Football - Scottish Premier League - 29/4/89 Rangers' manager Graeme Souness gives an interview Mandatory Credit: Action Images
Graeme Souness has claimed that Celtic have got away with some very interesting decisions since VAR was introduced to Scottish football.
That viewpoint will come as a shock to Celtic supporters who have watched ridiculous penalties awarded against their side in successive home matches against Dundee United and Ross County while they were denied a penalty away to Hearts when Michael Smith raised his arm to block a pass from James Forrest.
Away to Motherwell a ‘goal’ from Jota was disallowed for offside with a distant, inconclusive image used to validate the decision, 36 hours after the match the SFA announced that there had been a camera malfunction during the match.
Listening to Sportsound this afternoon, The Sun reports Souness saying:
They [Rangers] have lost the games against Celtic which puts them [Celtic] in a very good position. But they [Celtic] have got away with a couple of very interesting VAR decisions. It could have been a very different story if they had gone against them.
Discussing the operation of VAR and the understanding that referees have of the game, he added:Â
Referees can’t do that and a referee will tell you every single rule that’s in the rule book from the first page to the very last page but there’s too many grey areas that they don’t understand. They need help from ex-pro’s. They need help getting more decisions right.
Those numbers there [on penalties] tell you there was something drastically wrong before in Scottish football or something is drastically wrong now in Scottish football.
The reality is, it comes back to the guy sitting in the control room wherever VAR may be stationed here in Scotland, making bad calls.”
Should the Celtic board publicly call for a full explanation on VAR to date?
No, we have to trust that teething troubles will be resolved
Yes, with VAR comes accountability and transparency
It seems that no-one on BBC Scotland was prepared to ask Souness to pick out the VAR decisions that Celtic got away with, they were happy to put the idea out there are just leave it at that.
This season Celtic have had four penalties awarded against them and just one in their favour despite routinely having more than 60% possession in most matches. Celtic have a goal difference of 50-13 with four of the goals lost coming from the five fixtures with VAR operational.
Most weekends Souness covers EPL matches for Sky Sports, he never appears in their coverage of SPFL games, on a Monday morning he joins Jim White on Tal;kSPORT.
Sourness what can you say tax cheat, bigot, and a complete fool his opinions don’t matter about us heid that good a pundit off sky books.
Down south the more nonsense he’s coming out with the faster they’re trying to get him to f*ck
Up here the more nonsense he spouts , the media love it just because he’ll always have a pop at us
Souness is like Gerrard! Did very well in a good Liverpool team. After that, What? Nought! Oh, that’s right, Gerrard took the Title and the Ten from Celtic. Says more about Celtic, though!
Let’s face it, Souness is an arse hole.
McKintyre all giddy with excitement like a teenager looking at page 3 in The Sun from yesteryear now reflecting with a tax cheat.
Lol Sourness making a special guest star appearance at the studios of the bigot dome BBC KERCHING,picking up a coin as much as he can since Sky are going to dump him and his out of day thoughts and take on the game today.
The people who give his like a platform are to blame. He is the donald trump of football he would argue black is white. Dundee hamilton song anyone ?
The sooner this fossil is put out to grass the better, what an embarrassment, did he watch the Hearts v ‘rangers’ game the other week, look Yosser, we know yer hurtin, but making yourself look a dick won’t detract from those 9 points.
Does anyone remember when Sportscene was on once a week on Saturday night when Celtic were 13 points clear ? I can’t remember the year .Anyway ,the studio guest that evening was Gordon Smith ,a man who uttered that if Celtic would have dropped points here ,the Rangers picked up points there ,if this happened and that happened ,blah ,blah ,blah ,the Rangers would be 1 point clear of Celtic ! I kid you not . It was roughly 20some years ago ,but the horse manure is thicker and smellier than ever
Sourness, Smuth, and BO could all form the new muppet show.
Typo wasnt meant to be ?? Was supposed to be ????????
Does anybody still pay the BBC for their bias on most news stories.
Legally you don’t need to pay licence fee just don’t use their content.
Pathetic he wassnt quizzed on these laughable claims and told of the reality!! It shows the halfwit sounes doesn’t even watch any football in Scotland even the orcs will be see this surely also ,tho they live in cloud coovkoo land so probably not!! What s pathetic piece and really shows souness up for what he really thinks of the poison ! Which is little tho he is not alone eh their so called fans all stood back and let oldco die!! ????????
Pathetic he wassnt quizzed on these laughable claims and told of the reality!! It shows the halfwit sounes doesn’t even watch any football in Scotland even the orcs will be see this surely also ,tho they live in cloud coovkoo land so probably not!! What s pathetic piece and really shows souness up for what he really thinks of the poison ! Which is little tho he is not alone eh their so called fans all stood back and let oldco die!! ????????
GS, nobody listens to you. You are desperate for attention . You know this yet you still cling on to your beliefs that people do. Probably best you step back from the ridicule you impose on yourself and enjoy what you thought you had.
Where my comment?!
Cloud cookoo land even
Why do celtic have anything to do with the BBC,daily record and evening times they are all bigoted and anti Catholic company’s. They should not be given a platform to spew their hate.
Souness is a complete waste of time he is so false like his hair says he loves sevco so much that’s why he left them what a plunker
Give me just 5 mins in a DARKENED room wae this Hun Bastard.. Can assure u he’ll NEVER speak again!!
the bent in black know they did their bit , souness is being rolled out to support them and the narrative , celtic must step in here and take this var and those implementing their bias to task , otherwise they will be emboldened by what they see as no sanctions to their actions , and continue where they left off at the resumption of the league , sevco is deadco if they don’t rob the league this season and the bent ones in black know it as much as we do
Souness must forget if the rangers a Down a goal then they will get a dodgy decision that gets them bk in the game and if it’s 1 all with not long to go the ref will give them a penalty and if they missed the pen it would have to be taken again as the keeper must have moved or player’s must have encroachment which is is in the ref hand book HH