Maybe Morton were right all along. When 41 out of 42 clubs voted in favour of the introduction of VAR at an SPFL general meeting at April last meeting, it later emerged that the Greenock club were the solitary voice against the technology.
Fast forward 10 months and there might be a few who, given what they know now, might have joined them. Given they are in the Championship, the Cappielow side weren’t even going to be immediately impacted by VAR coming into the game. However, any scepticism they might have had was vindicated when they first encountered it in a Scottish Cup tie against Celtic last month.
Former Hoops defender Efe Ambrose suffered a nightmare on his Parkhead return but it wasn’t all his own doing as VAR played its part. The Nigerian was penalised for handball when the ball cannoned off his arm from close range after a Liel Abada shot had ricocheted off of Jack Baird. There was nothing Ambrose could have done to avoid the contact, and as his arm was down by his side.
But nevertheless after a lengthy VAR check, referee Kevin Clancy pointed to the spot. It was just one of the many controversies since the technology came into play back in October. Furious boss Dougie Imrie said at the time: “We had some good opportunities but didn’t take them. Then good old VAR kills the game. It’s killing the fluidity of the game. It must be brutal for players. Certainly, I wouldn’t have wanted to play with it. It takes so long for decisions to be made.”
Of course, if Morton had their way then VAR wouldn’t have been introduced in the first place. While their reasons for voting against it were primarily financial, that wasn’t the sole reason. "As a community-owned club, fans are at the foremost of our minds,” a spokesman for the club said at the time. “And it is often felt that VAR has in some ways diminished the experience of watching games where it is used.”
But the cost was also a big factor and the top flight clubs who voted in favour must now be questioning whether they are getting value for money given the many complaints over it. The total cost per season for Premiership clubs is around £1.2 million which is shared on a sliding scale with the team that finishes bottom of the table this season shelling out £67,000.
Perhaps the most telling indicator of how clubs feel about VAR now is the fact that Dundee United and Livingston both opted not to pay the fee of around £10,000 to put it into operation for a one-off Scottish Cup tie. Livi boss David Martindale admitted that money could be better spent but if they felt the technology was a huge benefit then surely it’s a price worth paying.
Instead, managers have found themselves complaining about decisions even when referees are asked to check the monitor. Take Rangers’ own Scottish Cup clash with Partick Thistle on Sunday with Ibrox, along with Celtic vs St Mirren, one of only two of the eight cup ties to have the technology in use.
Referee David Munro checked two incidents on the monitor during the 3-2 win for the home side and awarded penalties on each occasion but BOTH were criticised. The first when the ball was headed off Antonio Colak’s arm from close range and the second after Malik Tillman went down under a challenge where initial contact appeared to be outside of the box.
If the general feeling - as was the case with many pundits - was that neither should have been spot kicks then Livingston and Dundee United’s decision to save their cash rather than spent it on putting VAR into operation was justified. And where does that leave clubs now in terms of having faith in VAR? A straw poll off those 42 clubs now would be interesting.
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