Incompetent start for VAR

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3-4 wins at Tynecastle are the stuff of legends, games when champions show their credentials.  The excitement, however, took second place to our inaugural appearance in domestic football with a Video Assistant Referee.

After taking an early lead, Celtic lost their way in the first half as Hearts pushed for an equaliser.  A minute before the break Cammy Devlin knocked the ball forward an instant before Cameron Carter-Vickers made contact with the Hearts player’s foot.  Referee Nick Walsh missed the contact, which was clear on first viewing of the replay, but the VAR seemed caught in the headlights and took several minutes to advise the ref to take a look at the video monitor.

It was all downhill from there.  Within seconds, James Forrest drove inside the Hearts box but was stopped in his path when Michael Smith’s extended arm stopped the ball inside the box.  This was the classic scenario VAR was supposed to address, a stonewaller by any measure, but fresh from his panic a few moments earlier, the VAR declined to intervene.

Anthony Ralston then scored an excellent headed goal but before the ball crossed the line, Nick Walsh blew for an apparent infringement.  That early whistle meant VAR was unable to act.  It is beyond doubt the referee made a mistake in blowing early, for my take, the goal should have stood.

Now we get to the bizarre episode.  At both Hearts penalties, Hearts and Celtic players encroached into the box before the kick was taken.  At the first, the goal stood, at the second, Joe Hart saved and Hearts scored an offside goal in the follow up.

The second penalty was retaken in line with the rules (a retake is the correct decision if players from both sides encroach).  The fist penalty, which results in a Hearts goal, was allowed to stand by the same VAR.  Either both should have been retaken, or as neither affected the outcome, both should have been allowed to stand.

Late in the game, Liel Abada scored what looked to be a good goal, but the assistant referee flagged for offside, confirmed by VAR.  I am not convinced, and broadcaster Sky did viewers a disservice by declining to apply the cross-field lines they used for other decisions during the game.

It was an incompetent start with the new technology that did not reflect well on the SFA or referees.

I don’t want to put ideas in your head, so fee free to choose any one of the 5 million Slovaks, but which of them does Reo Hatate most remind you of?

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338 Comments

  1. Ha Ha Ha

     

     

    Loving the punch and Judy show between Mod and troll

     

     

    Fooling no one.CSC

  2. 67 European Cup Winners on

    Facts are

     

    Var made 2 decisions for Hearts both correct (pen and a pen retake)

     

    Var made 2 decisions against Celtic both wrong (Forrest pen and Ralston Goal)

     

     

    It’s no wonder we are paranoid

     

     

    67ECW

     

     

    PS Michael Stewart normally talks a bit of sense on the Forrest handball he is talking nonsense

  3. 67 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS on 24TH OCTOBER 2022 4:31 PM

     

    Facts are

     

    Var made 2 decisions for Hearts both correct (pen and a pen retake)

     

    Var made 2 decisions against Celtic both wrong (Forrest pen and Ralston Goal)

     

    It’s no wonder we are paranoid

     

    ____________________________________________________________

     

     

    Agreed, apart from the Ralston goal. My understanding is the referee stopped the play for a ‘foul’ before Ralston scored his goal. It cannot be then checked by VAR as the referee made a decision on the pitch, BEFORE the goal went in?

  4. Mcphail

     

    Spot on – I think this is the way we’ll be refd with early whistle to take var out of the equation.

  5. 7 out of 7 VAR decisions went against Celtic. In another Universe Celtic could have won 7-0, 4 goals, 2 disallowed goals and denied penalty. All 3 Hearts goals were debatable.

     

     

    It just shows with Bent MIB’s and biased VAR teams can influence a result.

  6. Tom McLaughlin on

    I’m still annoyed at Giakoumakis for his part in Ralston’s disallowed goal. Regardless of the rights and wrongs, as the free-kick came in, he laid hands on not one but two Hearts players as he manoeuvred into position, the second Hearts player going down like a sack of spuds. He gave the referee an open goal and he accepted it gratefully.

     

     

    GG needs to cut this out of his game.

  7. bigrailroadblues on

    Good evening all from the Queens Park Cafe. Looking forward to the game tomorrow and meeting some friends, old and new. I’ll be in the sports bar from 1pm, I’ve got the keys.

  8. bigrailroadblues on

    Next round , of Scottish Cup, draw.

     

    Jobo’s East Kilbride, just down the road at Hamilton.

     

    Albion Rovers v University of Stirling

     

    Ayr United v Pollok or Annan Athletic

     

    Clyde v Dumbarton

     

    Cove Rangers v Dunipace

     

    Drumchapel United v FC Edinburgh

     

    Dundee v Airdrieonians

     

    Dunfermline Athletic v Forfar Athletic

     

    Formartine United v Stenhousemuir

     

    Fraserburgh v Arbroath

     

    Greenock Morton v Queen of the South

     

    Hamilton Academical v East Kilbride

     

    Hill of Beath Hawthorn v Elgin City

     

    Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Stirling Albion

     

    Linlithgow Rose v Sauchie Juniors

     

    Montrose v Darvel

     

    Open Goal Broomhill v Alloa Athletic

     

    Partick Thistle v Kelty Hearts

     

    Peterhead v Queen’s Park

     

    Raith Rovers v Auchinleck Talbot

     

    Wick Academy v Falkirk

     

    Courtesy of JimmynotPaul on Sentinel Celts.

  9. What is the Starz on

    Tom McL

     

    re El Greco foul at Ralston goal.

     

     

    This type of pulling and shoving between defenders and attackers happen at every corner and free kick (in vicinity of box)

     

    There could numerous free out/penalties awarded ,most go un noticed or are just regarded as the cut and thrust of the game.Even with slow motion replays it can be hard to see who is in the wrong.

     

    The fear for us is that VAR will always award a free out if Celtic are attacking and a penalty if Celtic are defending.

     

    Or are we just paranoid

  10. Mod must a got something through on his earpiece

     

     

    It appears that two earpieces were linked

  11. tom mclaughlin @3.11

     

     

    I’m guessing ernie prepared his reply in advance and posted it anyway even though it then read as stupid and meaningless. Played the victim card. Backfired.

  12. I see no value in public statements that give our enemies in the press ammunition to hang us with lurid misleading headlines, EG “Celtic go to war with SFA over VAR” remember sports journalists are to be treated with contempt, the lowest form of tabloid hack.

     

     

    So what is to be done, well maintain privacy with the SFA, and we have to challenge and ask for explanations, justifications as to exactly why decisions are made, pointing out inconsistencies, we have a big backroom team with laptops compiling data across all the sports sciences, use that facility for VAR, build a case carefully continually asking why, then involve EUFA, ask EUFA to get their VAR dept to assist the new VAR operation in Scotland, ask if other countries are suffering from the same inconsistencies double standards with the decisions, all of this is to be done away from Ange and the squad, the CEO should be leading on all of this challenge with the SFA

     

     

    I can’t believe the calls for our players to behave like boy scouts at set pieces, poor GG getting slaughtered for a Rangers academy referee who just blew his whistle to stop Celtic, as has been pointed out earlier jostling bumping blocking pushing go on at every set piece, hun refs are the problem

  13. Tim Malone Will Tell on

    All,

     

     

    I would never usually use the blog to try and get tickets.

     

     

    However…my son and I have travelled up to Glasgow in the expectation that a friend would get us two tickets for the Shakthar game.

     

    Unfortunately, it looks like the tickets wont materialise (no fault of anyone).

     

     

    Anyway, if anyone has two tickets going spare for the game, I would happily purchase them.

     

     

    Unfortunately, I am having trouble with updating my email address on CQN profile – but will keep my eye open for any replies to this post and provide contact details if necessary.

     

     

    Sorry if this is inappropriate use of the blog – but if anyone can help I will be very grateful.

  14. The Ref ‘blowing’ when the ball is in the air at crosses, corners and free kicks has been the source of many mysterious fouls against Celtic over the years. Add to this that it apparently removes VAR then expect more of the same.

  15. lets all do the huddle on

    hun refs are the problem

     

     

    i have been saying for years that we should have ref exchange programs where every week some of our officials go abroad to ref games and in turn we get foreign refs in to do our games

     

     

    it will help expand refs knowledge of different styles of euro football

     

     

    and get the hun ref mafia as far away from officiating our games as possible

  16. Tom

     

     

    Of the two GG supposedly fouled, I’m sure the one to his right had a handful of GGs shirt

  17. LETS ALL DO THE HUDDLE

     

     

    Ref exchange?

     

     

    Only problem there is our refs are known throughout Europe to be hopeless. No one would take them

  18. lets all do the huddle on

    Ref exchange?

     

     

    Only problem there is our refs are known throughout Europe to be hopeless. No one would take them

     

     

     

    not sure

     

     

    a few of them have uefa badges so there are obviously some stupid folk who rate them

  19. We have a Board with a fantastic track record, of sitting back and saying hee haw,this will be no different.

  20. As far as I know none have been picked for the World Cup

     

     

    All overlooked….Uefa badges or not

  21. Shocked at the amount of posters still saying that the first minis pen was a pen, obviously believing the hype and lies.

     

    Had CCV been a split second slower, Devlin going in with a straight leg and studs showing could have caught his knee and done his cruciate, yet we get a pen against us, scottish football for ye.

  22. JINKYREDSTAR on 24TH OCTOBER 2022 5:50 PM

     

    The Ref ‘blowing’ when the ball is in the air at crosses, corners and free kicks has been the source of many mysterious fouls against Celtic over the years. Add to this that it apparently removes VAR then expect more of the same.

     

     

    Surely VAR gives the referee the advantage of letting play carry on to a conclusion, knowing that any infringement can be identified thereby allowing the referee to award a goal or disallow after VAR has analysed for him, Abada was allowed to continue with the ball which he did by scoring apparently it was ruled offside by VAR, but play was allowed to conclude

     

     

    If I was the CEO of Celtic I would be looking for clarification on that exact issue, referees with VAR do NOT need to blow the whistle early

  23. bournesouprecipe on

    CELTIC40ME @ ages ago

     

     

    It might help reconnect a ten years after disenchanted support? More new style dodgy decisions won’t make our club audible when ‘same Rainjurz’ didn’t others say alas.

     

     

    Call them out, the evidence is overwhelming VAR was always going to be a new weapon, what difference does it make what SMSM say? their narrative will never change in Scotland. The comparison is what paying customers endure with our club a silent partner, where questions begin and end at John Paul Taylor.

     

     

    The club remains detached to the support on all the unique contentious issues, refereeing just got a whole lot worse than it already was in Scotland, there were ‘mistakes’ elsewhere, sticking with Paul67’s incompetence mantra. I’m scunnered with VAR after one Celtic game doubling up zombies, just makes blatant handball twice as bad as it was last weekend.

     

     

    We should have been enjoying another magnificent Celtic victory revelling at our superiority threatened as usual by cheating, the Jock Stein mantra of they can’t chalk them all off belongs to the bygone days of Rangers, and not in Celtic world.

     

     

    Call it out in 2022 CSC

  24. Tom McLaughlin on

    Looking forward to another Champions League night under the lights of Paradise.

     

     

    I am quietly confident of a victory and 3 points to keep our Europa League play-off hopes alive going into the final game in Madrid.

     

     

    Shakhtar have a lot to play for, including a place in the knockout stages, so it won’t be easy.

     

     

    Kyogo is due a performance on the European stage. Here’s hoping tomorrow night is his time to shine as brightly as we know he can.

     

     

    3-1 Celtic.

     

     

    Hail Hail.

  25. Acceptable:

     

    Calling someone a troll.

     

     

    Unacceptable:

     

    Saying that seeing a poster attempt to refute an argument was like watching a clown in a minefield.

     

     

     

    On a thread about the application of rules by biased and incompetent officials.

  26. Thank god Ange is an intelligent wise old football man who will resist the pitchforks madness as a no-win strategy of giving huns with typewriters PR gifts and the SFA the chance to send to the stand club management for bringing the game into disrepute for questioning referees integrity, it never worked before, indeed media painted a previous manager in a bad light with photos of a scowling angry man, it ended with damaging his reputation, I liked Anges sarcastic laugh at the officials and his witty remarks with the hun media, each to their own

  27. LIONROARS67

     

    Exactly- Walsh did what comes naturally and blew while the ball was in the air, as you say, any resulting goal would have been subject of review, but now it is accepted that an early whistle negates VAR we will have a fair few ‘Schrodingers’ goals.

  28. JINKYREDSTAR

     

     

    You’re probably aware that in England, play is allowed to come to a conclusion, only then does VAR step in to see if an infringement has taken place

  29. lets all do the huddle on

    Saying that seeing a poster attempt to refute an argument was like watching a clown in a minefield.

     

     

     

    i thought that was funny just because of what i was thinking that might look like

     

     

    i dont like clowns

     

     

    i would be happy to see how they get on in said environment

     

     

    🤡💣🔥⚰️

     

     

    (apart from Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons obviously, he’s a legend)