Lee Johnson has finally hit out at the decisions of Nick Walsh and Alan Muir to deny Hibs a penalty at Ibrox.
Early in the second half, leading 2-1, the Edinburgh side should have been awarded a penalty when a panic struck James Sands raised his arm to control a high cross into the penalty area.
Walsh, a PE teacher to Murray Park starlets at Boclair Academy Bearsden allowed play to continue, Muir decided not to award a penalty or recommend that Walsh takes a look at the pitchside monitor.
Two second half goals delivered the desired result with the pressure piling up on Johnson after he was denied the opportunity to go 3-1 up at Ibrox from the penalty spot.
The Hibs boss told The Scotsman:
It becomes really frustrating, because you’re desperate for it, aren’t you? You want it badly, the players want it badly. And you get in a position where you have earned the opportunity, if the officials do their job correctly, and they haven’t for whatever reason.
I am not blaming them, it could be the process, it could be the speed of it. But it’s a penalty, it’s as simple as that.
Listen, we might not have scored the penalty, we might have and Rangers might have scored three. It doesn’t guarantee you the points but it gives you a damn sight more of an opportunity to get them.
That’s what we brought VAR in for, to counteract that injustice. That’s why it’s disappointing. It’s teething problems but they have probably affected us more than anyone.
Johnson is being very naive if he thinks that VAR was introduced to counteract injustice. Walsh has refereed four of the nine SPFL Premiership matches played at Ibrox this season.
Should Celtic push SFA for transparency by publishing VAR reports?
Yes, VAR without explanations is pointless
No, let the teething troubles settle down
The officials haven’t done their jobs properly for whatever reason ! Well ,I’ll give you 2 guesses as to why and the first one does not count …..