Callum McGregor insists Celtic will need some big VAR calls to go their way to balance out the ropy decisions from the video refs.
The skipper agrees with his gaffer Ange Postecoglou’s assessment his side have suffered a raw deal since the technology was rolled out in Scotland before the World Cup. Celtic have been left fuming over a run of handball calls against Matt O’Riley and Alexandro Bernabei – while rivals Connor Goldson and Michael Smith at Rangers and Hearts got off the hook.
McGregor said: “We probably need a couple of good ones to go for us for that to happen. The law of averages would suggest that, over a season, it will. But we need to get some good ones between now and the end of the season. I think it’s (VAR) been pretty inconsistent to say the least. We have probably been on the harsher side of quite a lot of the decisions in the majority of the league.
“Of course it’s a difficult job for the officials. Let’s not make any mistake about that. It is a difficult job. But that’s there to help them. Maybe just a bit of clarification on ‘this is a penalty, this isn’t a penalty’ or ‘how are we going to implement it in certain situations’.
“We have to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a period of time to let things settle and let them understand how it works properly live in the games. Like anything in football, if we raise the level on.”
McGregor admitted the muddled handball rules have caused havoc this season with Scottish officials changing their stance on certain interpretations of the FIFA rules through the season. He said: “It seems to be (the problem). When we started playing with VAR, it teaches you to defend differently in the box.
“You have to, at all costs, keep your hands by your side when sometimes even that’s not enough. It’s difficult for the players but it’s also difficult for the officials as well. The quicker we can get clarity on it and resolve the issue, hopefully you will start to see some consistency in the decisions and then over time it will level itself out.”
READ MORE
