Robbie Neilson channelled his inner Alex Ferguson as he sunk to his knees on the park to celebrate Hearts ' 97th minute equaliser - then revealed it was out of pure frustration at shambolic VAR.
Neilson ’s extraordinary dash from the dug out came as 10-man Hearts rescued a point in the final minute of a rip-roaring second half. Livi looked certain to end their 20-year Tynecastle hoodoo as they led 1-0 deep into stoppage time through Stephen Kelly’s first Premiership goal.
But Josh Ginnelly blasted home in the sixth minute of added time and nothing summed up the sense of relief like the sight of Neilson dropping to his knees near the centre circle with a grin to light all of Gorgie. The Jambos boss earned a booking for his efforts but admitted he didn’t care as he took aim at VAR which he warned is in danger of killing football.
Neilson was furious after the video ref - John Beaton - intervened after 75 minutes to tell on-field ref Craig Napier that Joel Nouble had been fouled in the lead-up to the Livi striker having a shot saved by Craig Gordon. Kye Rowles was red carded as a result and while Gordon saved the spot kick to set up Hearts grandstand finish which also saw a VAR check on Alex Cochrane’s late challenge on NIcky Devlin, Neilson was furious.
He said: “The celebration was out of pure frustration after what a shambles of a day it become. We've got a VAR check on Alex Cochrane for a potential red card and it takes four minutes to get it done.
“God knows how many times he needs to watch it. Then when it's done we get the throw in. Surely if you're stopping it for that time it has to be a foul first and foremost. You'd be as well getting the ref in - though he'll probably no know either.
“It was a shambles, wasn't it? We don't need three or four minutes to check every single decision. It needs to be done a lot quicker.
“Anyone can watch a video and within three replays make a decision. Then it gets fired back. But we're stopping the game for everything. It's got to get better because that's going to kill football.
On the penalty incident Neilson said: “I asked the fourth official the rules on it and he didn't know. Rowles pulls him back, 100 per cent.
“But then he goes on and gets a shot away. Are you denying a goalscoring opportunity?
“You've still got a goalscoring opportunity. The play goes on and there's three or four phases.
“I don't know but the problem is I don't think anyone knows. If the officials don't even know what chances have we got?
“I watch the English game and they check decisions, but they continue to play the game while they're checking and then they'll tell the referee. We're stopping everything and it's literally killing the game?”
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