VAR is a stain on the Premier League – we need serious discussions to remove it NOW

Adrian Durham has led calls for VAR to be scrapped in the Premier League, insisting it is making referees 'look stupid'.

VAR has once again become the centre of controversy after Erling Haaland's winning goal for Manchester City in the Manchester derby was awarded following a lengthy review at Old Trafford.

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Haaland turned in Josko Gvardiol's cross at the far post in the 60th minute, with his strike initially being denied by the offside flag.

A VAR check followed though and the decision was overturned, as it was ruled the striker had been played onside by the foot of Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu.

However, the VAR failed to acknowledge that Enzo Fernandez had been offside in the build-up and interfered with play.

With the decision drawing huge backlash, Pro Ref - the body responsible for refereeing professional football in England - later admitted a mistake was made by not disallowing the goal for offside.

ProRef acknowledged on-field referee Michael Oliver should have been instructed to review the incident, with Chief Refereeing Officer Howard Webb set to address this on Sky Sports on Tuesday.

Durham: VAR is a stain on our game

The decision to award Haaland's goal has sparked huge criticism, with United boss Michael Carrick blasting the VAR officials and insisting their judgement was 'not the rules'.

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher also questioning the call, telling talkSPORT he couldn't believe an offside ruling wasn't enforced.

In the wake of huge backlash, talkSPORT's Durham has called for VAR to be scrapped or adjusted to avoid similar future controversies.

Addressing Sunday's controversy on Monday night, he insisted: “I believe VAR is a stain on the game. I don't think we need it, I don't think we ever needed it. 

“And I think this should be the start of some serious discussions as to whether we remove it totally or remove it partially from the game.

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“I just think, what's the point? When you're having a mistake made like that, and now we know the names of the VAR officials who were involved because they've been removed from duty next week. What's the point of that? We didn't know their names before, did we?

“So the whole thing just stinks. And I think the Pro Ref have got this completely and utterly wrong. 

“They're not reading the room at all when it comes to VAR.”

VAR was introduced in the Premier League in the 2019/20 season after clubs unanimously voted for the technology's introduction.

With the installation of VAR in stadia costly too, Durham's co-host Sam Matterface pointed out that this is a major obstacle to its removal.

However, Durham highlighted Sunday's controversy as a major reason to scrap VAR, adding: "They got it right on the pitch, and then it went to VAR, and they turned it around. And that's what makes me think, what's the flipping point? 

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“You say they've invested all this money - they've wasted all this money. That should have gone to grassroots football, that should have gone to kids football.

“Never mind making referees try to look brilliant. We've given them the money to make them look brilliant, and they've made themselves look stupid.

“Football needs to get on top of this. And somebody needs to tell Pro Ref, ‘Just stay in your box, stay in your lane, and we'll run football’.”

Steve Bruce: Haaland goal was 'worst' VAR Call

Also on air was ex-Man United captain Steve Bruce, who called for the VAR officials involved in the Manchester derby to lose their jobs, with Sunday's team already being stood down from this weekend's games.

He fumed: “It's just becoming ludicrous. It was brought in to miss out on the clear and obvious.

"And if that's not clear and obvious, that [Fernandez] he's standing there offside - well, I just can't understand why he's sitting there, because he obviously doesn't understand the game totally the way he should do if he's an official.

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“VAR was brought in for the Thierry Henry handball that knocked Ireland out of the World Cup [in 2009], the Diego Maradona handball."

He added: “This one against Man United is the worst one I've witnessed. The boy's five yards offside, and he's trying to diving header it into the goal. And if he's not interfering with play, then I don't know where these people and officials [are looking].

“And they rightly should be struck off. It's horrible, but that's such a bad, bad decision by everybody concerned.”

Ally McCoist demands VAR 'referendum'

Ally McCoist became the latest person to appeal for VAR's removal on Tuesday's talkSPORT Breakfast, as he urged UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce the public vote on the matter.

He began: “I want a referendum on VAR. 

“If Andy Burnham wants to endear himself to the British public, he should have a referendum on VAR.

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"And I've got a feeling we all know how it's going to go. VAR must go!”

McCoist also insisted fans would have been more accepting of Haaland's goal being allowed to stand if it had been a human error.

The popular Scot added: “[If] it's an honest mistake - that's what we've lived with all our lives since the game started. 

“What's unacceptable is when they're looking at something 10, 12 times and still getting it wrong.”

Human error blamed, not VAR

While others insisted the controversy should spell the end of VAR, talkSPORT's Simon Jordan insisted human error behind the decision to award Haaland's goal, and technology should not be blamed.

He argued: “There's always an element of subjectivity when you're making a judgment call based upon interfering with play. 

“This offside rule has evolved over tens and tens of years and changed and changed and changed and kept on changing. 

“And this is not about technology. This is about an individual decision based upon whether the VAR referee watching the digital footage back feels that the player is interfering, and he's made a bad call.

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“That's the end of it. It's got nothing to do with technology."

Jordan also claimed many watching the incident could have come to a similar conclusion as the VAR officials.

The pundit added: “I'd be interested to see when Michael Carrick sits there with his wonderful adjudication upon what referees did what was his first reaction was - who did he think was offside first? 

“I bet you he thought it was the guy that scored the goal [Haaland], that he thought was offside first. But we'll not know that because we'll never get that outside of the version of events.

“It's poor refereeing, it's a poor decision and it's going to happen. 

“And referees are going to make poor decisions, and technology is going to help you remove some of the poor decisions and get more right than wrong."