Dave's take on the Forest game...

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Me and Dave Thornley are at odds again, I am of the firm opinion the EPL and PMGOL conspire against the smaller clubs. How else could Rob Jones oversee this game following an official complaint made against him by Nottingham Forest after his staggeringly inept performance at Old Trafford?

Dave writes: Naively perhaps, I do not believe that there is a covert conspiracy at work in the Premier League which ensures that the “big” teams receive preferential treatment from officials over clubs like Burnley.

What I do believe is that there is widespread incoherence, inconsistency, and a fair bit of ineptitude in the handling of matches by Premier League officials; involving their interaction with VAR technology. A system brought in to smooth out inconsistencies and unequivocally resolve controversies has instead merely served to enhance them.

At Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on Monday evening, Burnley were denied what would have been a winning goal when VAR detected what was deemed to be a handball by Sander Berge just before he crossed the ball for Lyle Foster to tap in.

There were no appeals from the Forest players, nor howls of protest from their fans; any brush against the ball from Berge’s arm was so minimal as to be irrelevant to the eventual outcome, so not, by any sane definition, a clear and obvious error from the on-field referee.

But that same referee was obliged to inspect the incident from the pitch-side monitor, which provided evidence from a variety of angles and which, after interminable deliberation, persuaded him to overturn the award of the goal.

Depending on which team you support, such deliberations cause either the bitterest of disappointments or the most blessed of reliefs.

Oddly enough, a similar brush of the arm in the build-up to Forest’s equaliser survived a far more cursory VAR examination.

Not content with denying Foster his goal, VAR also had Burnley’s South African striker red carded for unwisely flinging an elbow to escape the bear-hug clutches of a Forest defender. If VAR saw the elbow, surely it also saw the foul that prompted it and should have instructed the referee to award Burnley a penalty? What am I missing here?

VAR rant over, and onto the play itself which, after a hesitant and uncertain start, saw Burnley produce a much improved and more assured display and one in which they were marginally the better team, and which concluded with the award of their first point of the season.

There were obvious signs that Burnley were becoming more cohesive and more resilient; the re-introduction to the starting line-up of Charlie Taylor back in his natural habitat at left back and Josh Brownhill in midfield allowed the Clarets to look better organised defensively and more purposeful going forward.

The Clarets took a first half lead when the new kid on the block Luca Koleosho broke at speed down the left wing, his cross was aimed at Foster but was deflected instead into the path of Zeki Amdouni who drilled a low, first-time shot into the bottom corner of the Forest goal.

Koleosho’s performance was a particular highlight for Burnley, fast and slippery, he had the speed to outpace Montiel, the Forest right-back and the skill to extract himself from the cul-de-sacs Forest tried to usher him down. He needs to work on the accuracy of his crossing and increase his stamina, understandably he visibly tired in the second half, but he is already a firm favourite with the Burnley faithful.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s long-range curler on the hour, a beautifully struck goal which in other circumstances would be worthy of lavish praise, rescued a point for the home team. Nevertheless, I came away from the stadium encouraged by the performance and welcomed the point the Clarets had earned.

As usual I must point out this entire match review is written entirely by Dave Thornley for the benefit of members of Clarets Mad and other Burnley FC fan forums and all I do is edit Dave’s appallingly bad grammar (!) and occasionally throw in my own terrible opinion. (TEC).

[kritichris]

We were robbed, analysis over. Ta for the post though.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

We were robbed, analysis over. Ta for the post though.

Just to reiterate k_c I am of the firm opinion the EPL and PMGOL conspire against the smaller clubs. We are still "Little Old Burnley" in their eyes.

[outwoodclaret]

Good review from Dave Thornley but I am inclined to believe there was always a bias (sometimes unconscious) against the so-called smaller clubs and VAR which would supposedly serve to eliminate that bias has significantly failed to do so. VAR should not have sent the suspect handball by Berge back to Rob Jones. The ball barely brushes Berge’s sleeve as he squeezes past the defender and is not deflected. How on earth that could be construed as a clear handball is anyone’s guess because there is simply nothing clear or obvious about it. Sad really that VAR should again be the big talking point and not the goals that were actually scored. Sad too that we shall now miss the services of Lyle Foster who has been proving very able so far this season. Having lost our first three home games by decisive margins we now need on Saturday evening to put the pressure on Manchester United. Koleosho running at the United defence is a prospect to look forward to. Let’s hope they have a real tough time at Bayern.

[wmdave_b]

Just watching the Bayern match and it's clear what a blatant cheat Rashford has become. We'll have to be so careful Saturday that he doesn't VAR us