ANGE POSTECOGLOU has taken a huge swipe at how VAR is being used and the handball rule that is dogging Celtic in recent times.
Celtic were 1-0 up and cruising when a ball went into the Celtic box. Bernabei was given a yellow card and Celtic conceded a penalty for a handball not even the Dundee Utd players thought was worth protecting over.
The incident happened, and the game went on; around 30 seconds had passed when play is stopped, and we heard VARs checking for a potential handball in the box. The referee was sent over to the screen after a long wait and then gave the penalty.
Celtic were denied a similar penalty only three weeks back at Tynecastle.
Speaking at the post-match media scrum, Ange seemed irritated by the decision and the handball rule in general.
“It seems that anytime the ball touches your hand in the box, apart from if you’re playing Hearts away, it’s a penalty”.
VAR has been so intrusive in the first few weeks of its introduction. The waiting time for decisions to be made was awful sitting in the stadium.
Things need to be ironed out and quickly. Ange would have looked like it was sour grapes had Dundee Utd managed to escape with a point. In the end, Celtic found another gear and won the game 4-2 with two very late goals.
Absolutely 100% never a penalty….and “they” know it. A penalty should only be for DELIBERATE hand ball or for when the ball strikes a player’s arms/hand when he’s DELIBERATELY sticking his arms out to block the view of a player attempting a cross.
We had the menopausal ref give 2 to Real that were never penalties..and she even gave a yellow card to O’Reilly who had his back turned when the ball hit his elbow.
So now we’ll have players practising flicking the ball at opposition players in the penalty box or shooting into a crowded penalty box knowing that there’s a high possibility of the ball hitting or rebounding off a defender’s arm/hand.
And the numbskulls that had meetings galore before this system was introduced got paid to introduce this mess and couldn’t use their imagination to see the glaring defects in it?
In Scotland it’s open to the referees’ discretion…and we all know what that means!!!!!!!!!!!!