Fowler wrote for the Mirror: "Football isn't rocket science. Fans will always recognise a great goal, a defence-splitting pass or a brilliant save.
"And they can also spot a dodgy refereeing decision a mile away. Which is why (ref chief) Howard Webb appears to be taking us all for fools with his rather creative takes on some of the calamitous mistakes that are bringing the Premier League into disrepute.
"Webb's latest attempt to con us all into thinking that anyone who doesn't own a whistle, a flag or a VAR monitor doesn't really understand the game would be comical if it wasn't just another example of the lunatics taking over the asylum. The PGMOL chief did his very best to paint Jeremy Doku's chest-high challenge on Alexis Mac Allister in Liverpool's recent meeting with Manchester City as an innocent 'coming together' that didn't warrant a penalty.
"Anyone who watched the game knew that Doku got away with one. Not just in terms of referee Michael Oliver missing the offence as it happened, but in the way VAR official Stuart Attwell failed to advise him to take another look on the pitch-side monitor despite being armed with replays of the incident from every conceivable angle.
"It was exactly the type of scenario that VAR was supposed to rectify. Instead, Webb expected us all to accept that a throat-threatening challenge doesn't cross the threshold."