Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill urges football bosses to make VAR 'simpler'

The Video Assistant Referee was introduced in the Premier League in 2019, but it has divided opinions among football fans and pundits ever since.

Perhaps it has caused more problems than it has solved in the top flight of English football.

And the Shrewsbury Town boss Cotterill thinks the technology could be made simpler.

He said: “At the moment everyone keeps talking about VAR, and they talk about a foul that has happened on the halfway line, and then two minutes later it ends up in the net.

“What do you need to VAR on the halfway line for? You should just use it in both penalty boxes and make the game simpler as that is when it is really really important not on a silly tackle in midfield.”

So far, the Championship and League One have resisted the temptation to introduce it into the second and third tiers – partly due to the expense of it.

But Shrewsbury have missed out on points on occasion this season due to refereeing decisions.

Tom Flanagan was sent off against Accrington in Town’s first home game of the season.

Although the technology is not used for two yellow cards, it can be used for mistaken identity.

The Northern Ireland international later had his red card rescinded for that reason after the game – but it was too late in that instance as Salop had been the victim of a late Tommy Leigh winner.

And Cotterill is not sure whether he would like to see VAR in League One, given the problems it has caused at the highest level of the domestic game.

“After the controversy it has caused, I am not sure,” the Town boss said. “Because no-one really knows (whether it is the right decision).

“It always gives you a cop-out as a manager because it is just your opinion.

“I understand why it has been brought in because of the financial side of it.

“If you get relegated from the Premier League or what happens in the Championship after the money that is spent in the game.

“I get it, but just use it in the penalty areas because that is where it is really important.

“It is not important if someone gets a nudge on the halfway line, and then there are four or five more passes or two passages of play, and they score a great goal.

“But then they say we are going to look at that foul in the midfield because someone sneezed on someone.

“What are we talking about.”

VAR has been more popular on the international stage and in the Champions League, causing less controversy in those competitions than it has domestically.

And it is set to be in place during the World Cup which kicks off in Qatar this weekend, when the hosts take on Ecuador in Group A.