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REF JUSTICE

It’s been another rough few days for Europe’s referees. On Saturday, Chris Kavanagh and his assistants had a night to forget at Villa Park without the comfort blanket of VAR. One poor decision is forgivable, two is careless, but there were a hat-trick of howlers, with Tammy Abraham clearly offside for Aston Villa’s opener. Lucas Digne needed his own dedicated review booth, escaping with a yellow card for an agricultural tackle on Jacob Murphy and avoiding a penalty for handball. Officials ruled that Digne handled the ball outside the penalty area, an impressive feat given that he both took off and landed inside the box as he jumped to block a cross. Kavanagh and one of his assistants have been stood down by PGMO, presumably rebranded because they can’t stop dropping Ls.

Over in Italy, where refereeing errors are invariably handled in a measured, rational way, Juventus were on the end of a harsh call in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to Inter. Having already been booked, Pierre Kalulu brushed the arm of Andrea Bastoni, who went down as if clipped by a freight train. Kalulu was sent off and with no VAR review for second yellows, it was left to Juve’s directors to try and rewrite the verdict, with Damien Commoli and Giorgio Chiellini getting up in Federico La Penna’s grill at half-time. La Penna is now being hounded by online abuse and threats, with police advising him to stay at home for his own safety, while Commoli and Chiellini have now been slapped with bans.

Heading next to Spain, where referring errors are also handled in a measured, rational way, and Barcelona’s shock defeat at Girona on Monday. Fran Beltrán scored the winner for Barça’s noisy neighbours, with referee César Soto Grado missing a foul on Jules Koundé by Claudio Echeverri in the buildup. Less egregious than the long weekend’s other examples, it was not corrected by VAR – leading to predictable conspiracy chat across a range of Social Media Disgraces. Any accusation of institutional bias against your club in particular is likely to fall apart under any real scrutiny, but in this case, angry Barcelona fans have yet to explain why the same officials awarded their team a penalty, missed by Lamine Yamal. Much like Eddie Howe and Luciano Spalletti before him, Barça manager Hansi Flick tried to defuse the situation. “The referees are doing their job. Sometimes their work isn’t good,” Flick mused. “Sometimes the referees are [at] the same level that we play … which is not a good level.”

The weekend’s weirdest refereeing decision actually came in Verona’s 2-1 defeat at Parma on Sunday. After just 11 minutes, Verona’s Gift Orban protested to the referee, Luca Pairetto, after being denied a foul in the centre circle; he was met with a straight red card. It appears Orban was sent off for dissent – in which case, whatever he said must have been as profane as it was concise. So, four separate controversies: one triggered by VAR’s absence; one where VAR could not intervene; one where it could have, but didn’t; and one where VAR had less information than the referee. It’s fair to say match officiating is stuck in a frustrating feedback loop, with no easy way out.

The reductive suggestion that we should consign VAR’s mics and monitors to the nearest wheelie bin clearly won’t lead us to a righteous utopia, but the constant, baffling inconsistency in its application makes being pro-VAR a tough hill to die on. What we can all agree on is that referees do not deserve death threats, fuelled by tribalistic accusations of corruption. What’s more, football managers (the people most directly affected by bad decisions) should not be left as officials’ last line of defence, choosing their words with precision to avoid stoking an online witch hunt. Once upon a time, the worst fallout from a bad decision would be a forensic takedown from Alan Hansen on Match of the Day. Now, a digital rage cloud forms and refuses to disperse, other calls from years ago dug up and clipped as evidence of a wider agenda. And if you’re hoping to find answers after reading this far, we’re sorry to say we don’t really have any. Just one more question: who on earth would want to be a referee?

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Scott Murray from 8pm GMT for hot clockwatch updates from all the night’s Bigger Cup playoff first-leg action.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Juve called me before negotiations with Galatasaray began. They showed interest, but I knew [Napoli] wouldn’t let me leave. They tried to send me anywhere to play, but they treated me like a dog. Go here, go there, do this, do that. I couldn’t accept that kind of treatment. I’m not a puppet” – Victor Osimhen, whose Galatasaray side host Juventus in Bigger Cup playoffs on Tuesday night, reveals he almost joined them 18 months ago, while also taking a big swing at former club Napoli.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

A doff of the cap to the late, great Robert Duvall. Academy award, Bafta, Emmy and Golden Globe winner. A star of true classics such as The Godfather Parts I and II, The Conversation, Network, Apocalypse Now, Falling Down and countless others. And, rather wonderfully, Big Website still manages to get a mention of him in ‘low-budget Scottish drama A Shot at Glory (opposite Ally McCoist)’ into his obituary. The trailer is here for those interested. RIP” – Noble Francis.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. Despite all the focus being on the top of the Scottish Premiership, with not one, not two, but three clubs in with a chance of bottling it and throwing it away, may I suggest we rise and toast Invergordon FC, the first winners of any league in Scotland this season. Their recent 5-0 victory over bottom side, Orkney, in the MacLeod & MacCallum North Caledonian League (just how Scottish does that sound) cemented their supremacy at the top of this sixth-tier league. And my, didn’t they do it in style: P16 W16 D0 L0 GF79 GA8 … and they’ve got three games in hand right now over the second- and third-placed teams. Rise and toast them indeed. The Invergordon distillery is less than 10 minutes’ walk from their home ground. You don’t suppose there’s a connection?” – Ken Muir.

As a keen running enthusiast, I’m surprised yesterday’s News Bits and Bobs (full email edition) didn’t mention that Gary Caldwell’s Exeter exit seemingly broke via Strava” – Jim Hearson.

Re: Adrian Harper (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). I doubt Spurs fans would be thrilled by Tom Hiddleston getting the manager’s gig. Appointments don’t get more Loki than that” – Derek McGee.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Jim Hearson. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED LOOKING

They always are, but this week’s David Squires cartoon is a Cracker.

TO DARE IS TUDOR

Igor Tudor, the man chosen to steer Tottenham away from relegation, has had a fallow weekend to settle in – but will now be plunged into the deep end with a home game against Arsenal on Sunday. “I’m coming here knowing the situation is not easy,” tooted Tudor. “There is no time to find excuses … each of us need to give something more,” the interim head coach added. “It is not easy because we have a lot of [knacked] players.” That does sound a bit like an excuse to us, but carry on. “The position of the club in this moment is one that nobody can accept,” he concluded. The Croatian’s arrival in N17 was greeted with confused noises, but he does have a decent reputation as a short-term fixer – a Dalmatian Sam Allardyce, if you will. Tudor’s reigns at other clubs have often started well before ending in explosive rows with the hierarchy, which might actually be welcomed by fans. Tottenham still have eight games against teams currently in the bottom half, and if he completes his rescue mission, there’s little chance of Tudor following in Thomas Frank’s footsteps by outstaying his welcome.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Funds and Games in South America Dept: the Premier League has secured £450m from a new broadcast deal with ESPN, covering South America and the Caribbean.

Sarina Wiegman has named her first England squad of 2026, and shrugged off questions about the end of her contract after next year’s World Cup. “It’s pretty far away,” she whooped. The Lionesses face Ukraine and Iceland in their opening qualifiers for the tournament in Brazil.

Vítor Pereira is in the door at Nottingham Forest and eager to work under Evangelos Marinakis again, after leading Olympiakos to the double in 2015. “He liked the way we worked together,” beamed Pereira of a trophy-laden stint that lasted six months.

Mikel Arteta says he is looking at Arsenal’s warm-up routines “big time” after a spate of pre-match knacks for his players.

Wrexham will host Chelsea, Arsenal go to Mansfield and West Ham welcome Macc … ah, Brentford after the FA Cup fifth-round draw was made.

And Frank Lampard’s Coventry are back on top of the Championship after beating previous leaders Middlesbrough 3-1. “It’s a great feeling,” crowed FLC manager, Frank Lampard. “Now we have to take it on the road.”

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS

A man who has been accused of having videos from secret cameras in the changing room and showers of the Altach women’s team is due to appear in court next week. Marcus Christenson reports on a case that has shaken football in Austria, from the latest edition of our newsletter.

STILL WANT MORE?

Dennis Wise on his journey as a coach, why Dave Bassett was a pioneer and the former Chelsea hard man’s part in guiding Como into Serie A.

Another former player turned-penman, Philipp Lahm writes that Florentino Pérez has a coaching problem at Madrid that there is no obvious solution to.

Fascinating revelations in an extract from Richard Fitzpatrick’s new book on how Helenio Herrera ran Inter in the early 1960s as “a small hospital” for doping.

Raúl Martín Presa may be running Rayo Vallecano into the ground and waging war on the club’s fans, but the players still pulled off a remarkable win over Atlético Madrid. Sid Lowe reports.

And even though Big Vange is on to his fourth head coach of the season at Nottingham Forest, Jonathan Wilson writes that long-term thinking may be impossible in football’s social media disgrace age.

MEMORY LANE

Pelé signs autographs for fans at the 1966 World Cup, with Brazil team doctor Hilton Gosling (left) warily looking on. Having been the victim of some agricultural treatment at the hands of Bulgaria in their opening game, the Brazilian was knacked for their next group match against Hungary at Goodison Park, which they lost 3-1. “The games had been a revelation to me in their unsportsmanlike conduct and weak refereeing,” lamented Pelé later.

‘I’M NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TODAY’