CALLUM MCGREGOR was asked about his honest assessment of VAR since it’s introduction in Scottish football.
The Celtic captain has watched as some bizarre decisions have gone against the team since the technology came into play. The flimsy reasons Celtic were conceding penalties for was incredible viewing. Not as impressive as watching the same or worse handballs not be punished when it comes to other sides.
When asked about VAR, Callum told Celtic TV:
“Of course it’s a difficult job for the officials. Let’s not make any mistake about that. It is a difficult job but that’s there to help them.
“Maybe we need just a bit of clarification on ‘this is a penalty, this isn’t a penalty’ or ‘how are we going to implement it in certain situations?’.
“We have to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a period of time to let things settle and let them understand how it works properly live in the games. Like anything in football, if we raise the level on.”
Celtic have always found a way to battle through the poor decisions to ensure they didn’t suffer consequences imposed by officials.
Despite facing additional difficulties, Celtic have successfully managed to overcome them, and this has been used as an argument against any complaints from fans, players, or the manager by those who don’t want to accept Celtic have been harshly treated.
Somehow our collective grievance is unjustified because we’re nine points clear at the top. I just penalty at Hearts could have resulted in dropped points, giving Dundee Utd a penalty for nothing to pull the game back to 1-1 another example. Then there’s the Ross County game where the Staggies were given a penalty for the worst handball call you’re likely to see to put them ahead at Celtic Park. The worst of all, is after all these decisions against Celtic, when Connor Goldson raised his hands and almost palmed a shot away inside his own box, thee officials and VAR that had been so quick to dish out penalties against Celtic went very quiet. Celtic were 2-1 down at the time but would recover a point with a late Kyogo goal.
Had it not been for the collective will of the Celtic players not to allow VAR and the officials to be the defining part of the story, their current nine point lead would have evaporated.
Callum was right in what he’s said and even a bit more generous when it comes to making excuses for the officials. Watch the usual suspects pile on the Celtic captain for his comments, much like they did Ange the previous week, for merely stating the facts.
You can see restraints on what he thinks this is not one referee this it has to be every sfa ref that’s been told do not question another ref even though there’s a an obvious wrong doing we will back you you would thickener two would say not me I’m not cheating for no one I still think dallas is using his position in fifa to protect scottish refs var is his job impossible you want see any our refs in international duty
Being diplomatic I would say
Not allowed to say they’re corrupt cheats. Stats speak for themselves over the duration of Scottish football !