As the debate rages on about VAR in Scottish football, there will be no surprise over what old Rangers foe Scott Brown has had to say about the refereeing advancement.
Whilst there’s little doubting suspicions over the effectiveness of VAR are warranted, there’s also little doubting that brinksmanship and sly foul play can be a big part of the Celtic captain’s game.
Rangers sparked the VAR debate [Rangers] back into life by releasing a statement on the use of Video Assistant Referees, but Brown is not convinced it is the way to go.
“It’s killing the game, it’s killing the celebrations,” said Brown [Sky Sports].
“You score a goal and you slowly walk back, you can’t go and celebrate and have that fun with the fans.
“Obviously we want the decisions to be right but it is the millimetres 20 seconds beforehand; is it a free-kick, is it a foul?
“It is killing the passion. As soon as a goal is scored the first thing I see is people looking up (at the screen) and hoping no-one has done anything in the last 20 seconds.
“It is killing the momentum. You have that momentum, you want to go pressing again but you sit for two or three minutes until someone upstairs makes a decision.”
To be fair, it’s hard to disagree with Brown’s comments and there is an element of VAR which is stifling the nature of football.
Do we really want to see the veritable shitshow that is the system being used down south infecting the game up north?
Whilst there are still many elements of the technology to be ironed out, whether you like it or not the system, in whatever form, appears to be the future of football and will continue to be implemented elsewhere.
Not finding a way to do so here will surely see Scottish football left behind.
But whilst Brown’s comments on VAR being a passion-killer are merited, the Celtic captain regularly, stamps, moans, and fights his way through football matches.
There is every chance the Celtic skipper would soon find himself at the heart of any controversy concerning the technology.
VAR might be a passion killer, but for Scott Brown, it could be a career ender.
