Celtic’s captain Callum McGregor is understandably apprehensive of the impact that VAR could have on the League Cup semi-final against Kilmarnock at Hampden.
Despite a bucketload of dodgy VAR calls all going in the one direction – funnily enough against Celtic and who would have thought it? – McGregor is well aware that all it takes is an honest mistake or two to turn a match at Hampden against Celtic as we’ve seen in recent years against the likes of Inverness Caley Thistle and Ross County. Now with VAR in their armoury the opportunities to disrupt Celtic have increased considerably and the officials have certainly made the most of it since its introduction in October.
In the league this malpractice has not had an impact other than to deny Celtic the win at Ibrox on 2 January when Connor Goodson didn’t handle the ball in their twisted eyes. But it’s a different story in a cup semi-final and Callum McGregor is perfectly within his rights to put the spotlight in these officials who he reckons owe Celtic big-time.
“We probably need a couple of good ones to go for us for that to happen,” the Celtic captain stated at yesterday’s Media Conference at Hampden. Fat chance of that happening, Callum. “The law of averages would suggest that, over a season, it will (even itself out) but we need to get some good ones between now and the end of the season.
“I think it’s been pretty inconsistent to say the least. We have probably been on the harsher side of quite a lot of the decisions in the majority of the league.
“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 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 and off the pitch then that will make it a better spectacle for everyone.”
With the numerous handball decisions all going against Celtic since James Forrest was denied a penalty against Hearts at Tynecastle in October on his mind the Celtic captain added: “When we started playing with VAR, it teaches you to defend differently in the box,” he said. You have to – at all costs – keep your hands by your side, and sometimes even that’s not enough.
“It’s difficult for the players but it’s also difficult for the officials as well. The quicker we can get clarity on it and resolve the issue, hopefully you will start to see some consistency in the decisions and then over time it will level itself out.”
Here’s Callum McGregor’s Media Conference ahead of tomorrow’s League Cup semi-final against Kilmarnock at Hampden…
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Maybe when making payments next season , Celtic might run into technical difficulties when makin bank transfers to pay for var . Those technical difficulties could run on for a whole season. Let’s see how the sfa would try and get that resolved as quickly as possible 🤷🤷