Q: I’ve got to ask you about the goal that wasn’t the equaliser. It was you who crossed it. What was your take on the situation?
Alistair Johnston: “No, I thought I got there in time. It felt like one of those ones that I knew was going to be close. But at the same time, I’m often putting crosses in from that exact area when I’m reaching. And that one, to me, felt like it was in. Obviously, the linesman thought it was in as well. Our whole fanbase thought it was in. Everyone thought it was in. So yeah, we’re just going to wait and hear what the exact explanation was on why the ball was then overturned. But yeah, that’s gone now. At the end of the day, it’s unfortunate. I would have loved it to count because there’s still time on the clock to maybe get something.
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- Images from Hibs Vlogger
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- Not available to VAR
“But at the same time, even when we didn’t score, when they took it back, there were still 15 minutes or so for us to go and find an equaliser. And we didn’t manage to do it. So the game’s done. Nothing can be changed now. So just kind of moving on. And yeah, focus on Aberdeen now.”
Q: Just finally on that, did you watch it back? Did you watch the highlights back? The angle, you don’t see it from anywhere but the 18 yards away. Was that surprising that they then overturned it?
Alistair Johnston: “I mean, I’ve heard some comments on it. And again, I think that’s the frustrating part is that if you want VAR to intervene, and especially on things where it either is yes or no, it’s objective, it’s not subjective, you need to then obviously have a camera angle that can prove that. And unfortunately, I think up here that I’m not sure if it’s just the budget, what it is with the VAR, but we obviously just don’t have enough camera angles to really have 100 per cent certainty on decisions. And if that’s the case, then you really should stick with what the officials have made the decision on the field with. And I think that that’s something that’s… I don’t even think that’s really something that’s going to be argued.
“I think that’s something that everyone can kind of agree on. So at the end of the day is that, yeah, if the money’s there to have the goal line technology and the cameras and all the different angles, then that would be unbelievable because you would make sure that you get all those calls 100 per cent correct. But at the same time, if it’s not there for whatever reason, then we also have to trust that the people, the refs are of the standard to be able to do their job and trust that they’re doing their job correctly. So yeah, that’s kind of my viewpoint on it.”
