Celtic have been in the middle of a controversy over the last few days following their indecent-ridden 2-0 defeat to Heart of Midlothian last weekend.
Republic of Ireland international Adam Idah got Brendan Rodgers’ men off to a frustrating start at Tynecastle. His failure to convert an early penalty set the tone for a chaotic sequence of events.
In the aftermath, the Bhoys were reduced to ten men amid Hyunjun Yang’s red card for a challenge on Alex Cochrane, which was upgraded from a yellow card after an intervention from VAR.
Later down the line, Tomoki Iwata was penalised for a handball offence in the Hearts penalty area, paving the way for Jorge Grant to open the scoring for the hosts from the spot.
Lawrence Shankland drilled past Joe Hart to put the game beyond doubt in the 56th minute; however, Rodgers took issue with the officiating on display far more than his own side’s performance in the capital.
He stated post-match: “Firstly, I’ll give credit to my players because they fought from the very first whistle and made a real competitive game of it. I never like to comment on officials; it’s not something I do. But that cost us today. The officiating from on the field to John Beaton being in VAR, that was really, really poor.”
The dust still hasn’t settled on a day that dominated the headlines and got pundits talking amid Celtic’s failed appeal to have Yang’s red card rescinded.
Unfortunately, the 21-year-old has now received a two-match suspension and will miss upcoming matches against Livingston and St Johnstone at Parkhead.
Former Celtic man John Hartson is furious with VAR
Ex-Celtic striker John Hartson hasn’t held back on what he saw last weekend and has given a scathing verdict regarding VAR and its impact on both decisions that went against the Bhoys last weekend.
The 48-year-old explained [Go Radio Football Show]: “We’ve got a good product here in Scotland, we’ve got a really good league, and VAR is completely spoiling the really good product that we have.”
He then added: “It’s okay for the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association; they’ve hit back with the amount of criticism over their officials, but the officials are not doing a good enough job.
“You can’t just completely ignore the decisions they are making, something has got to be done. Can they bring in suspensions for these referees? Or the (officials on) VAR who are making these outrageous calls.”
Hartson then offered a blunt response when asked what his solution to issues with VAR would be: “I’d scrap it; I think it’s causing more problems than what it was causing before (pre-implementation).”
Celtic need to stay focused despite recent controversy
Truthfully, there is nothing we as fans or the players can do about what has already come and gone, and focusing on the tests that lie ahead has to be the main priority for Rodgers and company.
As irritating as the result at Tynecastle was, the Bhoys still have nine league matches left to prove they deserve to claim a third title in succession.
Firstly, Celtic will continue their defence of the Scottish Cup at home to Livingston this weekend at the quarter-final stage.
Hopefully, we can book a place in the last four of the competition by seeing off David Martindale’s outfit in front of a large crowd at Parkhead.
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