If ever there was an arguement for trial by television, Bellamy's goal which was ruled offside today is it.

99.9% of Linesmen, sorry assistant referees, would have put the flag up. It is impossible for them to see where the offending player is at the exact instance that the ball is played. - are they watching the ball or the player.

In todays instance the guy was 5 yards behind the play..at my pace I would probably have been 10 to 15 yards back. How can we expect these guys to keep up with the pace of even the most average of players let alone express trains like Bellars then make the correct decision without guessing?

Offside must account for the majority of "Wrong" decisions which costs the game it's best assett - Goals

It would take very little time to review this type of decision and provided it isn't applied to every decision it must be for the good of the game (I think)

Should we have a 4th official and trial by Television for Premiership games?

I can't understand why we do not have cameras in the goal posts to conclusively prove if the ball has crossed the line or not between the posts as this is so easy to show. But I am not 100% convinced about the use of tv for outfield decisions.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

Answers

Bellars suffers alot from slow and dodgy lines men for the very things you're talking about. I sit fairly high up at SJP and have a great view of the linesmen and I am sure that around 7 times out of 10, he is onside.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

I think they even out generally over a season.

Take Solano's opener at Bolton, which was quite a bit offside.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

To be honest, I'm always surprised how many times the telly shows the ref/linesman to be right rather than wrong. Let's face if, you need to be cross-eyed to be able to judge offside properly - how can you see the bloke kicking it and the position of the guy receiving it at the same time.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

I haven't watched it 6 times or anything (I will in due course!) but I thought Bellamy was offside. Did the replays show him to be conclusively on? I have to say, I'm against tv replays - thee game should be the same all the way down to the lowest leagues & tv replays would spoil that.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

Bellamy was level with the ball when it was played, That might be off side "doon unda" but not where I come from :)

Despite/because of that, I'm in favour of allowing technology to help with difficult decisions.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

My first impressions were that he was offside because he was half a yard ahead of the defenders. It was only when I watched the replays at half time that I realised Hughes was also half a yard ahead of the defenders making him level.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2002

"A player is in an offside position if:

- he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent"

Clearly that wasn't the case, and the linesman bottled it.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2002