Kettlewell calls for major talks over VAR
MOTHERWELL manager Stuart Kettlewell has called for serious talks between match officials and clubs after failing to get the clarity he wanted over their disallowed goal against Aberdeen.
The club issued a statement in the wake of their 1-0 defeat against the Dons, during which Lennon Miller had a goal disallowed following a VAR review after the ball appeared to brush against Theo Bair’s arm on the way to the midfielder.
The feeling of injustice was compounded by the fact Ross County scored against Motherwell earlier in the season despite Victor Loturi handling in the build-up, and the fact that there was no VAR check when the ball hit Graeme Shinnie’s arm in the Aberdeen box late in the game.
The explanation Motherwell received was that Bair’s handball was deemed deliberate while the others were not, but the club stated that inconsistency over decisions, lengthy VAR interventions and lack of clarity over decisions were seriously impacting fans’ enjoyment of matches.
There has been no contact from the Scottish Football Association since the statement.
Kettlewell said: “There will be a lot of supporters that still wonder why one or two decisions were given.
“I think people believe we do that as a football club just to be argumentative and it’s just this quest against match officials. It’s really not.
“We thought long and hard about our actions and it was a football club decision. We felt the statement was measured and transparent and also, it related to the rules of the game.
“There was initial contact [with the SFA] before our statement but there’s not been any further contact off the back of our statement.
“The one thing I will stress, that’s one slice of the cake. I have been shot at that I am just crying about a couple of decisions against Aberdeen. I’m not, I am putting in one element from ourselves. If you go across every other team in the top flight, they will give you similar examples.
“I believe there has to be some form of clarity in terms of the decisions that are made because I still don’t have an explanation that justifies why Lennon Miller’s goal was chalked off.
“I’m still a little bit in the dark in terms of the goal we concede against Ross County and the goal we scored against Aberdeen, and how there’s a different outcome. There still in my mind has not been any clarity.
“But I genuinely, genuinely think there is a bigger picture here. I have said all along the clubs have to come together. There’s an obvious grievance here in how, not so much with VAR, but how some of the rules have been implemented, sometimes what we are seeing, sometimes how many times we are looking at it and checking it, sometimes the communication, not just between officials and clubs but between themselves.
“There is a big thing here. The football clubs, the referees’ association and the SFA, everybody, in my opinion, must look at this and realise there is an obvious issue and the only way to move forward, we have to come together, whether it’s dropping the ego and making sure that we are listening to others. That’s the only way we can move things forward.
“These conversations must pack a punch and bring about some form of change otherwise we will be sitting here at the same time this year having the same sort of chat.”
SCOTLAND striker Che Adams insisted a disappointing week would not dent confidence ahead of Euro 2024.
Steve Clarke’s side fell to a 4-0 defeat to the Netherlands, despite impressing in possession for the bulk of the game, before enduring a frustrating 1-0 loss at home to Northern Ireland.
Adams said: “It was a bit disappointing but we can’t beat ourselves up too much. We have plenty of positives to come and everyone is looking forward to that.
“We are always confident. These are two bumps in the road that we have got to deal with and take the positives from. Come June, everyone will be raring to go.”
The defeats mean Scotland have not won in seven matches, their longest sequence without a victory for 19 years.
The Southampton forward (inset) said: “You have got to look at the teams we have played against, they are top, top quality opponents. To get better as a nation you have to play against these teams and see where you stack.”
Adams came off the bench in both matches after Lawrence Shankland and
Lyndon Dykes were handed starts.
The 27-year-old will attempt to add to his 12 goals this season in a bid to catch Clarke’s eye ahead of the trip to Germany.
“It’s good options to have for the manager and definitely a headache because all three of us bring a different quality and a different feel to the game,” he said. “It’s up to the manager with the 23-man squad he has to pick.
“Everyone is always keeping a close eye on each other from afar. Everyone just has to keep doing what they are doing at club level to warrant a place.
“It’s going to be hard to pick from that but everyone brings a different feel to it and everyone is ready for it.”