It’s been just shy of 24 hours since that result up at Easter Road. And whilst it proved Rangers lack the experience, effort and quality to go kill teams off, it also proved VAR is a question of when rather than if.
Whilst it’s a fair point to consider Rangers’ wastefulness, it’s also completely fair to point to the referee. If the wildly incompetent Steven McLean shows some gumption and does his job correctly Rangers win the game. Some of the decisions were shocking.
But what’s incredible is that this man’s glaring deficiencies in the art of refereeing could potentially be replaced by the officiating equivalent of a robot. And yet he could still mess it up.
VAR is essential for the game in Scotland – there, I said it. It will enable a retrospective look at some of the decisions which are plaguing football here.
But when it comes in will the referees have it in them to make big calls?
Play to the game, not to the crowds
Because let’s be honest. That’s the problem here. It’s not about missing incidents, it’s about being too wrapped up in all the guff off the pitch to call things fairly. To actually do their job. A foul is a foul, regardless of which player or team is playing.
Rangers came to Edinburgh last night to play football. Hibs, embodied by the ned that ran on to the pitch attacking James Tavernier, came for a fight. Only, they got battered in the first half.
In order to stop Rangers playing them off the park, Hibs sought to break the rules of the game. Like a school teacher feeling sorry for a pupil of inferior ability, McLean let them.
So much so David Gray flew into two challenges right under his nose, one after the other. Gray would’ve been rubbing his hands with glee after the first one was deemed acceptable. It was amateur stuff from the ref.
Hibs were due melting down and their disciplinary lapses were testament to that. They couldn’t lay a glove on Rangers. It happens in football all the time.
It’s ridiculous the leniency with which McLean treated them. Call the game as you see it. Play by the rules. Don’t let the politics of Scottish football impact your decision-making on the pitch.
Because if it still does, then not even VAR will improve the absolutely embarrassing standard of refereeing in this country.
