The VAR review show released by the SFA last night has caused a variety of talking points for the Celtic fans this week.
Firstly (and I’ll probably go into this in more detail later) the reasons given by VAR to not award Celtic a penalty against Kilmarnock was just bizarre.
Kyogo Furuhashi why poleaxed by Killie ‘keeper Ross McCrorie but VAR concluded that there was no foul therefor no penalty should have been awarded.
Secondly, and I spoke about this last night, the referee in the Rangers vs St Johnstone game guiding Tom Lawrence and telling him not to commit a foul was on of the strangest things we’ve seen this season.
And then for Lawrence to make the tackle anyway and to not get booked because the ref said he got the ball when it’s clear the Rangers player didn’t was just incredible.
This site was the first outlet to speak about it as we shared how the Celtic fans felt about the video and it seems the Daily Record jumped on the bandwagon and this has enraged STV reporter, Grant Russell.
What a pathetic angle to take.
— Grant Russell (@grantrussell_) September 12, 2024
This sort of interaction from a referee happens all through the game. It is normal. And the show is a great addition.
Spinning into this rubbish is the reason why it’s taken so long to get refs comfortable with this level of public communication. https://t.co/vkWXxqz4tX
Russell said, “What a pathetic angle to take. This sort of interaction from a referee happens all through the game.
“It is normal. And the show is a great addition. Spinning into this rubbish is the reason why it’s taken so long to get refs comfortable with this level of public communication.”
Celtic fans rubbish journalist’s VAR take
Let’s look at this way. Let’s say the ref was correct to do this, Lawrence made the tackle (which was also from behind and the last time I checked that was illegal), made the foul and the referee saw no fould but did see the Rangers player win the ball but the ball’s trajectory didn’t change.
Am I missing anything here?
Didn’t think so and neither are these Celtic fans:
I don’t think the ‘coaching’ and talking to the player is the issue.
— James Tierney (@j_tierney07) September 12, 2024
The fact that he’s said that and then not given the clear foul is astonishing.
Blatant foul missed according to this Hoops fan:
Then misses the most blatant yellow card.
— Paolo 2.0 (@Paolo_Hoops) September 12, 2024
Referee ‘panicked’:
What’s not normal is his panicked screaming ‘he got all of the ball’ when he got absolutely none of it.
— D P (@PointGuard56) September 12, 2024
‘Huge’ touch of the ball:
"huge touch on the ball", "won all of the ball"…….. pic.twitter.com/VYX6bjIuux
— John (@3InARowSorrrry) September 12, 2024
I think the point that is being missed here is that the referee made a huge Roger Hunt of not one, not two but three decisions/takes in that one tackle.
What I will say is that the SFA should be commended for providing this sort of clarity but what they also must do now is ensure the refs learn from these mistakes that are clear to the fans who, let’s face it, don’t have the luxury of the referees’ training.
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