Matt O’Riley has hit out at the VAR delays that are halting Celtic’s momentum.
Every Celtic goal seems to be VAR checked to an incredible degree with a recent goal against Livingston a typical example.
O’Riley won the ball 30 yards from his own goal, took a couple of steps then sent a defence splitting pass for Kyogo Furuhashi to race onto then score to put Celtic 3-0 in front. Then came the wait, and the wait.
Firstly there was a possible free kick against O’Riley, which was cleared. Next up the big screens announced an offside check than was laughable with Kyogo clearly behind two defenders when the pass was played. Finally, with two officials in a studio the goal stood but Livingston had been granted a couple of minutes to compose themselves and prepare for another surge from the league leaders.
Reflecting on those issues O’Riley told the Daily Record:
It is frustrating. It takes a really long time. I don’t know what the average time is but it must be over two or three minutes each time.
For us it’s not ideal, especially the way we play and the momentum we have when we’re constantly attacking teams, it gives them a breather as well. The way we’re playing, we’re trying to tire teams out, so it’s a bit frustrating in that sense but at the same time everyone has to deal with it.
At the Celtic AGM in November Michael Nicholson told shareholders to put up with teething issues in the new technology.
