Scott Brown says his Celtic VAR experience at Dens Park makes him want it scrapped in Scotland

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Everyone is hoping VAR doesn’t make a mess of these upcoming post-split fixtures because it’s the last thing Celtic need in their quest to win the Premiership title.

Not just this season, but ever since VAR was introduced into Scottish football in 2022, this supposed modern-day game-changer has caused unparalleled havoc, agonising delays, controversy, and bitter division like nothing else.

Celtic hero Scott Brown had just retired when it was brought in, finishing up at Aberdeen, and it’s also not in place in the Championship, where he was recently a coach at Ayr United before being sacked.

Despite Brown admitting there were ‘so many bad refereeing decisions’ during his time at Ayr, without VAR, he still would scrap it in the Scottish game after having to sit through it during Celtic’s recent win at Dundee.

“I went up to Dundee vs Celtic,” said Brown. “Sitting there, waiting, for three minutes or four minutes. Oh, it’s a goal. 

“So, you celebrate once. It’s like two minutes. You can hear the ref; they are making decisions. Then you can hear Elvis (Steven Pressley) talking about VAR as well. There is a lot of talk about VAR.

“The technology has to be better in Scotland before we can actually buy into it.”

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Celtic hero Scott Brown critical of VAR in Scotland

To remind Celtic supporters, in that game at Dens Park, Hyunjun Yang opened the scoring after eight minutes, as they checked whether he or Benjamin Nygren put the ball over the line, and if the latter was offside.

Then, in the second half, Dundee were awarded a penalty, which Simon Murray dispatched, after VAR deemed that Colby Donovan had handled the ball.

The game flipped when substitute Kelechi Iheanacho struck with eight minutes left on the clock, a crushing blow compounded moments later by a Dundee red card.

To perhaps nobody’s surprise, Brown, who was one of the most chaotic, loud and in-your-face characters the Scottish game has produced, isn’t a fan of VAR.

Speaking to The Warm-Up, Brown stated there is ‘too much waiting about’, as he compared it to the English Premier League, and he thinks it’s night and day.

Chris Sutton: “Do you think the game has changed? It’s probably a difficult question to answer.”

Brown: “VAR has changed it.”

Steven Naismith: “So, how did you find that by not having it in the Championship?”

Brown: “Brilliant.”

Naismith: “If you could get rid of it. Would you?”

Brown: “But so many bad refereeing decisions. That would be the thing. VAR would be good if it were short and sharp. There is too much waiting about.

“I went up to Dundee vs Celtic. Sitting there, waiting, for three minutes or four minutes. Oh, it’s a goal.

“So, you celebrate once. It’s like two minutes. You can hear the ref; they are making decisions. Then you can hear Elvis (Steven Pressley) talking about VAR as well. There is a lot of talk about VAR.

“Down in the English Premier League, it’s unbelievable because it’s short and sharp. You are straight into it. The technology has to be better in Scotland before we can actually buy into it.”