Fascinating audio of VAR officials discussing decisions shown for the first time

Howard Webb revealed VAR audio in the Premier League for the very first time, as he talked Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher through the system on Monday Night Football.

Referees and specifically VAR comes in for a lot of criticism in the Premier League, especially when fans believe their team have been hard done to.

Arsenal fans were in that position when Jakub Kiwior had his foot stood on by Evan Ferguson in their loss to Brighton on Sunday afternoon,.

Neville certainly didn't feel too much sympathy for the centre-back, arguing that Sir Alex Ferguson would have 'killed' any player going down so easily.

One of the many criticisms of the video assistant referee system is the fact that fans don't get to hear the conversations that go on between officials.

On Monday, ahead of Liverpool's clash with Leicester City, Sky Sports were able to pull the curtain back on the whole process between those on the pitch and those on Stockley Park.

Head of referees Webb revealed the audio that was going on when decisions were being made, flanked by Neville and Carragher in the Sky studio.

First up was Kai Havertz handball for Chelsea in a disallowed goal against Liverpool, and it was the first time anyone had heard or seen the footage.

It certainly was quite interesting to hear the former Premier League ref explains all the conversations that go on between the officials.

He showed how the different phases are viewed and what some of the lingo meant, as well as the difference between referees are called to the screen and when they aren't.

The first few examples were clearly ones where VAR had got the decision right, which isn't exactly how it always goes, whilst the next ones were slightly more controversial.

Finally they showed a controversial one that Webb agreed should have actually gone the other way, explaining that the VAR officials hadn't looked at the right angles.

"This propaganda. Easy to have Webb talk through the easy calls, have him explain the many, many dodgy decisions," argued one fan.

"Howard Webb has been excellent overall here, but there have been some major misses by VAR, they should address some of the big mistakes," added a second.

A third said, "All well and good having Howard Webb doing this and coming out publicly to explain how things are working but they’ve not brought up any really controversial or blatantly wrong decisions. This just feels like a showpiece to appease the public rather than anything of substance."

Another noted, "Unsurprisingly, Howard Webb has talked us through two blatantly easy decisions that only morons disagree with."

There was no examples used from a weekend earlier in the season when the referees were brought together for an emergency meeting, after a number of errors.

The Premier League have considered adding more cameras to help officials for next season, although many have said that's not the real issue.