Ex-Manager ‘stunned’ by Newcastle controversy after development revealed by Sky
Alex McLeish has admitted he has found VAR “baffling” after Newcastle United launched a formal complaint to Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Premier League and Scotland manager revealed he totally sympathised with Newcastle’s worries.
As quoted by Sky Sports yesterday (23 December), Eddie Howe confirmed they had lodged a complaint about concerns VAR has been “diluted”.
It comes after his side were on the wrong end of a number of contentious recent weeks.
The most recent came in the 4-0 defeat to Man City last weekend (19 December) when Newcastle were denied a penalty for Ederson’s challenge on Ryan Fraser.
There was also controversy with Liverpool’s equalising goal in their 3-1 win over the Magpies last week and Leicester’s opening goal in their 4-0 victory earlier this month.
“People will look at it and say ‘Oh, listen, you’re only making excuses by turning on the authorities’,” McLeish told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“But let’s face it, the VAR situation is sometimes still baffling and stunning. I don’t think there is the clarity there that there should be.
“Saying that the camera never lies but sometimes they get their margins wrong which is disconcerting.
“I get it. When I was at Birmingham City I thought we were the only team in the country that never got a penalty! I had my own beef with the PGMOL.
“Them’s the strokes and you have to try and rise above it. The bottom line is winning games and getting those crucial goals while making yourselves really hard to beat.”
In other news, Kieran Maguire has revealed a new Newcastle United supremo has a ‘five-year’ plan after confirmed news.