Archive November 12, 2025

Howard Webb has been the head of the Premier League referees long enough now, almost three years, to know that backing his officials over Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed goal against Manchester City would not end the discussion.

Van Dijk thought he had equalised for Liverpool at the Etihad on Sunday, only for Chris Kavanagh and his assistant Stuart Burt to rule that Andrew Robertson had committed an offside offence, supported by the VAR team, by ducking under the ball on its way to goal.

This is one of the most complex and highly subjective parts of the law. When a goal is disallowed the affected party – team, players and fans – rarely take it well. There is also usually a groundswell of opinion against the decision among ex-professionals and pundits – and that’s regardless of the merits in law.

It is telling that Webb described the Robertson decision as “not unreasonable”. He didn’t directly say it was correct, because to do so would suggest the alternative view of onside would be incorrect – and that just isn’t the case.

Offside is covered by law 11 of the IFAB Laws of the Game 2025-26.

The graphic below clarifies the law and the Premier League’s match centre on X made specific reference to the incident.

“The referee’s call of offside and no goal to Liverpool was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Robertson in an offside position and deemed to be making an obvious action directly in front of the goalkeeper,” it said.

In the VAR audio it is clear that Burt made the decision. Liverpool fans have understandably focused on Burt twice referring to Robertson being in the line of vision of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Crucially, the assistant also said “he’s ducked under the ball. He’s very, very close to him.”

It was the assistant VAR, Tim Wood, who drove the discussion in the VAR room, saying: “I agree with the on-field decision. I think it’s offside. It’s a clear, obvious action which clearly impacts on the goalkeeper.”

The VAR, Michael Oliver, was in the process of asking for an angle for the line of vision before Wood spoke. Oliver then confirmed the on-field judgement: “He is in an offside position, very close to the goalkeeper and makes an obvious movement directly in front of him. Check complete, offside.”

Webb also pointed out that goalkeepers regularly make miraculous saves which made it difficult to over-ride the on-field opinion of clear impact on Donnarumma.

But, as is the way with technical decisions, supporters don’t tend to be interested in explanations. They pick up on the specific words as proof their team has been wronged. And anything that deviates from the official reasoning is jumped upon.

The wording of the law has such nuance, too, that it was not widely known that ducking out of the way of the ball could possibly be an “obvious action.” But this is exactly the kind of movement that it is supposed to cover: something which is not an attempt to play the ball but which could distract an opponent. It could be a dummy, allowing the ball through your legs or, in this case, ducking out of the way.

I often say that you could not go out and referee a game just by reading the Laws of the Game, because so much of the intended interpretation is hidden in further guidance given to referees.

You could say this is a 40-60 call, in favour of no goal, but VAR doesn’t work on decisions being on the wrong side of the margins, it works on obvious errors. One side can think it’s obvious, and the other might not.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta says it is “unrealistic” that record goalscorer Lionel Messi will return to the club, but he wants to hold a tribute match.

Forward Messi, 37, made a surprise visit to the Nou Camp last week, saying he wants to come back, and “not just to say goodbye as a player”.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner left Barcelona for Paris St-Germain in 2021.

He moved to Inter Miami in 2023 and last month signed a new contract which runs until 2028.

Laporta said Messi’s time at Barcelona did not end the way he would have liked – his contract was not extended against a backdrop of financial issues at the club.

But Laporta said he hopes to stage a match once the Nou Camp reopens after renovation.

“It would be right that he has the best tribute in the world, and it would be wonderful to have it here, in front of 105,000 fans,” he said.

Following the sacking of Will Still after just five months in charge, Southampton’s ownership group Sport Republic need to find a sixth new boss since taking over in January 2022.

Under the investment group, led by chairman Dragan Solak, they have been relegated twice with two 20th-placed finishes in the Premier League, and won promotion to the top flight in 2023-24.

Despite an inconsistent start to the season, there are still 31 Championship games to play and plenty of points up for grabs in a division where it is customary to make late runs at promotion.

Saints were among the favourites for promotion before the season started but results have been off the pace.

Before Still was sacked they had only won twice and sat just above the relegation zone before interim boss Tonda Eckert produced a hint of positivity following back-to-back victories last week.

The next full-time manager will follow Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles, Russell Martin, Ivan Juric and Still as a permanent Sport Republic appointment.

Pressure has been growing on chairman Solak and the Saints board, with fans more recently starting to voice their frustrations.

“I think where Sport Republic have gone wrong is they have hired the wrong manager for the type of situation the club finds itself in,” Southampton fan Rob Maddox said.

“The appointment of Nathan Jones in the Premier League was completely wrong but potentially one that could have worked right now.

“When he came in we appointed someone with no Premier League experience and he didn’t have the skills to get the squad ticking and keep us up.

“Bringing in Ivan Juric when we did was also the same thing where it’s someone with no experience of that level that ultimately ended up getting us relegated with almost a record low points total.

“I was very positive about us hiring Will Still but he obviously wasn’t playing the right football for the squad to adapt to, or he failed to adapt to the squad.

A number of names have been mentioned for the vacant manager position, including former bosses Martin and Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The latter, who managed Southampton between 2018 and 2022, attended Saints’ game against Bristol City at Ashton Gate last month.

Another name touted is former Wolves and Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil who has been out of work since being sacked by Wolves in December 2024.

But fans made their feelings known about this potential appointment in their win over Sheffield Wednesday. O’Neil made 192 appearances for Portsmouth and came through the academy of Saints’ south coast rivals.

“The ensuing days since Still’s sacking have been fascinating,” BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore said.

“It’s almost like the media have been testing the water with Saints fans by seeing what reaction they’ll get to names like Russell Martin and Ralph Hasenhuttl and former Portsmouth player Gary O’Neil.

“Personally I’ve ruled out all three as potential new Southampton managers, although O’Neil is the most feasible option.

Amid the noise, interim boss Eckert has been quietly impressing.

The 32-year-old German – previously U21s manager – has come away from his first two league matches in charge with six points.

After Still was sacked, Eckert took Saints to QPR where they won 2-1 before last weekend’s stylish victory over bottom side Sheffield Wednesday.

Following the Wednesday game, Eckert was seen sharing an embrace with sporting director Johannes Spors, someone he had previously crossed paths with during his time at Genoa.

Eckert has already held youth team coaching roles at Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich as well as assistant boss roles at Barnsley and Genoa.

“From what I was hearing last week, appointing another young inexperienced man in Eckert would be too much of a gamble,” Blackmore said.

Within Southampton’s current squad one thing that stands out is a lack of firepower.

In recent weeks, forward Leo Scienza has been one of Saints’ biggest threats going forward, and wide players Finn Azaz and Tom Fellows combined well together on Saturday for Southampton’s second goal.

But down the middle of that attacking line, there appears a void.

Towards the end of September, Ross Stewart looked set to make that position his own as he produced a star performance at Bramall Lane, scoring twice in a 2-1 win at Sheffield United.

But he sustained another injury and the 29-year-old – who has been out since mid-October – is not expected to return until 2026.

Adam Armstrong is the club’s leading goalscorer with five goals in 17 games but the drop off after that is stark with four players on two goals and another four on one each.

American Damion Downs has looked low on confidence and is yet to score since arriving on a four-year contract in July from Wolfsburg.

Towards the end of his time in charge, Still also spoke of a lack of accountability within the dressing room and whether certain individuals were adequately questioning themselves over the team’s poor form.

“The players need to put in the effort levels required. To name one – Taylor Harwood-Bellis has had a great week and put in good performances but why wasn’t he playing with that much tenacity under Will Still?” Saints supporter Maddox added.

“I do think that some of the players pick and choose who they play for a bit, not all of them but some of them are quite guilty of that.

Whoever the next appointment may be, Saints have already given plenty of reason for optimism after the past week.

They spent significant money on Azaz and Fellows over the summer – two players who at the time were proven at Championship level, and have now started to show signs of kicking on.

Midfielder Shea Charles was excellent in the second tier last season while on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, Scienza has displayed his qualities after arriving late in the window, while Harwood-Bellis and Nathan Wood have the ability to be among the Championship’s best centre-backs.

While there is undoubted talent throughout the squad, it will probably require the right coach to unearth it.

“While every appointment is a risk, I would like to see Saints mitigate some of that risk by choosing a manager who has delivered the Championship, who has good knowledge of the English game and market, and as importantly, can command a dressing room because of what they’ve achieved in the game,” Blackmore said.

“Whether it’s Michael Carrick or Carlos Corberan or anyone else who may be available soon, they will need to get a guarantee that they’ll get money for a proven goalscorer in January to give them a shot at recovering the season.

“Maybe, though, Eckert will get the job. If so, he better hope he gets the backing of the board and the players quickly because taking the easy cheap option rarely works and Sport Republic are better off backing him in the transfer market to give him a chance.