Wilder on VAR: "Of course, referees' decisions will always be part of it but it seems to have overtaken everything in the game"
Thursday 7 November 2019 11:44, UK
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder says it was the right decision to overturn the red card given to Heung-Min Son against Everton.
Spurs appealed the forward's dismissal for his tackle on Andre Gomes during the draw at Everton, which led to the Portugal international suffering a fracture dislocation to his right ankle.
An independent regulatory commission upheld Spurs' appeal against the red card which means Son will now be free to face the Blades on Saturday.
Wilder was at Goodison Park and saw the incident clearly, and was asked if he expected the Tottenham player's ban to be overturned.
"Yes, I would have done," he said. "We went to watch Tottenham and we were right in front of it.
"Straight away you knew the severity of the injury. I imagine all managers and fellow players will be wishing Andre a really speedy recovery but it's just one of those unfortunate situations.
"From our point of view [Son] is obviously a quality player but he seems a right down-to-earth lad as well.
"But we'll be up not just against him but some other very high quality players on Saturday afternoon."
Sheffield United face a trip to Tottenham on Saturday with United sixth in the Premier League table, five places above their opponents.
Wilder says it would be unfair to stop using VAR halfway through a season, even though it has "overtaken everything in the game".
VAR has been involved in several controversial decisions since being introduced at the start of this season.
Wilder says the use of the the video assistant referee system has not been successful and was asked if there is too much focus on interpretation from the officials.
He said: "Definitely, I think it was always going to be subjective from somebody in Stockley Park (the VAR Hub in west London) and I think that was always going to be the fear from everybody, and it has been talked about far too much in my opinion.
"Of course, referees' decisions will always be part of it but it seems to have overtaken everything in the game.
"And I should imagine most certainly Premier League bosses, refereeing organisations, managers and most importantly supporters, would have not wanted it to have gone down this road.
"But it has, and maybe we should have looked at it and thought this was always going to be the case in its first year, in its infancy."
The Sheffield United manager said it would be unfair to stop using VAR in the middle of the season.
"They've got to bat through with it now, they have to bat through with it, if you have a stop and a rethink, does it punish teams that things have gone against?
"You hope that it all evens itself out come the middle of May, they've got to crack on with it now and just hopefully make as many right decisions as possible and it doesn't become the main talking point of the game".
Premier League managers based in the north of England are meeting with referees' boss Mike Riley on Thursday to discuss the video assistant referee system.
One of the areas being discussed is whether match officials should be allowed to consult pitch-side monitors.
Riley, general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for the country's leading referees, have already shared views with southern bosses last week.
