As the SFA closed ranks over the first weekend of VAR one unexpected voice has called out a mistake from two of his former colleagues.
Last week the SFA went on a charm offensive with selected media outlets given access to Crawford Allan, Willie Collum, John Beaton and others as the SPFL caught up with the technology that is in use for the fifth season in the EPL.
The showpiece game of the weekend was at Tynecastle in front of the Sky Sports cameras, the opportunity for Allan and his officials to showcase their decision making backed up by the latest technologies.
There were a few questionable decisions at Tynecastle yesterday, none more so than a Celtic claim for a penalty just before half time.
In real time it seemed clear, television replays confirmed that Michael Smith raised his arm to intercept a pass from James Forrest.
With the ball quickly going out of play Walsh paused the game for a few seconds, took instruction from McLean then allowed play to continue without even consulting the monitor.
On Sky Sports Andy Walker, James McFadden, John Hartson and Ryan McGowan believed that Celtic were denied a penalty, Madden agreed with those pundits.
Last season Madden refereed six of Celtic’s first 24 SPFL matches including the opener at Tynecastle where he failed to even book Andy Halliday for a brutal attack on Callum McGregor’s heel.
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Andy Halliday & Bobby Madden #pals pic.twitter.com/CNCQf91wwF
— We Won It First ?? (@liamt67) July 31, 2021
as blatant a hand ball you will ever see , but what no one is mentioning is it was a red card too , and is probably the reason there was no penalty awarded , sevco and it’s agents need celtic to drop points badly and hearts going a man down would almost certainly put paid to that , although you could say there was a 12 man hearts team on the pitch and one running var diriecting walsh
The Celtic board must ask Crawford Allan to explain Steven McLean’s decision to not request a review from Nick Walsh. We won this match against all odds given the performance of the officials. Decisions like that will continue to made against our club because of the lack of any challenge from the board. Some pundits believe it was the correct decision but Michael Smith’s actions immediately after the incident told everyone what he thought the decision should be.
If nothing else, VAR has clearly shown that refereeing performances are far off even a basic level.
Always easier for the Newco sympathisers to come out in support of a bad decision when it hasn’t actually affected the final result..u wouldn’t have heard diddly from any of them if it ended a draw….fact.
If the SFA/SPFL are genuinely interested in making VAR a benefit to the game, they need to be open and speak out on the controversies from the fiascos at Tynecastle yesterday.
They need to ask why Nick Walsh was so totally inept in ignoring what was a 100% blatant deliberate handball and a perfectly good goal from Ralston.
They said up front there would be teething problems, which if I am being honest, interpreted that to mean a continuation of the famous “honest mistakes” Celtic fans are so used to.
But VAR is the tool to remove these accusations! Use it!
Admit the errors on the side of the SFA/SPFL referees and VAR controller. Don’t shroud them in protective gear! Admit it and highlight it.
They will be very quick to fingerpoint at players cheating so admit the cheating of the inept, incompetent refs like the two blatant anti-Celtic clowns from yesterday and tell the people who are paying for this how it will be handled!