Ange Postecoglou tried staying away from VAR discussions in the final few weeks of 2022 but the events at Ibrox on Monday has resulted in the Celtic manager returning the subject as he insists that Celtic should have had a clear and obvious penalty kick decision against theRangers.
“It’s just really confusing now for players in the box to know what they can or can’t do,” Ange Postecoglou noted at this afternoon’s Media Conference ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park where the Champions have the chance to increase their lead to twelve points at the top of the league looking down on theRangers.
The warning given to the Australian in his first ever Media Conference as Celtic manager has now sunk in and Ange Postecoglou now understands exactly what he’s dealing with particularly since the introduction of VAR when decision after decision – we can think of twelve off the top of our heads – has gone against Celtic, some remarkably so, including the decisions taken by the match officials on Monday not to award Celtic a penalty kick after Connor Goldson’s clear and obvious handball.
“It seems like it changes depending on who is in charge of the decision-making process. There has been zero consistency in the decisions being made,” Ange continued.
“Over the course of the season, these things usually even themselves out, but with the introduction of VAR and the decisions that have gone against us in particular, there’s zero chance that that’s going to even up between now and the end of the year.
▫️ ‘Zero consistency’ in VAR decisions
▫️ ‘Zero chance’ things will even out
▫️ ‘At least three major decisions’ gone against CelticCeltic boss Ange Postecoglou has his say on the claims of handball against Connor Goldson at Ibrox and the use of VAR this season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9EAPhlQGi7
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) January 6, 2023
“It’s just remarkable that we’ve had at least three major decisions go against us,” the Celtic manager stated.
“We can just say, ‘Well you know what, it comes down to interpretation, or whatever people want to say. But I guarantee you, if that game finished 2-2, and it was Rangers that were denied that decision, the talk this week would be about how that was a title-defining decision.
“Now the fact that it wasn’t, because we still got a result as we have in all of the other games, whether that was at Tynecastle or here at home where decisions have gone against us, does not mean that we ignore it because that could be a team that gets relegated on a decision like that.
“I still think it needs to be highlighted, I still think there needs to be clarification. It’s a penalty in my mind. Before we even started introducing VAR, it’s always been a penalty. To be honest, there were only two saves made in the game. One by Joe and one by Connor. That was it.”
More from Ange’s Media Conference to follow and we also got the chance to speak to Fran Alonso today and asked him about the handball rule and also his thoughts on VAR…
🔊 LISTEN: “I guarantee you if Rangers were denied that decision the talk would be about how that was a title defining decision”.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou remains adamant that his side should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-2 draw with Rangers on Monday. pic.twitter.com/UY4esgt60h
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) January 6, 2023
We have to ask that willie collum isn’t given any Celtic games either as ref or in var observer as he’s reluctant to give any decision in our favour especially that he’s not required to give his version of what he sees and the reasoning for his decision. Im not saying it is just him but i genuinely believe that he’s not got the courage to give us anything that outside of Celtic will see as contentious