, have the conversation. I think
01:47 they felt that in the meeting today, it was a fairly constructive, open conversation that
01:53 they were pleased that they were able to bring up and have, which hopefully can only mean
01:57 to more positives going forward. It does mean though, in my opinion and in plenty of supporters'
02:02 opinions, that there has to be dynamic change to VAR. The way that it intervenes in games
02:08 and slows games down and impacts on atmosphere. All of these have to be changed. They're now
02:13 things that the Premier League in a statement have promised to address moving forward with,
02:18 as you say, semi-automated offsides being quite a key one and hopefully further training
02:23 of referees, that is. I would not be surprised to see this drag on for a bit longer. We'll
02:29 see plenty of mistakes next season. VAR is still in its relative infancy, but in five
02:34 seasons we've seen very little positive to confidentiality in my opinion. And it might
02:40 rumble on for a bit longer yet because, as I say, I can expect to see quite a few errors
02:44 and teething issues going forward.
02:47 Like we said there, there are clubs that have come out and spoke against it, you know, Nottingham
02:50 Forest being the other main one with Wolves. These clubs now, the fact that they haven't
02:56 voted with Wolves gives them relatively no leg to stand on when it comes to complaining
03:02 about the issues because they had the opportunity today to vote to scrap it and they refused
03:06 to do it.
03:07 Yeah, it's a fair point. It's a point that a lot of fans will have. I mean, I saw an
03:11 interesting tweet in reply to my tweet just a minute ago to say if they had done the vote
03:17 with supporters of each club rather than the representatives of each club, VAR would not
03:21 be around for next season. I think that's a very accurate and fair way of describing
03:25 it.
03:26 It's a fair point. At the same time, a lot of people will think that it's a backward
03:29 step to get rid of it. And I could understand that argument. But as I've campaigned for
03:33 really the press and size coverage and the way that Wolves have been adversely affected
03:37 by VAR this season and in previous seasons, I just don't see any benefit currently of
03:42 how the technology is used. Technology itself, if it is used in a different way, has potential
03:47 to be a benefit of the game. The way it is currently used is not. And that's really the
03:51 sticking point for the Premier League and for Wolves moving forward is making some sort
03:55 of change to how it's used.
03:57 Semi-automated offsides I welcome because the technology should work fairly seamlessly.
04:01 I would hope to think there's not too many teething issues with that. But we're not getting
04:04 that until the autumn is currently how it's being phrased. So August, September perhaps
04:11 could be interesting months once the 24/25 season kicks off. And I'm sure, as there will
04:15 be for a lot of teams, that Wolves will have a contentious and controversial decision go
04:20 against them. And then we all know what's going to happen. Gary Neal will be frustrated.
04:25 The fans will be frustrated. Geoff Shee, who's come out against VAR, will be frustrated.
04:29 So it's lots of very interesting developments to come, I think, on this one. It's not something
04:34 that's going to die with this vote, but it's not something I can see is going to be scrapped
04:40 at any point. I think VAR is certainly here to stay.
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