Yesterday’s handball decision by the newest technological advance within football really did look incomprehensible. The man operating the VAR, Nick Walsh, has a history of questionable decisions against Celtic shall we say. How can a player possibly acknowledge where the ball is if he isn’t looking at it?

And the St Johnstone manager, Callum Davidson also made his thoughts on the penalty decision awarded to Dundee United yesterday after intervention from VAR in his pre-match interview ahead of the match at McDiarmid Park this afternoon (at the moment the half-time score is St Johnstone 1 theRangers 0 with James ‘I Fell Good’ Brown scoring the first goal of his career.

READ THIS…“It definitely was not a penalty at Parkhead yesterday,” Callum Davidson

It was a moment that defied both belief and logic yet again from officials in Scotland. After the Hearts game at Tynecastle in which Michael Smith stopped the ball whilst moving his hand outwards from his body to stop James Forrest, the discrepancy in the consistency from the men operating VAR has to be given closer inspection.

If that Bernabei incident is a handball under the new laws of the game then I’m afraid football is going down the drain. It will ruin many a more showpiece occasions and mar the game in controversy like never before. It’s only been a fortnight or so and already it’s becoming tiresome and devisive.

After the game and all the usual debate online, Jim Spence took the time to comment on a video that someone had posted in reply to his article in The Courier regards VAR issues. The fan was rightly bemused by the egregious errors that the officials overseeing the technology saw fit to impose on the game, thus influencing the referee.

Spence, being very droll and satirical, mocked the decision with a sarcastic remark stating:

“Clearly a penalty. Defenders must learn to leave their arms in the dressing room or tie them to their waists before jumping.”

It would appear Celtic supporters aren’t the only ones concerned with the introduction of this technology recently.

And it should also be noted that the referee saw nothing wrong with this shoulder high challenge on Giorgos Giakoumakis – not even a free-kick – and after a VAR review by Welsh for a possible red card, no action was taken…

Paul Gillespie

READ THIS FROM DAVID POTTER…VAR referee Nick Walsh’s ludicrous penalty a sad moment for Scottish football

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