TODAY, 3PM, CELTIC PARK

NEIL LENNON’S had his fair share of run-ins with officials over the years and was warming to the idea of giving refs a hand by bringing in VAR.

But he has seen the carnage the technology is causing down south and now reckons it might be more hassle than it’s worth in Scottish football.

It would cost the game around £1m to roll it out north of the border but Lennon’s starting to believe there’s enough controversy around our game without bringing in a whole new way to get punters frothing.

He said: “It takes away a lot of the human element and you don’t want to take that away from the game

because that’s what it’s all about.

“It will open up a can of worms up here I’m sure.

“Will it cause more problems than it solves? Probably. That’s my worry.

“Its already causing contention in English football and they have all the money and the facilities to deal with it.

“I don’t know how it’s working in other countries but it has certainly dominated a lot of talk down south and it’s driving managers crazy down the road.

“Especially when the stakes are so high.”

Lennon was part of the Premiership pow wow in Perth last season after the latest refs crisis to hit our game. Back then they advised SPFL

chief Neil Doncaster, SFA supremo Ian Maxwell and Co to crack on with the technology talks and the beaks are poised to put the issue to a vote in the new year.

But the goalposts have moved since then, with England’s tentative steps in to VAR tripping FA officials up at every turn.

Matches are being wrecked by video refs getting the magnifying glass out to look at offside decisions that are barely a hair width and it has driven gaffers to distraction.

Lennon said: “We had a managers’ meeting last year and 10 or 11 out of 12 were in favour of VAR, and the referees were in favour as well.

“How do we implement it? Every country has its own way of doing it and there is that affordability aspect. Will it be a help to referees? Definitely. How we work it though is another

thing because there has been a lot of controversy over it in England.

“It has got to the point where people think it’s spoiling the game and certainly the offside decisions really need looked at.

“We’re talking millimetres and that’s wrong in the game.

“It’s about agreeing to it and then trying to implement it as well as we possibly can.

“Handball has always been a grey area. A lot of it was down to the referee’s interpretation and with VAR you again get some mixed messages.

“Then you have the delays to the games as well. That will be a constant source of frustration.

“I don’t think we’ll have the big screens in the stadiums up here either, it will probably be a TV monitor by the side of the pitch and hopefully that would help the referee.”

Lennon was critical of whistler Bobby Madden in the midweek win at Hearts – but he reckons the officials have improved this season.

He said: “I do. I think we’ve got some really good referees.

“Look, where we are is quite parochial and provincial. We’ve got 12 teams in a small country and the refs are going to come under a lot of scrutiny.

“But in the main they have been a lot more consistent this season.”

Lennon doesn’t want to be talking about contentious decisions at Celtic Park today. The only thing on the agenda is bagging another three points against Aberdeen and maintaining the Premiership push.

The champions have been relentless in recent weeks, piling up nine league wins on the bounce to take top spot in the division and he wants more of the same this afternoon.

Celtic thumped the Dons at Pittodrie earlier in the season but Lennon knows Derek McInnes has plenty of tricks up his sleeve when it comes to finding out ways to combat his side.

The Hoops boss said: “Since we beat them, their form has been pretty decent. They’ve won a lot of games.

“The surprising result was Hibs the other week but Hibs can do that at home sometimes.

“They will come and have a go, they will be difficult to beat. Derek’s changed it up sometimes and not just against us. I’ve never hidden my admiration for him as a manager, and he’ll be wanting to make an impact.”

(3pm unless stated) ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (1) Aston Villa v Southampton ............ (2) Bournemouth v Burnley ................ (3) Brighton v Sheff Utd ..................... (4) Everton v Arsenal ................. 12.30 (5) Man City v Leicester ............. 5.30 (6) Newcastle v Crystal Palace ........... (7) Norwich v Wolves ...........................

SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP (10) Blackburn v Wigan ....................... (11) Cardiff v Preston .................. 12.30 (12) Fulham v Leeds ............................ (13) Huddersfield v Nottm Forest ....... (14) Hull v Birmingham ........................ (15) Luton v Swansea .......................... (16) Middlesbrough v Stoke ................ (17) Millwall v Barnsley ........................ (18) QPR v Charlton ............................. (19) Reading v Derby ........................... (21) West Brom v Brentford ................

SKY BET LEAGUE ONE (22) Blackpool v Shrewsbury .............. (23) Bolton v Southend ...................... (24) Bristol Rovers v Peterborough ... (25) Burton v Rochdale ....................... (26) Coventry v Lincoln ...................... (27) Doncaster v Accrington .............. (28) Gillingham v MK Dons ............ 1.0 (29) Oxford v Wycombe ..................... (30) Portsmouth v Ipswich ............... (31) Rotherham v Fleetwood ............ (32) Tranmere v Wimbledon ............

SKY BET LEAGUE TWO (33) Bradford v Salford ................... (34) Cambridge v Leyton Orient .... (35) Colchester v Carlisle ................... (36) Exeter v Walsall ........................... (37) Forest Green v Swindon ............... (-) Grimsby v Scunthorpe .............. 1.0 (38) Macclesfield v Plymouth ............. (39) Mansfield v Northampton ........... (40) Morecambe v Newport ................ (41) Oldham v Crawley ......................... (42) Port Vale v Cheltenham .............. (43) Stevenage v Crewe ......................

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP (44) Celtic v Aberdeen ........................ (45) Hamilton v Hearts ....................... (46) Kilmarnock v Motherwell ............ (47) Livingston v Ross County ............ (48) St Johnstone v St Mirren ............ LADBROKES CHAMPIONSHIP (49) Alloa v Morton ............................. (-) Dundee United v Ayr ...................... (-) Inverness v Dunfermline ................ (-) Partick Th v Dundee ....................... (-) Queen of Sth v Arbroath ................

LADBROKES LEAGUE ONE (-) Clyde v Airdrie ............................... (-) Montrose v Falkirk ......................... (-) Peterhead v East Fife .................... (-) Raith Rovers v Dumbarton ............. (-) Stranraer v Forfar ..........................

LADBROKES LEAGUE TWO (-) Albion Rovers v Annan ................... (-) Cowdenbeath v Stenhousemuir ..... (-) Elgin v Brechin ............................... (-) Queen’s Park v Cove Rangers ........ (-) Stirling v Edinburgh City ................

NEIL LENNON GIVES HIS OPINION ON TECHNOLOGY

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (8) Tottenham v Chelsea ............. 4.30 (9) Watford v Man Utd ................... 2.0 SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP (20) Sheff Wed v Bristol City ....... 12.0

Ladbrokes Premiership – Hibs 0, Rangers 3.

Sky Bet Championship – Middlesbrough 2, Stoke 1.

Spanish La Liga – Eibar 3, Granada 0.

German Bundesliga – Hoffenheim 2, Borussia Dortmund 1.

Italian Serie A – Fiorentina 1, Roma 4.

Dutch Eredivisie – RKC Waalwijk 3, Twente Enschede 0.