McManus issues ‘shocking’ VAR Verdict as Celtic footage analysed
The use of VAR to send off David Turnbull as Celtic beat St Johnstone was “shocking”.
That’s according to former Hibernian striker Tam McManus, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the controversial scenes at Parkhead.
As shown on Sky Sports (25 December), the 23-year-old was booked for a high tackle on St Johnstone goalkeeper Remi Matthews on Saturday (24 December).
Referee Kevin Clancy was instructed by VAR official Mike Roncone to have another look at the incident and upgraded the midfielder’s punishment to a straight red card.
However, he was only told to go to the screen after Matthews had received treatment for several minutes, leading to a lengthy delay.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland after the game, Postecoglou vented his frustration, stating, “the goalkeeper was getting treatment for a good three or four minutes. I don’t know why the referee couldn’t just go over and check the screen then rather than wait until the goalkeeper is up and running”.
McManus agrees with the Hoops boss.
“Listen, it’s shocking,” McManus told Football Insider‘s Ben Wild.
“What was it, four or five minutes to make a decision, it’s just shocking. When you bring VAR up here, it has to be quicker than that.
“They looked at it for so long. It has to be something that is looked at in Scottish football. In the Premier League, it was taking time to get the decision right and now it’s much quicker.
“Maybe it is just teething problems up here but you can’t have a stadium of 60,000 people where no one knows what’s happening.
“If you watch the game, it’s seven minutes go by and you get the decision. I took far too long. I know where Postecoglou is coming from there.”
In other news, an ex-FIFA official has hit out at Ange Postecoglou as ‘awful’ Celtic footage analysed.