Has VAR ruined football?

Yes

(Today 03:28 )lovebabes56 Wrote:  I feel the referee should be given far more freedom to use his own gut instinct where possible and overrule VAR advice.

You clearly don't understand how VAR works. The referee can already disregard any advice from VAR if he chooses, just as he can disregard any advice from his assistants on the field of play. The referee doesn't need any freedom to decide what to do with advice from VAR - because the final decision always rests with the referee anyway.