Celtic have endured a controversial few days in the wake of last Sunday’s defeat away to Heart of Midlothian that has created a storm surrounding VAR.
Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers was incensed by Hyunjun Yang’s dismissal for a high challenge on Alex Cochrane and Tomoki Iwata’s handball offence that led to a penalty for the hosts.
Post-match, the Irishman publically called VAR official John Beaton out for his role in reversing both calls, stating: “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 Scottish FA have taken issue with Rodgers’ protestations and have since charged the 51-year-old in relation to his comments, with a hearing scheduled for March 28th.
Of course, the connected date is an interesting one, to say the least, given that he could now be in the stands when we travel to face Rangers at Ibrox on April 7th if found guilty.
Adding further inconvenience, Celtic failed to have Yang’s dismissal overturned on appeal, meaning the South Korea international is now missing for our upcoming clashes against Livingston and St Johnstone.
There has still been no reason for this released into the public domain; however, the Bhoys are set to receive a response to their findings in writing later this week.
Stephen McGinn thinks Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers will be banned
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show, pundit Stephen McGinn has indicated his belief that Rodgers will be banned for his comments regarding Beaton.
McGinn explained: “They’ll do him with using John Beaton’s name, I think he’ll get banned. They want managers not to have any communication that emotions affect after a game.
“They want you to speak after the game, there’s a TV deal, and they’re brought out straight after losing a damaging game to speak about a game full of incidents that were wrong.
“I always sympathise with managers who lose their temper now and then and have a go; I’m a big supporter of how hard it is to be a referee, but not when you’ve got the benefit of VAR.”
Stephen McGinn echoes the sentiment of Celtic supporters
Celtic supporters have a right to question the dubious nature of events that occurred last Sunday, and the court of public opinion has certainly made for interesting reading over the last few days.
Regardless of what team you support, frequent discussions are cast into the wider stratosphere of Scottish football along the same lines as this one, with the common theme being that more can be done to ensure officials get the basic decisions right in this country.
Nobody wants to discuss issues such as this more than they already do, though it is hard to see where solutions will arise to address a problem that rears its head all too often.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
