Ange Postecoglou put on the spot over Scottish referees

Ange Postecoglou has refused to be drawn on the standard of referring in Scotland.

Four months into the Celtic job the Australian is well placed to compare the quality of match officials with Japan and Australia.

Celtic have been on the wrong end of some bizarre decisions with an unusual trend of having more than 60% of possession yet regularly committing more fouls than their opponents.

Against Aberdeen at the start of the month that situation peeked with Bobby Madden in charge. The Lanarkshire referee awarded an incredible 27 fouls against Celtic despite the hoops having 62% possession. In their three matches since Pittodrie Celtic have conceded 27 fouls.

Madden will take charge of his third Celtic match of the season but Postecoglou wasn’t being drawn into any detailed comment on match officials.

Asked about refereeing standards and the future introduction of VAR, the Celtic boss said:

I just look at our own games, I don’t really look at other games and see what is happening there. From our perspective I think we’re just really keen to produce a game of football that supporters enjoy.

From that perspective when a game is more free flowing with less interruptions, I think that becomes more of a possibility so I think that is where my focus is on officiating.

We kind of hope that people see what we want to do and that we don’t get caught up in things that aren’t really that important in the context of the team that we want to be.

In terms of VAR I’ve had exposure to it in Australia and Japan and international level. I think that I’ve already said, its on record, it’s inevitable it’s going to happen, it’s everywhere. And I think that when it comes in you embrace it, you understand it, there will still be some issues, that’s been consistent worldwide. Ultimately if it gets the majority of the big decisions right I think it is a positive.

Following Wednesday’s draw with St Mirren, Motherwell boss Graham Alexander described a penalty awarded by Madden against his side as the worst decision in his managerial career.