Josh Campbell has plenty of reasons to be wary of VAR - but the Hibernian midfielder is convinced it will prove a force for good in Scottish football.
Campbell is no fan of the ‘video assistant referee’ system when he is sitting at home watching games on TV. The 22-year-old also reckons players will have to change the way they play because they are aware ‘Big Brother’ is watching their every move.
And he accepts there could have been a different outcome had the system been in place when he clinched an opening-day victory for Hibs against St Johnstone on the opening day of the campaign. On that occasion, Saints were furious at whistler Euan Anderson’s decision to send off Murray Davidson but not red card Marijan Cabraja for a similar challenge. Then Campbell’s dramatic 90th-minute winner looked like it may have hit team-mate Rocky Bushiri’s hand on the way into the net.
But as the same teams get ready to herald the historic arrival of VAR into Scottish football tomorrow night, Campbell believes on balance it has to be welcomed. And he insists it could help improve on-field relations between players and officials, knowing that the major decisions will be made with a safety net.
He said: “Am I a fan of VAR? Not really, if I’m honest with you. Not when I’m watching it.
“But I can understand why it is getting brought into the game. It’ll help the officials massively for those big decisions.
“Obviously you’re maybe angry if it goes against you, but if it goes with you, you’ll be over the moon. There will always be debate. The wee things will get brought up when there are cameras everywhere, so you’ve just got to be that extra-bit cautious.
“I get on quite well with the referees. I’m quite friendly. I call them by their names, they call me by my name, I feel we have a good relationship.
“You can get a few bits of banter - I’m not going to say some of the things that are said on the pitch - but it’s good. I think it will [help relations]. Obviously there will be that timescale between decisions, but you just need to deal with it, it’s the way the world is moving.
“The final decision will be made from wherever the VAR room is and when the official gives it, that’s it, you can’t do anything about it.”
Campbell was one of the few players to get pass marks from Hibs’ humiliating hammering from Celtic at the weekend. The youngster has been a consistent presence in Lee Johnson’s team since that first-day winner back in July and has five goals from 14 appearances.
It is a major step forward for the versatile midfielder who came under fire from his own fans last term when the Easter Road side struggled amid two managerial sackings. Campbell added: “I was a bit disappointed to miss out on the starting XI that day [against St Johnstone], but I came on and I bust my gut to get on the end of that corner and get that goal.
“I’m happy with the way it is going but I’m aiming for double figures right now. It just comes down to confidence, just believing in myself.
“I’ve been at Hibs for 13 years. I’ve seen people come and go, mates who have been in my team and who have unfortunately not made it. But I’ve always believed in myself, that I can make it at Hibs and I’m doing that now.”
While Saturday’s 6-1 thrashing from Celtic was an embarrassing experience, Campbell is convinced there will be no hangover against Saints. The players saw their day-off cancelled and were made to sit through a video nasty re-run of a shocking 90 minutes that makes the visit of Saints massive for more reasons than the debut of VAR.
The former Edinburgh City, Arbroath and Airdrie loanee commented: “What a game to be back - under the lights, in front of a big crowd, with the new technology. It’s [about] nothing short of three points for us.
“We had an open conversation about Celtic. We were meant to be off, but we came in and we went through the game. It’s called a full-stop meeting. You got through that game and once it’s done, it’s put behind us and we move on.
“It was a good, solid meeting. Obviously a few players were disappointed as they had stuff planned. but the reality is that we had to get it done.
“It’s good, because everyone can say how they feel about the situation. Not everyone’s right and not everyone’s wrong. It was good to have it out.
“We went through the areas we need to work on and the areas we were quite good at, and there were some areas we were good at. There’s a lot learned from the game.”
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