Celtic boss Martin O’Neill has ranted at VAR after branding the person in control of the technology ‘a very excited man’ just before Auston Trusty was red carded against Hibs.
O’Neill was asked about Celtic’s failed SFA appeal after Trusty was handed a three-match ban that ruled the Hoops defender out of games against Rangers, Aberdeen and Motherwell.
And speaking about the ruling, O’Neill branded VAR’s role in Trusty’s red card as ‘ridiculous’.
O’Neill told Celtic YouTube, “I did the interview after the game and someone asked me if we are going to appeal it and I thought well I’m really not sure about it.
“But the appeals in this day and age, are seemingly worthless. That’s not actually been the case. But then when I get the information coming back from the club, and what has been said in VAR, then I thought yeah absolutely.
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“And I’ll tell you why. Because the referee, as he told me on Sunday, has seen the incident. It’s not as if he hasn’t seen it. He’s watching him.
“And when he’s asked by a very excited man on VAR saying, um, ‘Delay, delay, delay, delay’, and they asked him and he said, ‘No, it’s nothing.’ He said, ‘I’m just going to have a word with the players.’
“And then he’s had to trot over then to change his mind. It’s ridiculous.”
Martin O’Neill hammers Auston Trusty’s three-match Celtic ban
The Celtic boss was clearly upset at losing Trusty for three crucial games for the title run-in as O’Neill says VAR will eventually rid Scottish football of the need for referees.
O’Neill continued, “All I’m saying is that VAR, in time, we won’t need a referee. VAR will do it from wherever they’re doing it from because that’s what they did.
“So the referee is what? So they’ve asked the referee to overturn something that he’s actually seen. He’s seen it.
“It’s not as if he missed the incident. Of course, that would be a different issue. And he actually says, ‘It’s nothing. It’s nothing. I’m going to have a word with the players’.
“And so I’ve got a player who’s missing three games.”
Celtic boss slams ‘nonsense’ VAR call
The rant didn’t stop there as O’Neill said the ‘nonsense’ VAR Celtic Park call is damaging for referee morale.
“It’s such a nonsense,” continued the Celtic boss, “I’m all in for people have missed something dramatic in a game that constitutes something that they should have a look at.
“But when a referee sees the incident himself, then what he’s been asked to do is ‘No, you didn’t see that. You didn’t see that. You saw something else’.
“That has got to be debilitating for a referee. It’s got to be.”
Celtic fans can watch the stunning interview below:
For now, all the talk of VAR needs to be parked as Celtic take on Stuttgart in the Europa League.
Because if the Hoops suffer a repeat of the 4-1 defeat at Celtic Park, it’s not only VAR that will have embarrassed Scottish football this season.
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