A few years ago, whilst he was the manager of Hearts, Robbie Neilson took aim at Scottish referees and questioned ‘the old Glasgow long blink’.
The insinuation from Neilson was clear. When it comes to matches involving Celtic or Rangers against the other teams, referees suffer from selective vision.
Those comments were made back in 2021 and Neilson would eventually be hit with a touchline ban after blowing a fuse on the back of a match against Rangers.
When Scottish football opened its doors to VAR and introduced the technology the following year, it was intended to cure all of these blindspots and put an end to any conspiracy theories.
Yet, given the events of the past week or so, very few Hearts fans would be of a mind to think it has succeeded. The old Glasgow long blink hasn’t gone away. It’s just gone digital.
Celtic were awarded a penalty after Nicholson was adjudged to have handled
The fallout from what happened at Fir Park on Wednesday night has been nuclear. Opinions have come from far and wide on that penalty incident in stoppage-time.
The vast, vast majority of discourse around the incident is in agreement that it was never a penalty in a month of Sundays.
When a verdict is so utterly emphatic from all corners, it generally tells its own story. The only people who feel it was a penalty are those who stand to benefit from it. Namely, those of a Celtic persuasion.
Derek McInnes branded the decision as ‘disgusting’. Those comments could yet land him in hot water, with any further action resting with the SFA’s compliance officer.
McInnes was not scheduled to speak again prior to Hearts’ title showdown with Celtic tomorrow. But, on the back of all the furore, it’s been decided that he will hold another media conference this morning.
Don’t expect him to back down. Instead, the Hearts manager could probably charge an admission fee to those in attendance. There could yet be more fireworks.
It was a scandalously poor decision. Between them, referee John Beaton and VAR Andrew Dallas conspired to produce possibly the worst VAR decision in history — and that’s a very crowded field.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes branded the Celtic penalty award ‘disgusting’
With the eyes of the world on Scottish football as a thrilling title race reaches its climax, the utter ineptitude of our referees has turned the whole thing into a laughing stock.
There was always a danger this might happen. Always a danger that an absolute clanger might decide the fate of the championship.
And that’s the great shame in all of this. One of the greatest seasons in history is now likely to be overshadowed by blurry, pixelated pedantry and hopeless referees.
All the thrills and spills of the past nine months are now mired in controversy and the outcome may well have been decided rank-rotten refereeing.
Yes, of course, Hearts still have it within their power to go to Celtic Park and get a result tomorrow. They are good enough to do it and will be fuelled by a burning sense of injustice.
But you can’t overstate just how much the decision on Wednesday night changed the landscape. Had the results stayed as they were, Hearts were on the brink of glory.
They were poised to take a three-point lead — as well as being six goals better off — to Parkhead on the final day. Avoid a three-goal defeat and they would be champions. It’s a massive change.
Plainly, this is not what VAR was introduced for. There was nothing clear and obvious about it, nothing that warranted Beaton being sent to the pitchside monitor.
Yet, in the space of about 20 seconds or so, presented with replays which were inconclusive at best, and with a league title on the line, he pointed to the spot.
Given some of the decisions which have gone against Hearts over these past couple of weeks, you couldn’t blame McInnes for feeling like the world is against them right now.
John Beaton points to the spot after being called to the VAR monitor at Fir Park
Jamestown Analytics have a system whereby players are scored in various aspects of their game. Their performances are micro-analysed to the nth degree and they are given a rating.
Suppose for a second that the data boffins at Jamestown applied their system to Scottish referees. You would be lucky if any of them were endorsed to referee a game between Cumnock Juniors and Johnstone Burgh.
But there’s a bigger picture in all of this. The decision was an absolute stinker. There’s really not much doubt about that, so long as you are not wearing green-tinted spectacles.
The wider point is about where this leaves Scottish football and its relationship with VAR. Moving forward, this has to be a seminal moment.
A catastrophic injustice which underlines the need for radical change, or for the technology to be binned altogether.
It cannot go on like this. The clubs voted to introduce the technology. They can sure as hell vote to have it scrapped, as well.
The argument that is often put forward about VAR is that the genie is out the bottle and won’t be able to put back in. It’s nonsense.
If the clubs unite on the matter, or if a few of them were to withdraw their funding, then there is no reason why it couldn’t be scrapped.
Iheanacho converts from the penalty spot after Celtic were awarded a contentious spot-kick
Clubs in the Norwegian top flight have already made this very move. It can be done. Scottish football is not wedded to VAR.
One of the main arguments to support its use in Scottish football was that it would help our referees remain relevant in the eyes of UEFA and FIFA.
But that’s a total nonsense as well. They aren’t relevant because they are fundamentally not good enough, as evidenced by the latest FIFA snub for this summer’s World Cup. VAR has only amplified the issue.
The technology that was supposed to drag Scottish refs into the big time has done the exact opposite.
It has left them looking more amateurish, more error-prone and further away from the global elite than at any point in the modern era.
It’s now at the point where very few people — players, managers, supporters — actually want it to remain as part of our game.
The crux of the matter is that VAR in Scottish football is not getting any better. Future years down the line from its introduction, with no obvious sign of improvement on the horizon, it’s actually getting worse.
These are not teething problems. It has lengthened games, killed momentum and moments of euphoria, and multiplied grievances rather than reducing them.
It has amplified the dreadful standard of officiating across the country — and has now potentially savaged an otherwise brilliant season.
If there is any good that can possibly come from the events of Wednesday night, it’s that Scottish football has embarrassed itself on the world stage.
If that’s not sufficient reason for serious changes to be implemented, nothing ever will be.
