Postecoglou left to puzzle over VAR but has faith in officials
Celtic manager steadfastly refuses to criticise referees after handball confusion in Old Firm
IT’S probably not premature to declare that any, admittedly slim, hopes VAR would ease Scottish football discourse’s fixation with refereeing decisions have already faded. It was always wishful thinking, but the game was up when Carl Starfelt’s shot brushed the arms of Connor Goldson and Willie Collum, deep in the VAR bunker, declined to invite referee John Beaton to cast a watchful second eye over it. It’s the moment that launched a million Tweets; amateur footage recorded so close to the telly it’d give you a migraine and, of course, that screenshot of the IFAB rules.
It’s also the situation the SFA will have dreaded when the technology launched in October – managers and players publicly debating decisions, fans up in arms, and countless articles like this one trying to make sense of it all. For his part, all Ange Postecoglou wants is consistency.
The Celtic manager says he preaches to his players that referees should be left to do their jobs – putting ‘ don’t make excuses’ up there with ‘ we never stop’. But he has grown increasingly frustrated with what he perceives to be a string of debatable decisions not going in his team’s favour.
Now, whether you subscribe to notions of sinister conspiracy or not, it’s hard to argue there’s been an entirely uniform application of the rules, not least when it comes to handball. Across a raft of Premiership grounds these past few months, there’s been more than a few incidents to induce a collective scratching of the head.
Postecoglou is aware he’d be walking a fine line if, on one hand, he’s telling his players to keep off the referees’ back, when, on the other, he’s going behind the scenes of officialdom to seek the answers he craves, why is which he’s rejected that notion outright. But the 57- yearold can, and will, voice his concerns publicly – he just hopes someone, somewhere, is listening.
“That would mean a real change in my philosophical approach to this,” he said. “I’ve always thought you accept the referee’s decision, that’s always been my mantra. Don’t make excuses.
“You’ll see with our players, as opposed to other clubs, our players rarely jump around appealing for things or remonstrate with referees. I keep telling them, just get on with the game, don’t worry about decisions.
“For me to turn round and try to have some influence on it, apart from me voicing my concern in a public sense – and hopefully people understand I’m not being critical of referees in this situation – for all of us it’s about clarity around the process.
“The only people who can provide that are the people in charge of it. Ultimately, we all have our roles. I don’t expect a referee to come out and tell me how to coach, and I’m certainly not going to tell referees how to do their job either.”
Up next for the Premiership leaders is Kilmarnock, of whom Celtic will have to dispatch without the help of Greg Taylor. The left- back broke down with a hamstring issue at Ibrox, while police are reportedly investigating allegations that objects were thrown at him from the home fans as he received treatment.
That preceded Hearts keeper Zander Clark being left bloodied by a missile thrown during his team’s Edinburgh derby win over Hibs later in the day. Postecoglou admitted he
I don’t expect a referee to come out and tell me how to coach, and I’m certainly not going to tell referees how to do their job either
was disappointed by “stupid things” interfering with matches on a flagship day for the league.
“Greg wasn’t rattled but it is annoying and not something you want to see,” he said. “We saw it in another Premiership game at the weekend and it’s just nonsense. People should know better these days.
“There are players out there putting their bodies on the line as it is; you don’t need that kind of stuff coming in over the fence. When you know that 99 per cent of the people in that stadium are doing the right thing, it’s sad that a couple seem to think that something like that would have an effect. Players are out there giving their all for their teams. Irrespective of which side you support, you should be able to support without doing stupid things like that.”
Taylor is set to be replaced by Alexandro Bernabei after some fans questioned why he was overlooked at Ibrox, with an off- colour Josip Juranovic coming on instead to endure a difficult afternoon. Postecoglou maintains he is pleased with the Argentine’s progress, despite limited opportunities.
“I’m really happy with Alexandro Bernabei,” the manager said. “The only reason I didn’t bring him on the other day is that I had an international defender just back from the World Cup to put on ahead of him. He’ll get an opportunity on Saturday and I’ve no doubt he will do well.”
With the transfer window open, Postecoglou expects new signing Tomoki Iwata to arrive for a watching berth at Celtic Park today. His Japanese compatriot, Yuki Kobayashi, signed from Vissel Kobe ahead of the January market, is settling in comfortably and in line for an opportunity ‘ over the coming weeks’. And, as he has done in recent weeks, Postecoglou maintained – despite reports - there’s been no serious interest in Josip Juranovic or Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Regardless, his only focus is dealing with the first of a two consecutive meetings with Derek McInnes’ Killie. After today’s Premiership encounter, the teams will meet again in the Viaplay Cup semi- final next week. Celtic demolished their newlypromoted opponents 5- 0 at Rugby Park back in August, but Postecoglou suspects they’ll be a tougher nut to crack this time around.
“Obviously they had just come up and we played well on the day,” he said. “Derek has certainly steadied the ship since then, and you kind of know they are going to be hard to beat.”