REACH FOR VARS
Levein: Let’s use telly cash to pay for system that will end refs crisis
CRAIG LEVEIN has called for Scottish football’s £160million TV money to be used to fund the introduction of a VAR system he reckons would end the refereeing crisis.
The Hearts gaffer believes the decision to back the use of the technology by all 10 of the 12 top-flight managers present at an SFA crunch meeting at McDiarmid Park in Perth on Thursday night is massive step forward for our game.
Now Levein – often caught in the eye of the storm when it comes to hammering officials for poor performances – says the bosses must now convince the bean counters at their clubs to push on with the project.
The 54-year-old has long been an advocate of bringing in video assistant refs and insists the old argument about cost is no longer valid.
With a bumper new TV deal set to kick in for the start of the 2020-21 season, coinciding with the likely timetable for VAR to start in Scotland, Levein is adamant the value of the scheme far outweighs any cost.
He said: “It would get rid of the current problems – which obviously manifested themselves in John Beaton being harassed recently.
“I believe VAR would stop it. Immediately. It might cost a little bit of money. But the cost to Scottish football, in terms of the bad publicity that is created, makes it a no-brainer.
“Absolutely, that was the mood in the room. There’s a new TV deal which is significantly improved on the old one.
“If you hand money out to clubs and ask for money back, it’s a problem.
“If you take the money off at source then nobody misses it, particularly if we’re all getting an increase anyway.
“And I don’t think there is anybody, in their right mind, who could want the situation that is going on just now to continue. VAR solves the problem. Simple as that.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has long been a champion of full-time officials as a first step to progress.
But Levein confirmed the refs turned that argument on its head at the meeting.
He added: “The interesting thing about this is that in a choice between going full-time and introducing VAR, the referees all went for VAR.
“That again shows a great willingness to improve. I don’t think there is a referee in the world who likes going home on a Saturday night and watching himself make a mistake.
“It’s like us as managers. You don’t want to watch that. If there was another way that I could think of to help me make fewer mistakes then I would certainly embrace it.”
As well as being able to review key incidents such as penalty kicks, offsides and goals, Levein reckons off-the-ball incidents will be wiped out in an instant.
He said: “There are things with the compliance officer too where things get looked at retrospectively. These would then get fixed on the matchday.
“Out of the meeting also came the point of having more empathy with each other.
“The need to take away the sense and source of frustration for managers so that we all feel the correct decisions are made throughout the match.
“John Fleming (SFA refs chief) said it would increase the number of right decisions in a match to 98 or 99 per cent. That’s pretty good, eh?”
And even though some punters are wary of VAR killing the thrill of the game and the spontaneity of a fast-moving sport, Levein disagrees.
He added: “You get the climax,
It would stop managers saying they’d have avoided the sack if it wasn’t for a ref’s decision CRAIG LEVEIN
three minutes of anti-climax and then another climax. Imagine getting two climaxes!
“It all becomes part of the entertainment. It happens in tennis and cricket. Once these things are in place it becomes part of the sport. There are also things you can do to jazz it up and make it better.
“The game has become so much about money in the last 20 years and more people now rely on football for their livelihood. I just feel that if we have a device that can give the right decisions it would stop managers getting the sack and saying they’d have avoided it if it wasn’t for a ref ’s decision.
“They would not have that excuse for getting the bullet. Everything that happens then is a consequence of what you did as a boss and for managers that’s a big thing. “I love that idea. That way you know you’ve done things right and it’s up to the players and things within your sphere of influence.”
His Hibs counterpart Neil Lennon felt the meeting was both positive and informative.
He said: “There wasn’t any awkwardness. There was debate but there were no raised voices.
“It was people putting their points across, quite eloquently and quite forthright at times, and it was good to hear both points of view.
“It went well, the referees were very good and all the managers had a bit of a say as well. It wasn’t wailing and gnashing of teeth. John (Fleming) was there too and it was good to see him. We managed to make a few points to him as well.
Asked if managers would now refrain from criticising referees in the future, Lennon said: “We all do need to take some responsibility after games in terms of how we word things, myself included.
“We need to try to find a little bit more balance but that can be difficult when emotions are running high and you are always going to be thrown curve ball questions by the broadcasters looking for an instant reaction.”