When Jannik Vestergaard was sent off against Leicester City last Friday there wasn't a Southampton supporter surprised, the problem though is not VAR but the abilities of those operating the system.
It didn't take a genius to see that Jannik Vestergaard had played the ball when he slid in and pushed it back to Alex McCarthy in the Saints goal with Jamie Vardy having no chance of reaching it whether Vestergaard caught him or not.
But inevitably confusion then reigned with those sitting watching on Var making a decision based not on fact but on their own interpretation of the rules, something that is often as has proved recently for Saints not just with Jannik Vestergaard's sending off but also Jan Bednarek's at Manchester United.
Vestergaard has now been exonerated and is able to play for Saints at Liverpool, but the fact still remains that Saints had to play Leicester for 80 minutes with only 10 men.
But the question needs to be asked just how so called professional 's at the peak of their game can get so many decisions wrong, even after as they did on Friday spending almost 3 minutes looking at the footage.
Now I don't think that Premier League referee's are in the main incapable nor are they cheats, but they are getting it wrong and it beggars the question "are they doing it deliberately"
As a referee you can either accept VAR as a useful tool in getting most decisions right, or you can see it as something that is calling into question your own ability and the sheer number of wrong calls that are obvious to the average football fan seems to suggest the latter.
I am a fan of VAR in that it is surely better to have something that cuts out errors, the problem isn't with the equipment it is with those who operate it, be they back in the control room or in some occasions the on the field ref.
It is as if the ref's have contrived together to turn VAR into something that is so unpopular it will be scrapped and will no longer call into question their own ability.
VAR can be brilliant if used properly, that means accepting that it is not there to get 100" of the decisions right 100% of the time, but is there to cut out the errors that can happen in a fast paced Premier League game with players diving all over the place.
Once you start drawing lines and trying to find an inch of a boot or the upper arm on or off side then it is defeating the object and ruining the game.
The truth is most of the time VAR is not noticed and does it's job, but it is the times when those in the control room want to start drawing lines it all goes wrong.
Truth is as most of us know, when a goal is scored there are 15-30 seconds when the scorer runs to the corner flag banging his hand on his badge that give VAR time for a quick look, in maybe 80% of the cases it is clear in that 30 seconds whether a goal is good or whether it needs to be looked at again, then if they had another 30 seconds it should be clear either way, if it is not then the goal should stand.
That would mean that VAR could quickly and sort out the remaining 20%, Ok it would get some wrong, when those annoying lines are drawn, but in the grand scheme of things it would cut out most errors and perhaps leave just a small fraction that are wrong.
That has to be better than what went on before where players were 2 yards on or offside etc, where blatant handballs were missed , it is about getting a higher percentage right without impacting on the game itself, nit getting each and every call right to the nearest millimetre.
So given the technology and the fact that the Premier League referees are in the main quite professional and capable, why are they ruining the game by such overkill decisions.
I can only come to one conclusion, they have decided that VAR is the enemy of the referee, it is the tool that is calling their competency into question and therefore they are determined to show it is a hindrance and not a help.
I don't think that Premier league referee's are cheats, yes some of them seem to be overtly officious and like to be centre of attention these days, but they are honest, this is not cheating, it is manipulation of the VAR system, a work to rule if you like to restore power to the man in the middle.
I can only think it is this, I can't think of any other reason why suddenly professional referee's can spot a toenail behind the last defender and draw a line to prove it offside, but can't spot when a player has clearly played the ball.