Forever Blue With Ian Cheeseman

In “normal” circumstances I would have spent much of this week in Portugal watching Manchester City at Porto.

A few years ago I was there for the same fixture in the Europa League. Porto is a beautiful City and I’d hoped I might have an excuse to go there again, but despite the Champions League draw being ideal, I spent the early part of Tuesday evening at Boundary Park watching Oldham Athletic instead.

I’d like to think they wore their away kit during the 1-0 defeat to Tranmere because I should have been on my travels, but the reason for the late change from blue to black was that the referee couldn’t distinguish between Oldham’s blue Shirts and white shorts with Tranmere’s white shirts and blue shorts.

I could have stayed indoors, warmly sat in front of the TV watching City’s game but I’d always rather be at a game and as part of Oldham’s commentary team I chose to sit in the freezing cold of ice station zebra instead. I’d been at Stockport County’s 3-2 FA Cup win against Yeovil on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed myself. In truth, though I’m scared to admit it, I enjoyed being at Edgeley Park much more than sitting in front of my TV watching the Blues ease past Burnley on Saturday afternoon.

I’ve attended games all my life, and never really enjoyed consuming football via TV, apart from highlights. I’ve attended quite a few games during the pandemic, which has been one of the few pluses of my current situation. I’m not high enough up the pecking order of City journalists to have been granted access to any first team games, even though I’d have loved to, but I have been allowed to attend some u21 & u23 games as well as first team games at Oldham, Curzon Ashton etc. I’ve really enjoyed all the matches I’ve been to but my wife is still bewildered (even after all these years) as to why I prefer games in the fresh air rather than the armchair.

There are many reasons. Right now there’s an extra reason why I’m preferring the games I’ve attended, more than the elite games I’ve seen on TV. This was perfectly illustrated when I was back from my live VAR free game in League Two, to watch the second half of the City game. Gabriel Jesus scored “the winner”; well that was how it seemed. I’ve learnt not to get too emotional when a goal goes in at Premier League, or Champions League level, even before Covid times. I’d temporarily forgotten VAR so I simply enjoyed the great ball into the box by Bernardo Silva, the brave header by Jesus and the quick reactions he showed to turn it in when it bounced back off the bar.

Two minutes after those exquisite skills, a small box appeared at the bottom of the screen which revealed to us viewers, and reminded me, that there was a VAR check. What could it be for? If I’d been in the stadium I’d have had no idea. At home, in this instance, I was still baffled. Even the commentators, who were presumably in the stadium but clearly had access to the TV pictures, initially assumed Jesus was offside. Later we discovered that the trailing leg of the retreating Rodri was just offside. By the letter of the law the decision was right, but how he’d gained any advantage I will never know.

I’ve seen so many people saying VAR is ruining football. I agree and there was the problem in a nutshell. There’s less emotion watching a game at home than in a stadium, but VAR even sucks that out of the viewers consumption of the beautiful game.

I’m desperate to get back into a City first team game and as I write this I’m not even sure I’ll get in when fans are allowed back, but as much as I miss attending first team matches and travelling to lovely places like Porto, at least at the Tameside Stadium, Edgeley Park and Boundary Park I can enjoy football as it should be played; without the damned VAR.