Ange Postecoglou’s response was to merely laugh.
The question: has VAR improved Scottish football? A notion so ridiculous to the Celtic manager at this point in time he barely felt able to dignify it with a proper answer.
Now, whether you think he is right or wrong, Postecoglou is likely not the only top-flight boss who would address the idea with a chuckle. And that, surely, is a bit of a problem.
It was Derek McInnes’ turn this week to air grievances over how the technology is being implemented. He was left angered following Saturday’s Viaplay Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic, specifically around Kilmarnock not being awarded a late penalty when Giorgos Giakoumakis bundled Joe Wright to the ground.
Referee Willie Collum was not called over to the pitchside monitor for a second look, and Giakoumakis headed off up the other end to confirm Celtic’s place in the final. On Friday night, Hearts’ Kye Rowles was let off the hook for a handball that appeared several times more suspect than many of the harsh punishments dished out previously for the same offence. Following Celtic’s draw with Rangers at Ibrox, it was Postecoglou who could not fathom why Connor Goldson was not penalised for handling in the box.
Yesterday, McInnes’ frustration still bubbled to a point where he began suggesting the current crop of referees need help, and that we should consider recruiting recently retired officials to add a level of ‘experience’. McInnes championed the introduction of VAR as far back as 2018, so it’s telling that even he is getting exasperated.
Anyway, we’ve had all of the above in just a few weeks since the Premiership returned after the World Cup. It begs the question - has something changed?
Not officially, but it feels fair to suggest there has been a shift in VAR’s application. The Giakoumakis, Goldson and Rowles incidents hint there is a concerted effort not to be so liberal in stopping the game to check incidents.
That was, if you remember, one of the primary complaints emanating from the likes of Postecoglou and Hearts manager Robbie Neilson pre-winter shutdown; that not everything merits a several minute pause to be reviewed.
Personally, I agree. The key phrase before VAR’s introduction was that it was about rectifying ‘clear and obvious errors’, which to me, says that if you cannot identify the possibility of a mistake within a short space of time, leave it be.
The exception there, of course, is offside, given the objective nature of the law. We may, in time, begin to accept that getting those marginal calls correct will generally take a bit longer. But, in the main, the less we see of VAR during 90 minutes, the better. Based on what we’ve witnessed of late, I’d suggest there has been a pivot towards that view among officials.
This could be beneficial in the long run, but the problem facing the Scottish Premiership as it stands, however, is that precedents were set in those early weeks. And, in the absence of acknowledgement from the powers-that-be that perhaps something has changed, then fans, managers and players will continue to view every decision through the lens of what came before.
Can anyone really say the handball given against Matt O’Riley during Celtic’s win over Ross County was more blatant than the one Rowles got away with last week? Or that there was any real difference between incidents involving Aberdeen’s Connor Barron and Goldson during the Old Firm, where the former was penalised and not the latter?
Maybe I’m wrong and there hasn’t been a change of tact – it’s merely my own observation - but either way, is there a case for the SFA to offer insight into how decisions are reached? We can’t change what has gone before, obviously, but we can set a clearer path forward.
I’m torn at the potential for further ramping up Scottish football’s obsession with refereeing calls, but there has been enough confusion to warrant some dialogue. As we have seen, that information vacuum is quickly filled anyway.
Among the most prevalent is that officials are out to get Celtic and/or favour Rangers. I’d bet most Celtic fans do not seriously believe there is a shadowy plot to thwart them (it could hardly be deemed a success, if there was), but they do have a pertinent point around inconsistency. And, after Saturday at Hampden, the counter-claim is that Postecoglou’s outspokenness and reports Celtic sought ‘clarity’ from the SFA after Ibrox influenced the decision not to give Kilmarnock a penalty.
The SFA will likely feel, with justification, that it’s beneath leaders of the professional game to address social media frenzies around alleged bias, especially when the notion that either of Glasgow’s big two get a raw deal would be met with side-splitting laughter from fans of the other 10 Premiership clubs.
But the majority are not interested in that. They are, I’d say, interested in greater clarity over how VAR will be implemented moving forward.
Remember, supporters were the only party not consulted when VAR was voted through. Clubs too, have invested money in getting the technology up and running, but are being left confused on a week-to-week basis, seemingly without getting much back.
McInnes said he was left unsatisfied after speaking to the refereeing department on Monday, SFA CEO Ian Maxwell’s last comment on the issue was that 98 per cent of decisions were being made correctly, while former referee Kenny Clark appeared on BBC Scotland earlier this month to say there will ‘always be an element of subjectivity’ around areas such as handball.
Of course there will, and it is true you will never be able to satisfy everyone on this issue, football’s tribal nature dictates that and makes the officials’ job incredibly difficult. But there is scope to shed light on how these judgements are reached that could, at least, quell some hysteria.
For example, Major League Soccer in the USA introduced a weekly review into refereeing decisions that included audio of dialogue between on-pitch officials and the VAR room, attempting to draw back the curtain.
Such an approach in Scotland would require delicate handling, given the substantial cultural differences between football here and across the Atlantic, and there would be understandable concerns regarding over-exposure of already heavily scrutinised officials in the media. But it does show there are ways of bringing the public into the process.
And wouldn’t that be better than variations of the same storm erupting every week?
