Linesman at Birmingham v Aston Villa makes the greatest call in football history

Who needs technology?

Simon Long is bigger than technology. Simon Long is bigger than football. One of the linesmen at St. Andrew's on Sunday has produced the match official equivalent of a blinder and he has brought the technology in football debate full circle. Can you really trust technology? How can a chip and a watch be expected to make the right call in real time under all that pressure? Where's the allowance for tech error? Why can't we just get humans like Simon Long to look after it and clear up all the nonsense? Leave nothing to doubt. Bleedin' technology. Look at him there. No wonder Mike Dean is such a competent referee. He's got men like Long watching his back. The official might have a decent reputation and top flight experience but could he do it on a midday in the midlands? Abso-f**king-lutely. Aston Villa fans were counting their lucky stars during the first half of their derby with Birmingham when Clayton Donaldson's effort wasn't adjudged to have crossed the line. The Brummie striker looked for all the world to have scored when the ball bounced with more than half of it across the line but a fortunate spin took it back out instead of in. There's no goal-line technology in the English Championship so it was left to Simon Long to make the decision. And how he made it with confidence. Confident guess-work obviously. https://twitter.com/ConanDoherty/status/792704321867616257 Let's be honest, he hadn't a bloody clue whether or not it crossed the line but you have to admire his conviction. He roars over with the appeals with a firm "NO" and takes off up the sideline again to get the hell out of there. If you're going to guess, do it convincingly. What a guess it was though. He pulled a Simon. Colm Parkinson is joined by Paul Rouse for a heated debate about Sky Sports' five-year GAA deal and an exclusive chat with AFL star Zach Tuohy on the new GAA Hour. Subscribe here on iTunes