Ange praises his men for finding a winning role in VAR drama
ANGE POSTECOGLOU paid tribute to his players for ignoring the ‘theatre’ of VAR to claim victory in a seven-goal thriller at Tynecastle.
In what could scarcely have been a more eventful first domestic brush with video technology, Celtic conceded two penalties and were denied another as referee Nick Walsh, remotely assisted by Steven McLean, found himself at the centre of the action.
The prominence of officialdom overshadowed Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland’s exploits in claiming a hat-trick from the bench, if not those of Celtic substitute Greg Taylor who emerged as the match-winner.
Postecoglou, who lost his first league game at Tynecastle in August of last year before going on to clinch the title in his debut season, sensed a champions’ resolve in the way his team refused to accept anything less than a win.
He said: ‘There was a lot going on and it is very easy to get distracted by that, whether it is the crowd and the theatre around
VAR. The conditions also made the football really slick, so mistakes do happen.
‘To maintain focus and discipline in the context of that I thought was a credit to the players.
We could have very easily walked off and said it was not our day today and left
with a point or a loss. This group of players just refuse to yield and they always find a way to win.’
While there was no controversy attached to the two Hearts penalties awarded in the match, the first was only given after a delay of several minutes.
Postecoglou disagreed with the comparatively quick opinions delivered by both Walsh and McLean that Michael Smith’s hand-ball offence was not worthy of a similar award to his team before half-time.
He continued: ‘As I said before the game, VAR is here and it should be here. Every other league has it but I don’t like the theatre around it — there is too much emphasis on it and it takes too long to make a decision.
‘Obviously it is going to have teething problems and it is going to take a while for them to streamline that process.
‘I do not like the standing about. I am probably a lone voice in terms of how I like it used. I just want minimal interference because it is no secret that our football is based around having the ball and playing the game for as long as possible. Standing around and waiting for stuff is not great.
‘We are here to watch the football and not to wait for people to make decisions.
‘Look, some people enjoy it. I don’t know, people will tell me it was entertaining standing about waiting for somebody to whisper something in somebody’s ear. I can think of better forms of entertainment.
‘People assume that everything is going to be clear-cut and I look forward to fellow managers accepting the fact that VAR is not going to be clear-cut. There are still human beings involved in the process.
‘What everyone wants is that it’s an aid to the referees and hopefully they get all the decisions right. But I felt we had a clear-cut penalty and we didn’t get it, so it doesn’t mean it’s fool-proof either.
‘We haven’t had a penalty all year and I keep hearing opposition managers saying we get everything. The only penalties we have taken so far this season have been in training.’ Although all of the big VAR calls landed in Hearts’ favour, head coach Robbie Neilson also identified issues with its implementation.
‘There is a lot of ironing out to do,’ he said. ‘Today we got the novelty of it and that kept everybody onside.
‘But I think if we are going to have that in three to six months’ time it’s going to become more of a hindrance than a help.
‘There was discrepancies between either half. The first penalty doesn’t get given and goes to VAR. Everyone in the stadium can see it’s a penalty. Was Nick waiting for VAR to confirm it to him? I don’t know.
‘To me it’s a stone-waller. We shouldn’t have to wait five or six minutes to get that decision.
‘My understanding is he was “unsure”. I don’t know what that means…
‘My worry is it takes the decision-making process, that strength to make the decision, away from the referees.’