Kevin Nolan: Use of VAR should be left to managers, says Notts County boss

Managers should be given power to use video assisted refereeing (VAR) to challenge major decisions, says Notts County boss Kevin Nolan.

The ex-West Ham and Bolton midfielder says he "does not like" the way VAR has been trialled in England so far.

His solution is to allow both managers one unsuccessful challenge per match.

"You won't have as many stops, possibly only two. Once you've got it wrong, as a manager you have to say 'right, keep schtum and trust the referee', he said.

"Give managers a flag to say we want something reviewing. That stops the game right away.

"What it [the review] will do is tell the referee that he got something that he's seen spot on and that will give him a confidence boost, or they will go 'fair enough you have seen something different, so let's have a look at it'."

What Nolan envisages is a challenge system similar to that used in elite tennis, where players are allowed to make three unsuccessful challenges per set at any tournament using Hawk-Eye, plus one more if a set reaches a tiebreak.

Similarly, international cricket has had a review system in place since 2008, allowing players to challenge on-field umpires' decisions and refer them to the third official.

Use in cricket has changed over the past decade, and in the most recent Ashes series, teams were permitted two unsuccessful reviews per innings, but were allowed to keep reviews for marginal lbw decisions.

The VAR story so far

The use of VAR in English football comes after Germany and Italy rolled out the system across their top leagues, employing different approaches and yielding mixed results.

It was also used at the Club World Cup in December 2016 and 2017 Confederations Cup and a report from football's lawmakers - the International Football Association Board - said that VAR has been accurate in 98.9% of decisions so far.

A decision on whether to introduce the technology on a permanent basis will be made at Ifab's annual meeting in Zurich on 3 March.

How is VAR being used in England?

The VAR system has been used in four games in England so far, with the fifth to be Liverpool's FA Cup fourth-round tie against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, 27 January.

At Anfield, VAR can be used in four "match-changing" situations - goals, penalty/no penalty decisions, straight red cards and cases of mistaken identity by the referee.

On the same day, Nolan's Notts County face Premier League side Swansea at Meadow Lane, where no assistive technology will be in use.

The first VAR goal in England was awarded to Leicester striker Kelechi Iheanacho in their FA Cup win over Fleetwood, 67 seconds after it was initially ruled out for offside.

But the system was not used to overturn the decision to caution Willian and deny Chelsea a penalty in their FA Cup third-round replay against Norwich, prompting Blues boss Antonio Conte to say VAR had let his side down.

Nolan, 35, who made more than 400 Premier League appearances as a player and who has overseen Notts County's rise to second in League Two in his first full season in charge at Meadow Lane, said that controversy "highlighted the flaws" in the system.

While Conte felt referee Graham Scott should have been told by the video official to watch a replay of Timm Klose's tackle on Willian, Nolan fears VAR would be at risk of overuse.

"What VAR does is give us the opportunity to go to the screen if we need to," Nolan told BBC Radio Nottingham's Matchtalk programme.

"Say I think it is a penalty and the referee hasn't given it, I can put the flag up and say I want to look at the penalty. Then if we go to the VAR and give the penalty, I keep my flag. If it's not, I lose it and then we have the discussion afterwards.

"That is the best way."